glfpunk Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 So admittedly I haven't kept up with wrestling in quite a while and if not for this site I wouldn't even know who Punk was. I hadn't even seen what he looked like until yesterday. So to me this seems like a signing designed to get the UFC a little outside interest and generate some additional buys until he flames out. But from comments I'm reading here it seems like a lot of people feel like he will have a much greater impact in terms of interest. So am I really underestimating his star power or is what I'm reading just a function of this being a wrestling board? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 So admittedly I haven't kept up with wrestling in quite a while and if not for this site I wouldn't even know who Punk was. I hadn't even seen what he looked like until yesterday. So to me this seems like a signing designed to get the UFC a little outside interest and generate some additional buys until he flames out. But from comments I'm reading here it seems like a lot of people feel like he will have a much greater impact in terms of interest. So am I really underestimating his star power or is what I'm reading just a function of this being a wrestling board? It is both of these things. He isn't a complete game changer, but he is a big enough star to bring a nice portion of the wrestling crowd. It's about as mutual a deal you can possibly get. Well, at least at the moment. I'm listening to the Observer show right now, and Dave pretty much indicated ("sworn to secrecy" in his words) this won't be the last of the big signings in the immediate future. So if you can gain some of the steam back you've lost, you don't need Punk to draw a 3/4 of a million. It would essentially turn into things falling into place and keeping the # of significant injuries as low as possible. Plus, you make Vince and other WWE execs who said "PPV is a dying industry" look like complete fucking idiots by using wrestling stars better than they do. That's a win-win. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.K.o.S. Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 glfpunk, if you weren't already aware, interest in Punk is at a fever pitch right now after he did a couple of podcasts in the past week slamming the WWE. So everything is sort of magnified right now, and it might cool off a little bit if we all have to wait a few months before he actually fights. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilwaldo Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I think the biggest concern will be past concussions and how they affect his training. In sports entertainment the person working with him is supposed to protect him when they are doing a move but in training he will have people trying to hurt him. Pads will only do so much. When he gets down to serious Octagon training we have to hope that he does not get concussed because the medical boards will be focused on this issue already knowing his WWE injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StretchMediatedHypertrophy Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Say what you like about CM Punk, his tailoring game has come along way from his ROH Title reign and wearing a sports jacket with the tags still on it whilst doing RAW commentary. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 I think the biggest concern will be past concussions and how they affect his training. In sports entertainment the person working with him is supposed to protect him when they are doing a move but in training he will have people trying to hurt him. Pads will only do so much. When he gets down to serious Octagon training we have to hope that he does not get concussed because the medical boards will be focused on this issue already knowing his WWE injuries. Eh, it depends on who you train with. If he is training with Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA, he better keep his head on a fucking swivel. If it's at place like Glendale Fight Club, he doesn't really need to worry about something like that. He will be alright in training. He will probably tweak something, but everyone generally goes into a fight with an injury of some sort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I feel like I owe Elsa a case of beer for being a lone wolf of logic in here. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Word, homeboy is due some quality suds. The previous overlord would've closed this thread two pages ago with some inane one word post like "Done." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilwaldo Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Here is a fun scenario. Brock leaves the WWE and returns to UFC. Would Dana put both of them on the same card? Knowing that Punk may not be on PPV but on TV you get the people tuning into the prelims for Punk and then buying the PPV for Lesnar. I would love to be in that locker room on fight night. (Not in the pro wrestling sort of way but the UFC serious fight way.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGFanJay Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I don't see much of a benefit in putting them both on the same card - each is basically doing freak show fights, and those need to be spread apart a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilwaldo Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I would not consider Brock a freak show fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cristobal Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Whether he can fight or not, whether his opponent can or not, putting Punk on the prelims would be throwing money away. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I saw a pic of him surface recently and it looked like he was training with Big Country and King Mo so he could have probably done some training with Kings MMA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilwaldo Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Whether he can fight or not, whether his opponent can or not, putting Punk on the prelims would be throwing money away. There lies the conundrum. Punk should be on the main card to sell PPV's but it takes a spot away from two more deserving fighters. If you put him on the card you have to give him a fighter with some sort of name recognition but equal skill level. Punk versus a nobody on the PPV card makes the match look bad. If Punk loses his first fight off the PPV card you can always say that he was never PPV card material and that you put him early on the card to protect him if this occurred. If he wins you can then put him on the PPV card for his next fight. Dana has said that this is not another Lesnar situation where you had someone with a very good wrestling background come into the HW division and quickly rise to the top. Punk should be on the prelims but to sell the PPV card you need him on the PPV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecchirebirth Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I think this will come off sounding ... conspiratorial? Not sure of a good word for it. Could this be some weird play for pro wrestling to regain some of the credibility it's lost over the past decades? It's a gamble, yes, and we all saw this happen before with New Japan, but if Punk can notch a victory or two, I could see him coming back to pro wrestling to finish out his athletic career, with that credibility of having competed in a real sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glfpunk Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Just trying to gauge how far off I am from some of you- If you put Punk on a PPV that would have done 400k buys without him there and he's fighting some other newb to the sport that nobody really knows, how many buys does he add? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bustronaut Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Wouldn't having Punk on the prelims get a ratings bump, which has long term effects? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glfpunk Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 What would the effect be? The purpose of prelims on TV is to sell the PPV. I mean, the UFC only cares about ratings of prelim fights in that regard. The only other longterm effect would be a steady increase in ratings could result in a better deal for the UFC when it's time for contract renewal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setsuna Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 How much sway does Dana have with the AC's? My thought would be to put Punk against someone like Renzo Gracie. Old, some name value, not a dangerous striker and still wants to compete. Renzo said he wants another fight in the UFC but in reality he would probably get stopped by any mid ( or low ) tier MW's/WW's. There's no upside to anyone beating Punk and something like this at least minimizes the risk of him losing. Plus, if Renzo wins it will be by submission so Punk's got an easy excuse to go out and train some more. My actual first thought was the Joe Rogan - Wesley Snipes rumoured fight ages ago but something like that for Punk would probably slip too far into the carny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Whether he can fight or not, whether his opponent can or not, putting Punk on the prelims would be throwing money away. On the contrary, look at what Fox keeps doing with Urijah Faber. They specifically request he "main event" their prelim shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setsuna Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 The reason it makes sense with Faber and not with Punk is that Urijah's a proven legit guy. They're playing the long game with him. Punk has very few fights in him and probably only the one if he does lose in a dominant fashion. They've gotta make their $$$ from the outset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagan Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Beyond the fighting, what Punk can provide is star power. He's a guy with a good look and an interesting backstory who can talk and sell the shit out of fights. I think the goal is for him to be Chael Sonnen. Punk doesn't need to be a contender but he needs to have two or three grudge matches. I think anyone that doesn't think he's going to be positioned as a focal point in promotion is ignoring just how little star power they have left. It's Rousey and Bones and then an insane dropoff. Dude is never going to be fighting on prelims. Maybe he'll headline a Fox show, but he'll always be pushed. It's less about wins and more about how credible he looks. If he goes in there and just flails around, it's over. If he goes in there and hangs tough it'll be fine. In fact, let's say he loses his first two fights...you can build another one as his "last chance to make it." For Punk, this is an all-win, with the exception of his potential to get his brains scrambled. No one expects him to do well, so anything he does is good. After flirting with mainstream exposure a few years ago, this helps him knock that door. UFC is slipping but it's still a real sport and, thus, gets more media coverage. This move can only open more doors in TV and Hollywood.* *one other danger is that him being a giant asshole in wrestling can be muddled a bit by "playing a heel or a character." If he doesn't tone down the more prickly part of his personality, the aforementioned doors may be not be as welcoming. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glfpunk Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Man,I think where you're coming from couldn't be further out of left field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistah Na1m4rk Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 The UFC is a pro-wrestling promotion that does shoots, this is a natural extension of their business model. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerva Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 So in 3 years from now on a Colt Cabana podcast, what is the UFC equivalent of "I was a failure in the WWE because I never main evented a Wrestlemania". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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