The people’s champion – CM Punk!

A while ago, I had written an article about the good things in wrestling, mentioning how Daniel Bryan had done something magnificent to put a smile on a kid’s face. Wrestling is like that. When you honour it, it becomes the most magical thing you could ever dream of. It’s a fact that most of us grew up idolizing these guys. Whether it was the Undertaker or Stone Cold, we all grew up imitating them, their moves and their catch phrases. And I had also received some really good feedback after writing the article, with some people telling me to write something along those lines more often, something to remind everyone that these guys aren’t just phenomenal athletes, but are also phenomenal human beings.

Past Sunday was the Royal Rumble PPV, and the main event was the biggest match of the year, Rock vs CM Punk. Like few fans, I wanted Punk to win, which didn’t happen, and his 435 day run came to a screeching halt, and the Rock became the new WWE Champion. Now, most of the WWE Universe rejoiced the events that unfolded, along with the youngsters now who never had a chance to watch the Brahma Bull when he was an active wrestler, while some of us were sad at Punk’s run coming to an end at the hands of someone like the Rock, who’ll be leaving the WWE after Wrestlemania for a good part of the year. But there was one gentleman who was more upset than all of us, when in all likeliness, he shouldn’t be even breathing.

This story reminds us how wrestling has touched so many of us, in so many ways. Wrestling isn’t just a ‘sport’, it’s a passion, a camouflaged truth to many of us. Tom Dotterer, a 77 year old native from Syracuse, New York, has been a lifelong wrestling fan, watching wrestling with his father and taking a liking to the sport since the 40s, watching guys like Gorgeous George. What is so special about him? This former Baseball coach was shot in his face, during a robbery in the liquor store he worked at. He got shot in the eye, and what did he do after that? A week later, he goes back to the same store, back to work. So how is this related to wrestling, and more so, CM Punk? When asked about his accident, Tom said the following:

“That’s the worst thing that happened to me all week, the Rock beat Punk, did you know that?”

Tom was referring to the CM Punk – Rock match at the Royal Rumble, which Punk lost. Tom has been a big CM Punk fan, following his work from his indy stints. A guy who got shot in his face comes out and says the worst thing to happen to him in the week of the accident, was Punk losing the WWE title to Rock! And what happened after that? Punk got a word regarding the incident and the statement, and didn’t believe it. Then he got the proof he wanted, a video of the man himself saying those words.

As soon as he saw that, CM Punk took to his twitter account to say the following:

“Tom Dotterer is amazing. He’s got my respect. If he needs anything from me, let me know.”

Yes, Punk, who had better things to do than to listen to people, thanked Tom for his words. This is very similar to the Daniel Bryan response. But did the story end there? The answer is a no. Tom got to talk to Punk on a talk show soon, and here’s what happened:

They say a man’s character is judged by the lives he touches. Going by this alone, we CM Punk fans can hold our heads high with pride, because CM Punk doesn’t just entertain people and leave for years, only to come back and claim he was never gone. Instead, he provides inspiration, true belief to his fans. Rock may be a great entertainer and a successful movie star, but CM Punk is the true people’s champion, and he deserved to win his match against the Rock.