[Choke2Death]

Originally Posted by Starbuck

I was just pointing out the obvious hypocrisy. I know for a fact that had that Punk/Show match opened with a 3.6 rating, Punk marks would be giving him all the credit and singing his praises but the opposite happened and look at the sob story we're getting. You have to know that were this Randy Orton the same Punk marks making up all the excuses of the day here would be shitting all over him for doing so poorly. I don't mark for Punk but I don't think he's to blame either. My point was just to emphasize the double standards at play. That's all.

Exactly. Last week when Orton and Big Show gained ~500k viewers at the 9 PM spot, people with Punk on their avatars and sigs were whining about how awful that was for the spot. This week Punk brings awful ratings as the (advertised) opener with Big Show and they come up with a million excuses "It's a 3 hour show", "people are not used to tuning in one hour before", "who cares, I'd rather watch Punk than Cena" etcetera and etcetera. For the record, Punk is clearly the worst at drawing viewers from the three people involved in the WWE Championship picture. Cena and Big Show gained 1 million viewers a couple of weeks ago during their match.

And I don't buy into the "He's played second fiddle to Cena, that has ruined his drawing ability" excuse. Last year around this time, when he feuded with Nash & HHH, he was given more TV time than anybody else and main evented over the WWE Championship feud which involved CENA, but he failed to help the ratings in any way, so they went back to status quo and let Cena take the main event spotlight.

[ChickMagnet12]

I'm surprised people are still trying to debate. KO Bossy's posts pretty much put an end to their arguments but haters gonna hate I suppose.

[Kabraxal]

I just can't believe there is an argument for a single person drawing anymore... it should be pretty obvious that it's about the consistency in booking and how the WWE treats the product. They've done a terrible job on both counts and people are tuning out even if their favourites are still there. 1000th episode only drew that much because of the nostalgia. If that episode hadn't been there, we'd probably be close to drawing less than 3.5 million viowers in the third hour. The product is absolute shit right now.

[The-Rock-Says]

CM Punk couldn't be a guest on Euro millions lotto. He can't draw.

[KO Bossy]

Originally Posted by Choke2Death

Exactly. Last week when Orton and Big Show gained ~500k viewers at the 9 PM spot, people with Punk on their avatars and sigs were whining about how awful that was for the spot. This week Punk brings awful ratings as the (advertised) opener with Big Show and they come up with a million excuses "It's a 3 hour show", "people are not used to tuning in one hour before", "who cares, I'd rather watch Punk than Cena" etcetera and etcetera. For the record, Punk is clearly the worst at drawing viewers from the three people involved in the WWE Championship picture. Cena and Big Show gained 1 million viewers a couple of weeks ago during their match.

And I don't buy into the "He's played second fiddle to Cena, that has ruined his drawing ability" excuse. Last year around this time, when he feuded with Nash & HHH, he was given more TV time than anybody else and main evented over the WWE Championship feud which involved CENA, but he failed to help the ratings in any way, so they went back to status quo and let Cena take the main event spotlight.

Yeah, but how is 4 weeks of being a major focus of the show an accurate gauge of his drawing ability when compared to Cena who has had 6 years to prove himself? That would be akin to putting Sidney Crosby on the first line, and in his first game, if he didn't score at least 3 goals, he's benched. If we were talking like 3-4 months and the ratings slipped, sure, but a couple of weeks? Come on.

Even Cena himself isn't pulling in the mega ratings people constantly seem to attribute to him. By their logic, based on Cena alone we should never be seeing below 3.30. 2.84 on a show featuring Cena, Brock, Hunter AND Shawn? Despite Punk's alleged inability to draw, what the hell happened with these guys?

[Tnmore]

A "Ratings killer" is different from a superstar who is "not a draw". Guys like rey mysterio, bryan, jericho are not draws. They are not going to draw exceptional well put in main events like the big stars but they can be trusted enough to sustain viewership at normal levels.

But guys like CM Punk and John Morrison are flat out ratings killers. These guys drag the show down in viewership and most likely the reason show opens with low viewers. People tune in, see punk in a match or bitching on the mic they tune out and never come back. Hence Low ratings.

[ellthom]

I'd rather me be happy with CM Punk being champion with low rating attached than John Cena being champion with high rating and me facepalming to the bank.

[Gamblor]

KO Bossy with DAT LOGIC!

[Wrestlinfan35]

Originally Posted by Obis

KO Bossy with DAT LOGIC!

He completely raped this thread.

[Choke2Death]

Originally Posted by KO Bossy

Yeah, but how is 4 weeks of being a major focus of the show an accurate gauge of his drawing ability when compared to Cena who has had 6 years to prove himself? That would be akin to putting Sidney Crosby on the first line, and in his first game, if he didn't score at least 3 goals, he's benched. If we were talking like 3-4 months and the ratings slipped, sure, but a couple of weeks? Come on.

Even Cena himself isn't pulling in the mega ratings people constantly seem to attribute to him. By their logic, based on Cena alone we should never be seeing below 3.30. 2.84 on a show featuring Cena, Brock, Hunter AND Shawn? Despite Punk's alleged inability to draw, what the hell happened with these guys?

Maybe he should have gotten more opportunities headlining shows but to be fair, even after the Hunter feud, when he closed shows, the ratings were some of the lowest ever. Didn't he have a 6 man tag match after TLC with Zack Ryder & D-Bryan as his partners? That closed the show and the ratings proved to be disappointing (and Ryder lost viewers on his main event segment a couple of weeks after ), same story when Punk vs Tensai/D-Bryan closed the show a few months back. He was also given the honor of closing Raw 1000 with the 'big storyline' by attacking The Rock and turning heel, yet all the one-time viewers for that episode couldn't be kept around because this was not good enough.

Let's be honest, he's been given plenty of opportunities and storylines to prove himself but he's failed to bring the ratings. Cena proved himself years ago which is why Vince was unwilling to turn him heel 6 years ago and continues to even today when he gets staler every passing day. And if we need more explanation for his drawing abilities, he and Big Show gained 1 million viewers just two weeks ago. I may not like him the way he is, but I give credit where it's due and as much as I'd love to see Cena's star power fade, making a heel turn possible, he just doesn't give up. When was the last time Punk gained 1 million? If he ever got any close, he happened to be in the ring with another big name like Cena or Vince. And Brock/Hunter/Shawn gained 800k viewers or something in their main event segment this week, didn't they?