Wait, haven't we seen this before?

Hello all

So this week in WWE we have a big Pay per View: Night of Champions. This is a ppv where all of the championships in WWE are on the line. If you have been a long time reader of my blog, then you would know that I love ppvs like this. I love to see the championships being defended on a grand stage like a ppv (if you haven’t read it, 1st of all, where have you been, 2nd of all, read it).

There is another very important match that is happening this weekend. CM Punk will take on Triple H. This match is very important. It is personal for Triple H because Punk has been insulting Triple H the entire time he has been the WWE COO. And this is a big match for Punk, because if he wins, Triple H will resign as the COO.

Now, as I have been watching this situation for the past few months, I have noticed some things. When Punk’s music hits, he gets a huge pop. He comes out, and dogs out his boss. He says he is the best in the world, and tells people he has no problem beating them up. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone else? Now it could just be me, but it seems like the WWE is trying their best to recreate the most successful time, not only for them, but for the business as a whole, the Austin Era, or more specifically Austin vs. McMahon.

These two eras have a lot of similarities. They did not “officially” start when they won the championship. They started long before. They started back when both guys were working their way up to becoming the champion. Both started out with humble beginnings in WWE. Austin started out as the “Ringmaster”, a guy who Ted Dibiase brought in to the company to out wrestle everyone, but that character really did not fit Austin’s personality. When Punk first came in to the company, as everyone knows now, he had a very small part in John Cena’s WrestleMania 22 entrance, as one of the old time Chicago gangsters.

After being in the company for a little bit of time, both men received a chance to let their personalities show. In 1996 Dibiase left WWE for WCW, and Stone Cold was left to be his own man. Not too long after that Austin was a contestant in the King of the Ring (formally one of the big tournaments in WWE, but it has been relegated to just another RAW show). For those of you who do not know, Austin would go on to not only win King of the Ring, but he would coin the phrase that would make him famous. Austin 3:16. After that, Austin was allowed to get on the mic and tell the world “Austin 3:16 means I just whipped you’re a$@”! And the rest was history.

Punk was a baby face for the first 2 years of his career, until he cashed in his money in bank briefcase and beat Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship. Since the fans have always been big supports of Hardy, they had to turn on Punk. And when they did, Punk began to turn on them, and in my eyes, he started to become a real star. That is when he was telling the world about his life as a straight edge champion. And he even went out and became the leader of the Straight Edge Society, a cult type group that he was able to use to get people to join his side as their savior. In both Austin, and Punk, we could see they had the skills on the mic.

Now leading up to their WWE championship was totally different. Since winning the championship Austin was running strong. He won the Intercontinental Championship 2 times, and the WWE tag team championship 2 times, and along with the King of the Ring, he won the Royal Rumble, guaranteeing him a WWE championship match. Now it was during Austin’s IC title reign that the rivalry between him and McMahon started. Until that point McMahon worked as the play by play guy for all WWE television and PPV events. Though he was the owner of the company, we were never made to believe that McMahon was in charge. That is, until Austin became the IC champion. During his 2nd reign, Austin hurt his neck in match with Owen Hart, and because he was not medically cleared to wrestle, he had to give up the belt. After he did, he gave McMahon, his boss, a stone cold stunner. This started the Austin - McMahon feud. So after Austin won the Rumble and a WWE title shot at WrestleMania, McMahon wanted nothing more than to keep the belt from Austin. McMahon even thought, if you can’t beat em join em, and tried to make Austin his corporate champion. But that did not work, and the 2 came together to have a match on Valentine’s Day 1999, at the St. Valentine’s Day massacre.

And of course leading up to Punk’s WWE title reign, he had that (what I think was slightly scripted) rant on RAW that got him “suspended”. He called out all of the WWE management, even Vince McMahon himself saying the company would not be good again, until Vince died; but he would just let his idiotic daughter and his stupid son in law run it into the ground. After winning the championship and leaving WWE for 2 weeks, Punk returned to find that Vince was relieved of his duties and Triple H was the new COO, and was in charge. But unlike McMahon, Triple H was not trying to control Punk; he was content to let Punk be his own man, and his own kind of champion. But after the mysterious appearance of Kevin Nash, Punk has made it a point to call out Triple H, and poke at him until, not too long ago, Triple H changed the match from CM Punk vs. Kevin Nash, to Punk vs. Triple H. And after last week’s RAW where Punk gave Triple H a sucker punch with the mic, it will all come to a head at the “Night of Champions” Pay per view.

I have been noticing the similarities ever since Punk’s “suspension”. Directly after that I noticed the WWE universe began to get behind Punk, because they felt his freedom of speech rights were violated. But I don’t think that at all. He was allowed to say what he felt; he just was not devoid of punishment for it. But ever since that event the people have been wildly behind Punk, just like Austin. I think in different ways. I am a huge Austin fan, and think that he captured people imagination, by being a rebel. The rebel we all wanted to be, by telling his boss, where to go, and what to do when you get there. In my eyes, Punk has cornered a different market. Punk claims he is the voice of the voiceless. Punk thinks he is the person who the fans want to see. Triple H calls him an internet hero, and I guess to some people he is, but in my eyes, I think he is nowhere near Austin. I think he is a good wrestler who is getting his time to shine, but he is no Austin.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LLLLIIINNNNNNNEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!