On the last episode of Monday Night Raw before Night of Champions, we witnessed Nikki Bella make history by becoming the single longest-reigning Divas Champion in WWE history, a record once held by AJ Lee until the night after WrestleMania XXX. Nikki retained her championship against Charlotte to the chagrin of all the nay-sayers who believe she doesn’t deserve such an accomplishment.
Many saw it as a spit in the face of AJ Lee, who departed from the company earlier this year to pursue other interests, and enjoy married life with her husband, CM Punk, who we all know left WWE last year under shady circumstances that to this day, not many people know all the facts about. Ever since Nikki surpassed his wife’s title reign, rumours have been running rampant that CM Punk’s history-making 434-day run with the WWE Championship from Survivor Series 2011 to Royal Rumble 2013 could be in jeopardy as the longest run in over two decades. It’s been talked about that Roman Reigns could be the next guy to capitalise and make history by surpassing the reign when he eventually wins the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
I am a huge CM Punk fan. I’m not interested in UFC, but when he starts to fight, I’m definitely going to check it out. But I am well aware that, as Punk said himself during his infamous pipebomb promo in 2011, he was just a spoke on the wheel during his WWE tenure. There is no individual bigger than the company, and if someone leaves, the WWE will adapt to the change and move on without them, because that’s how a successful business operates.
Vince McMahon isn’t sitting in a corner crying because CM Punk won’t come home. He’s making plans for the betterment of his company, and decisions like having Triple H take over NXT, and to host a Divas Revolution is a testament to that. The future is as bright as it ever has been, and as much as I’d like Punk’s name to be on what should be the biggest WrestleMania card of all time next year, I’ve accepted the fact that it won’t be.
That being said, I think the thought of having somebody undo another man’s accomplishments, just because he decided to move on, is petty and ridiculous. Roman Reigns has never been the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, so it’s very clear that this idea isn’t due to Roman being worthy of such an honour. I like Roman Reigns, I really do, and I look forward to seeing him win the title, but the idea of his title reign getting protected status just because of a silly rivalry between Punk and McMahon is just stupid.
It’s not how the CEO of a million dollar company should carry himself. You don’t put the title on somebody so that they can carry it for a certain length of time. You put the title on someone because they’ve earned it. If they continue to deliver every night, and there’s nobody that could do a better job, or that would make more sense from both a marketing and storyline standpoint, you keep the title on them. Roman has earned a run with the championship for sure, but he won’t earn a record-breaking reign until he proves himself as a worthy champion.
At this point, saying “let’s give Reigns the record, that’ll show that turncoat who’s boss” just makes the company look bad, and it’ll just prove all the bad things Punk has said about them. A meaningless vendetta will put a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and make people lose respect for Roman Reigns, and it’ll be twice as bad as this year’s Royal Rumble. Personally I would rather see Seth Rollins surpass the reign because he plays the role perfectly, and he’s already proven himself as the champion despite multiple screwy finishes.
If WWE wants to save face and take the high road, they’ll stop making decisions based on whether or not CM Punk’s legacy will be affected by it. Nikki Bella deserved to beat AJ Lee’s Divas Championship reign, because she embodies what a Diva is, and makes for the perfect face of the division. Roman Reigns does not deserve to defeat CM Punk’s reign right now, and that’s as simple as it gets.
That’ll do it for today, folks. If you enjoyed this article, please share it on Facebook and Twitter, and comment below to let me know your thoughts. You can also follow me on Twitter @AdamOB_UTS to speak with me about wrestling, my writing or anything at all.
I recently started writing for WhatCulture.com, so if you want to take a look at some of my work, you can do so by clicking here. I’d greatly appreciate it. Also, don’t hesitate to support the rest of the great folks at SLTD Wrestling who do their best to bring you the best in wrestling editorials.
Thanks for reading!
Self-Professed Conversational Wizard.
Admin, Editor and Writer for SLTD Wrestling.
Creator of 'Under the Spotlight'.
Studying Computing in Games Development.
Recent Comments