When CM Punk and Brock Lesnar square off in one of the WWE SummerSlam main events, the fact that they’re both original ‘Paul Heyman’ guys won’t be the only thing they have in common. They’re also two of the only people to have made the decision to leave the biggest pro-wrestling company in the world at the peak of their success. But today, we ask why? And what has led them back to wrestle against each other years later at WWE’s second biggest show of the year?
Every single day, millions of people across the globe dream of one day becoming a WWE superstar. I devoted a childhood to it and then, later, five solid years of my life chasing that dream; giving up career opportunities, friendships and long-term relationships in doing so. And I’m just one of thousands who didn’t make it.
CM Punk and Brock Lesnar are two who did. Not only did they make it, they made it to the top: headlining major pay-per views, holding WWE Championships, traveling around the world as global icons that now inspire others to chase their dreams.
Why, in that case, have they both previously chosen to give it all up?
The great thing about ‘real’ SummerSlam main events (and by that I mean classic matches like Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog, SummerSlam ’92; Stone Cold vs. Kurt Angle, SummerSlam 2001; Shawn Michaels vs. Hulk Hogan, SummerSlam 2005, etc) is that they pair two wrestlers together who don’t immediately seem like dream opponents – those matches are typically saved for WrestleMania – but in another way they compliment each other perfectly. In this vein, CM Punk and Brock Lesnar have an abundance in common:
- They’re both ‘Paul Heyman guys’, being mentored on and off-screen by the former ECW mastermind who now stands in Brock Lesnar’s corner as Punk’s new-found arch-nemesis.
- They were both three-time Heavyweight Champions when they made their respective decisions to depart (Punk’s reigns concern the World Heavyweight belt whereas Brock held the WWE Championship).
- And they both gave notice to Vince McMahon before having to face high-profile matches in front of fans fully aware of their contract status and reacting accordingly (Brock was booed out of the building during his match against Goldberg at WrestleMania 20, whereas Punk was given a god’s reception in his hometown of Chicago when he beat John Cena at Money in the Bank 2011)
Where they differ, however, is in their motivations and how they then went on to make their respective comebacks to the pinnacle of professional wrestling.
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One could easily argue that both men’s decisions were self-serving and driven by ego. In Brock’s case, at least, he essentially admits as much in his autobiography, ‘Death Clutch’.
“It was about having a life,” he explains. “A year or two bouncing around town to town, bar to bar, girl to girl, Vicodin to Vicodin, vodka bottle to vodka bottle, is not a life.”
Worn down from so much travelling as WWE Champion, an unfortunate chain of events set into motion Brock’s eventual departure in 2004: being told at the last minute he was scheduled to lose to The Rock at a live event in Miami (“[Losing] wasn’t the point at all. What bothered me was I was the last guy to know, when I should’ve been the first”); being forced to wrestle Bob Holly at live events in South Africa (“Nothing against him, but wrestling against Bob Holly wasn’t worth anything to me at this time”); losing trust in the likes of Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon before being asked to drop the WWE Title to Eddie Guerrero (“I didn’t believe Vince wanted the title on Eddie Guerrero because he thought Eddie would draw more money than I could… I suspected Vince made the decision because Kurt had told him I was thinking about leaving.”)
Lesnar ended up snapping and booking a flight back to his home of Minnesota instead of making a scheduled appearance, before confronting Vince and telling him about his plans to leave. He lost his scheduled match to Bill Goldberg at WrestleMania 20 and set about achieving another life goal of playing in the NFL. Of course, we all know now that things didn’t exactly end up that way. More on that later.
Punk paints a more benevolent picture in discussing his motives. Yet, as with Lesnar, they were driven by a need to be seen as ‘the guy’ and weighing up WWE’s grueling road schedule with the paltry rewards he felt he was receiving.
His breaking point came when he learned that The Miz would be positioned in the WrestleMania main event against John Cena, instead of him.
“I was just standing there thinking, like (Miz) says, ‘Really?!’” Punk said on his ‘Best In The World’ DVD feature. “To me, the main event of WrestleMania is about the best bad guy fighting the best good guy. Nobody explained to me why I was taking a back seat.”
Certainly, Punk’s slog since being called up to WWE’s big leagues had been one that, despite much promise, seemed to have a relatively low ceiling. Despite being crowned World Champion on three separate occasions, also holding the ECW Title and winning the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, Punk struggled to truly break into the main event scene. His rivalry with Jeff Hardy and period spent leading cult-like group ‘The Straight Edge Society’ won him plenty of admirers, but big-time main events seemed an age away.
“That’s the way the chips fall,” explained wrestling legend and WWE road agent, Michael Hayes, as Punk vented to him about his frustrations. “Sometimes you just have to take it.”
“No I don’t,” Punk replied.
And so, as WWE attempted to open up what they saw as standard contract negotiations in 2010, Punk became next to impossible to pin down. Eventually it became clear that no such extension was forthcoming.
“I was depressed. Literally crossing days off a calendar (until his contract expired). Counting minutes, counting days.”
Unlike Lesnar, who unabashedly admits how every career decision he makes is in pursuit of big paydays, Punk claims that his concerns weren’t financially motivated. “It was simply about respect and being placed on the card where I deserve to be.” He wanted change. But, as close friend and confidant Joey Mercury reminded him, “You can’t change anything from your couch.”
A plan was hatched by WWE. Not wanting another Lesnar situation on their hands seven years later, in June 2011 CM Punk won a number one contenders match for a title fight against John Cena at the upcoming Money in the Bank PPV. The storyline mirrored his real-life contract status in that he publicly revealed that he planned to leave the WWE as their champion.
Not content with just giving him a tantalizing PPV main event match upon his planned departure, WWE then upped the stakes. One week later, Punk arrived to a Raw TV taping, only to be informed that he would be allowed to vent his all of his frustrations with the company on a live microphone to close the show. The story goes that Vince McMahon wanted to vet his list of grievances before clearing them, though, so realizing that he may get some plans rejected, Punk reportedly showed him a list of fake bullet-points before unleashing the real deal on national television. (When people ask why wrestling fans still love this sport, it’s because of stories like this)
Punk didn’t disappoint (see for yourself above). In what’s since been dubbed his ‘Pipe Bomb’ promo, he unleashed such belters as “There’s only one thing (John Cena is) better at than I am: and that’s kissing Vince McMahon’s ass”, “Day in and day out over the past six years, I’ve proved that I’m the best: in the ring, on this mic, even on commentary,” and “The fact that Dwayne (Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock) is in the main event at WrestleMania next year and I’m not makes me sick.”
The promo also discussed what would happen once Vince McMahon died and Punk even made time to joke about how he was “breaking the fourth wall”. It was a damning review of the status quo of WWE and left live fans and those watching at home stunned.
Most interestingly, given the subject at hand, the promo also included what was probably the first on-air reference to his still-departed SummerSlam opponent since 2004, with Punk saying, “You know who else is a Paul Heyman guy? Brock Lesnar. And he split just like I’m splitting.”
One thing Lesnar didn’t get upon leaving, though, was a chance to do an on-air exit interview. Perhaps this was why. WWE got a real taste, that day, of what exactly went through the heads of even their most well-regarded and remunerated performers and why even they would consider walking away from this ‘dream job’. In fact, when you break down both men’s reasons for leaving, it’s illuminating to see the frustrations that build up as a figurehead for a worldwide entertainment group like WWE. One could indeed be forgiven for wondering why anyone would become a WWE superstar to begin with.
Fortunately, both men have shed some light on this, because as we all know that was far from the last time we would see either of them.
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Brock’s initial exit plan, perhaps hatched while still raving from Vicodin after Vicodin, was to attempt to make a spectacular jump to the NFL. Maybe his ego had gotten the better of him in thinking that he could simply jump into a career that American kids work intently for, non-stop, from the moment they step into high school and college (while Lesnar was winning NCAA titles for wrestling).
But Vince McMahon hadn’t exactly given him much of a choice, sneaking a harsh non-compete clause into his release that prevented him from joining any other wrestling, ultimate fighting or sports entertainment organization until mid-2010, as a final parting shot. The legal battles were protracted but, eventually, Lesnar was allowed out of his non-compete clause. Lucky, too, as the whole NFL plan wasn’t turning out as he’d anticipated.
To be fair, Lesnar made it closer to the NFL than you or I probably ever will, being given a pre-season tryout with the Minnesota Vikings (because why not?) in the summer of 2004. Though the stint was seen more as a publicity stunt and Lesnar’s attempts drew a mixture of scorn and laughter from league insiders. Reality caught up with Lesnar as he was cut during preseason. “I realize I was unprepared for the Vikings training camp,” he confessed. “I was thinking, ‘What am I doing here?’ Because of my lack of experience, I felt it wasn’t for me.”
His next move, of course, wasn’t any less sensational. Having finally won his legal battle with WWE and allowed out of his non-compete clause, Lesnar set about conquering the world of MMA next (and not in a ">‘Pete from Friends’-kinda way either). That one went a little more to plan. Lesnar was UFC Heavyweight Champion within just four fights, defeating Randy Couture for the belt before becoming Undisputed Heavyweight Champion and beating Interim title-holder Frank Mir at UFC 100, the company’s largest event to-date.
Lesnar’s downfall in UFC, however, came almost as quickly as his rise. Battling a debilitating illness, Lesnar was sidelined for over a year, defending his belt successfully only once before eventually being manhandled by current champion, Cain Velasquez and then humiliated in a 1st round defeat to Alistair Overeem in December 2011. Immediately after the Overeem fight, Lesnar announced his retirement from the Octagon. He’s never been one to stick around when he can’t be top dog.
It only took four months before Brock would shock the world yet again, this time by making a sensational return to WWE and attacking John Cena on the night after WrestleMania 29. The time apart from Vince and the WWE seemed to, as it always does, heal all wounds and Brock’s time as UFC’s biggest box office draw meant he was able to negotiate a schedule that suited his new lifestyle better. He has wrestled four matches in the intermitting 16 months, alongside making occasional impact performances, with his mouthpiece Paul Heyman serving as his representative on television during his lengthy absences.
Punk’s departure instead turned out to be more of a brief holiday. Not even knowing himself what was going to happen until moments before the match (upon which he signed a new WWE contract), he won the WWE Championship from John Cena at Money in the Bank in what is possibly the most memorable WWE match in recent memory. This set about several weeks of uncertainty as Punk took some time off TV (only appearing in public on Twitter, in interviews and ">in cameos like this one at Comic-Con) before returning full-time to the ring less than a month later, his previous demands now appearing to be met as he became a 50% figurehead of the company alongside John Cena.
He has since gone onto have the longest WWE Championship reign of the modern era, single-handedly propping the company up while John Cena went through an unfortunate run of injuries last year, while also facing legends such as The Rock and The Undertaker in high-profile clashes and becoming a bona fide locker room leader in the process.
His promo and its fallout have influenced an entirely new direction for WWE in more than one way, heralding in what some are dubbing ‘The Reality Era’ of mixing real-life backstage drama (that any fan with Internet access can now learn about in seconds) with what goes on in the ring. Fans influence can now springboard the likes of fellow SummerSlam main eventer, Daniel Bryan (who challenges John Cena for the WWE Title in SummerSlam’s other main event) to stardom. And the product, all of a sudden, seems a lot more credible with less wrestlers and matches being shoved down our throats against our will.
Turns out when Joey Mercury told him he couldn’t change much from his couch, he was onto something.
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So what can we learn from the departures and subsequent comebacks of our two SummerSlam main eventers?
An initial glance would suggest that if you are a WWE superstar and think leaving will turn out better for your career…you should totally do it! Both men have enjoyed immense success since announcing plans to walk away and seem to have successfully negotiated just about everything they ever wanted from WWE.
But, then again, for every CM Punk and Brock Lesnar, there is a Bobby Lashley (who, like Lesnar was fast-tracked to the top due to a great look and amateur wrestling background, only to leave for MMA where he’s currently struggling), Batista (multiple-time champion also languishing between MMA and acting) and Jeff Hardy (who exited amid his first sustained singles main event push and has since had stints with rival company TNA in between being imprisoned for drug-related offences).
On further reflection, actually, maybe it only worked for CM Punk and Brock Lesnar because they’re CM Punk and Brock Lesnar: two complex, ambitious, possibly egomaniacal, but supremely talented individuals who both had a gut instinct that they needed to make a stand, and it happened to work out for them.
They’re such imperfect matches in one way: Brock is the brute monster who bullies, destroys and smashes all before him, with his physical freakishness and athletic prowess seeing him instantly handed opportunities in WWE, UFC and even the NFL. Whereas Punk is the cerebral, calculated underdog who is almost immediately written off and has to almost develop a masterplan to get the same kind of breaks, yet he continues to rise.
But, like all great SummerSlam main events, I guess their respective departures are what also make them perfect foils. The polarity of the problems presented to them yet how they both arrive at the same solution. Where Brock thrives, Punk struggles, and vice versa. Brock needs Paul Heyman as a mouthpiece while Punk needed him to become an unbeatable monster during his title reign. Again, completely different problems, and yet in Paul Heyman they have the same net result.
It would appear then that they will arrive at SummerSlam to square off at a time when no personal problems are blocking either’s road to stardom. They’ve fought the battles behind-the-scenes, done what’s needed to be done and thrived because of it. All that remains to be settled then, this Sunday, is what the solution will be this time.
Rick’s WWE SummerSlam Quick Picks
BROCK LESNAR over CM PUNK
DANIEL BRYAN over JOHN CENA for the WWE Championship
ALBERTO DEL RIO over CHRISTIAN for the World Championship
DAMIEN SANDOW over CODY RHODES
Ring of Fire Match: BRAY WYATT over KANE
DOLPH ZIGGLER & KAITLYN over BIG E LANGSTON & AJ LEE
BRIE BELLA over NATALYA
Pre-Show: DEAN AMBROSE over ROB VAN DAM for the US Championship
Rick Nash is a former professional wrestler and the founder of WWE Parties Ireland, who this Sunday run their their WWE SUMMERSLAM BEACH PARTY in Woolshed Baa & Grill, Dublin (YouTube preview below). He is also a DJ and terrible sports gambler, so feel free to share some tips with him on Twitter.
