WWE has tried to give a reason why we should root against CM Punk via narrative from opposing voices. That is ignoring the job Punk himself has done to get the fans against him, or at least executing the repetitive, recursive script from the writers, but that's what a great actor does. Anyway, as a counterweight to Punk's bitterness, they rolled out various people to try and give clarity to the opposing side, why Punk deserves no respect that he craves.
John Cena's been doing it for the last two months. Obviously, he's been effective only in spurts. Tonight, he was at his sing-songy worst. Sure, he was lights out when he needed to be, but the goddamn script is the same every week, and the guy has no gravitas with the crowd. Reacting to him has become reflex. A different voice was needed. So, two weeks ago, they rolled out Bret Hart. God bless the man, he's a legend and a guy underrated on promos in his career, but even if he's the most lucid post-stroke now than he's ever been since that unfortunate incident, he's still not the guy you want conveying the opposing viewpoint.
Rolling out Mick Foley, the best promo man of the Attitude Era, was the best possible move they could have made. In one promo, Foley encapsulated the problem Punk has had since, well, SummerSlam of last year. He wasn't the Voice of the Voiceless. He was just another guy, but that wasn't much of a crime until he dared attack The Rock. Regardless, Foley has the moral authority to deliver that message to Punk.
So, the question is begged. Where do they go from here? Obviously, there's more mileage in telling a story centered around Punk antagonizing Foley than there was with Hart. Punk/Cena is running on fumes unless they end up doing something different and bold. Ostensibly, Foley getting kicked in the gut to set up Ryback staring back menacingly (presumably as a fallback should Cena not be ready for Hell in a Cell) is where that ends. It shouldn't. I want to see more story between the two, presumably as a means of bringing Punk back as the character that was never fully realized after Money in the Bank last year. That being said, as a chapter in the story, at least the interactions between Punk and Foley, two all-timers, worked.
Cena, AJ Lee, Paul Heyman and Brad Maddox? Not as much.
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