Jay’s Ways – CM Punk’s Apology To Fans
Why such a long break then? Three real reasons…
2. Another big reason has been my ‘real life’ crap picked up BIG TIME back in September. If you subscribe to my nearly invisible Youtube page or care to look up the video, my job promoted me a few months back…as a wise man once said, with great power comes great responsibility. That has translated into a buttload of hours, overtime every day and not a ton of free time.
3. While I won’t spill many details, I will say that I left a website back in late summer due to not being paid in full. Not being paid for my work, as was agreed upon. Everything was fine in the beginning…but began to taper off over time. Little payments ‘to make up for it’ were sent on occasion but never the amount that was owed in full. After awhile, it grows tiresome waiting and waiting and waiting and getting the run around. A shame too because many on staff there still are getting screwed. They deserve better.
4. Last but not least, in late June, I finally bit the bullet and opened up an eBay page. I have talked about it for years and decided to go for it this summer. Within 90 days, I had something like 100 items sold for nearly $3,000 or some ridiculous amount. The past two months has seen that drop a little bit but still great results on a weekly basis. Best of all – it is mostly WWE, WWF, Impact, or professional wrestling related. Old school t-shirts, classic WWF DVD releases from 1999-2002, new DVD releases, multiple WrestleMania DVD box sets, hard to find VHS tapes, action figures from different eras, stacks and stacks of WWF/Raw/Smackdown/WWE Magazine. I used to subscribe to the publication, so I have them all saved up! They are all there. Just send me a message to ask. Otherwise, I have sporadic video games and other items as well. For example, here is a link to WWF WrestleMania XV on DVD, with its auction set to end on Wednesday night…
WWF WrestleMania 15 DVD (WWE, Attitude Era) | eBay
Username is princecometh if the link doesn’t work. Find me there. I make ‘deals’ for people on Twitter if you contact me directly.
If you have an eBay page, you know it can take time to set up, list items, and take care of the business end of things, especially once it comes time to process the purchase and ship stuff. Since that was clearly bringing in a good amount of money, that took up my free time more than writing for a website that was no longer paying me. To this day on December 7th, eBay is doing wonderful for my wallet, which meant writing was pushed to the backburner.
Why return now then?
Simple. There is simply too much going on to sit idly by anymore. This may be my last column of 2021, so let’s just hit all the big topics, all in one big hoopla!
1. Roman Reigns has been crushing it. No doubt. If you have read my columns in the past decade or so, you know I have always been high on Reigns and his status as THE number one guy in the industry. Continues to prove it on a weekly basis. His feud with John Cena (and that showdown moment at Money in the Bank) was beyond legendary. Perhaps the single biggest ‘pop’ of all-time. So great, now leading to a Paul Heyman/Brock Lesnar rivalry. Good stuff. Keep it rolling. I am so glad WWE agreed with me and sent Big E to RAW to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase. No need to ruin the Reigns/Bloodline run yet. Big E is doing just fine on Mondays.
2. Still not entirely watching All Elite Wrestling. I haven’t watched a full episode in maybe a year? I watch clips here and there and turn it on some Wednesdays after Survivor ends, but that is only sometimes. I just don’t care about most of the roster or have the patience to make sense of the ‘wrestling’ logic that is attempted to explain the huge glaring mistakes being made. It certainly doesn’t help with all the petty pot shots at WWE from their boss and roster. It grows tired after awhile. Doesn’t make me want to root for the supposed underdog. As for Rampage? I honestly forget it exists most of time, until either the viewership/ratings are released to new lows each week or Tony Khan babbles about that night’s HUGE lineup. Yes, he called Tony Nese vs. Sammy a HUGE match last week. No joke…he really did.
3. That brings us to the return of CM Punk! Yes, my buddy CM Punk finally returned to the squared circle and did so for AEW. I will admit; I watched his emotional return segment. The only 20 minutes I’ve ever watched of Rampage. I watched it, I cranked the volume, and I thought it was great. A long time coming for him and his fans. Since then, I think AEW has completely botched his comeback. He is wrestling random people on a weekly basis, ratings have gone down nearly every time, and all the buzz and excitement to see him back after seven years is GONE. That was squandered pretty quickly. I could tell that just by reading the recaps and seeing the falling interest. I understand they are telling a long-term story to him fighting his way to the top, but just like Miro being a video game bum wearing goofy clothes, it is not helping NOW! Eventually, AEW will indeed put Punk in the spotlight and showcase him in the main events. Eventually. Just like they eventually stopped messing around with Miro. It may take time though. Until then, yeah, he is the ‘old guy’ with Sting and Big Show, while Adam Cole and Daniel Bryan have totally passed him by in 2021. Kinda sad to see.
4. One more note on CM Punk – the one thing I loved most about his return segment months ago was something not a lot of fans picked up on. They were too busy chanting his name and eating his ice cream bars to be paying attention. You know what Punk did that put it over the top for me? He showed a small bit of remorse. Go back and read his tweets or interviews since 2014 folks. He was NOT kind at all to the wrestling business. I knew he would eventually come back. They always do. Thus, it was very disappointing for him to make headlines the way he did after leaving WWE. His UFC run was a flop. His comic books didn’t sell well, and his acting career…well, it is what it is. Just as he used to make fun of hosting reality television shows, and then he went and did that exact thing. Remember him calling his wrestling career a “footnote” in his life? Yeah. I think Punk really did have to be humble and at least kinda/sorta apologize. He never officially said sorry or anything like that. I doubt he ever will, but just like The Rock turned into Dwayne Johnson for a moment during his big February 2011 return promo, CM Punk turned into Phil Brooks. At least for a minute. I appreciated that.
5. Final topic will be about all the WWE releases and NXT 2.0 – some of the releases I disagreed with. Most of them though…meh. I don’t believe in keeping 300 guys/gals under the payroll if you have no plans for them. If WWE wasn’t going to use Karrion Kross or Hit Row or Bray Wyatt or Braun Strowman or whoever to their fullest ability, then let them go. My guess is they are getting paid a ton of money and if they are just sitting there in catering each week, I get it. Same with anybody that had been asking for their release. You want to go, okay. Now add in any injuries, bitterness, attitude issues, etc. Yeah, WWE probably had a bunch of guys/gals ready to head elsewhere. Again, I will repeat – some release made NO sense to me! Others though, yeah. I get it. Now let’s see how the new crop does it with NXT 2.0 running strong. If War Games is any indication, I think we are off to a great start. That event on Sunday was awesome. WWE will have no problem filling their roster, don’t worry about that folks…
I end the column with this: I want to be on record, so I will repeat my Twitter post from a few weeks ago. My goal for 2022 (wrestling related of course) is to attend a big pay-per-view event live. RAW is coming to town in two weeks; that is not what I am talking about. I mean, I don’t even plan on attending that show. Sorry. I mean Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Money In The Bank, Summerslam, Survivor Series, etc. One of the big PPVs in 2022. That is my goal. Any suggestions?
Thanks for reading.
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