Guy needs some vacation time, I can respect it. Despite me being a pretty big and sometimes obnoxious CM Punk fan the news doesn't make me lose hope in the company or him. I was watching an interview he did for an MMA website right after I finished bashing my skull against the wall from watching the Rumble, the video is at the bottom of the article:
Punk is just a little burnt out. Describing the long time on the road as being "brutal" and that his last vacation was around the time he left after Wrestlemania last year. Before that he probably hasn't had a vacation going several weeks since before Le Pipebomb incident.
Watching wrestling from the comfort of our own homes and being so invested in the product, sometimes we lose sight on the fact that the wrestlers we like being the top of this company is very weathering on the mind and body of said wrestler. Punk wants to get away from it for a while good on him.
Also being a long time Punk fan, I believe when he aggrandizes his displeasure with a company or his walking out of a company I can't help but feel it's with a wink and a nod.
I've advocated offseasons for WWE performers for this very reason. But I look at other performers (let's say Cena) who get vacations only when they're rehabbing from an injury. If Punk needs time to defrag, is that an acceptable request compared to other people in the uppercard and main event?
If it's a combo of fatigue, injury, and angle, then you're in a bind. If you don't want to work against the head booker, who do you go to? Vince? Why not deliver another pipebomb instead of walking? Would he lose pay if he was sent home versus going home voluntarily?
Piper told a story that he was working a tiny indy show with maybe 80 people in the audience and another big name suggested he only work it at 50% effort. Piper says he was surprised at the suggestion. Maybe this is Punk too. Maybe he only has the one gear. Maybe that doesn't work when you get older.
(edited by Matt Tracker on 30.1.14 0914) "To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
"He also kept lifting up his shirt and pointing to his nipple for some reason." HA! This guy wouldn't have happened to be a huge man who spoke in a thick Austriallian accent. If so, you my friend, are lucky to be alive.