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Which one was bigger?

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CM Punk 2014 or Brock Lesnar 2004: Which walked out was bigger?

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3.1K views 31 replies 27 participants last post by  Riddle101  
#1 ·
Just like the title says. CM Punk caused a huge effect on their WM30 plans. Some might say that it also caused WWE to break up their biggest stable at the time (The Shield) since they need more stars after Punk walking out and Bryan being forced to retired.

Brock Lesnar walking out caused WWE to break up Evolution by having Orton winning the world title to erase Brock Lesnar's record as the new youngest champion. Over in SD, they were forced to push JBL into the main event scene since they need a huge heel to put Cena over later.
 
#16 ·
Creative-wise, Brock's leave was much more damaging, they had all sorts of plans for him and the show (SD in particular) wasn't as organized in 2004 as it was in 03..
However it wasn't just Brock who left, by the end of WM20 there was a mass exodus of the top names in wrestling for the 6 years previous (Goldberg, Rock, Austin, Hogan.. etc)
With Brock leaving they were struggling to find the next guy for his spot, it wasn't until a year later that they were going for Batista (and subsequently Cena, who really took that spot) as the #1 guy, but after so many ventures that fell flat on it's faces (JBL, Benoit, etc..)

With Punk there was much more emotional attachment from the fans, however business and creative-wise they were safe. They just went with the next over guy, and they did with Bryan (he was getting louder reactions than Punk by 2013), plus they had the Shield trio propped up and on their way, Cena was still on the show regularly.. it was no hair off their ass.

Punk, as pushed to the moon as he was, was not the big picture in 2011-2013, Rock/Cena was. He could've played a much bigger role in 2014 now that the Rock/Cena feud was over and he made his bones since the summer of 2011, but he decided to walk out.

validreasoning said:
Punk was bigger. He had his name chanted at shows for next 7 years.

Brock most people viewed as over pushed in 2002-04 and he didn't draw any money during that period whereas Punk had been #1 merch seller and year previous drawing on ppv with Ryback, Cena, Rock etc
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He was not bigger, more over/more loved is the correct term. Brock crossed over as a star, his first UFC PPV bout drew 650K, in contrast to Punk's 450K. Keep in mind that was Brock's second lowest number in the UFC, while it was Punk's highest, taking in the fact that Brock was the sole main event of that event while Punk had Stippe/Overreem and Werdum/Browne as the two main events preceding him.
Brock's following PPVs drew consistently 1 million PPV buys while Punk's second and last drew an abysmal 250K.
Also worth a mention, taped Smackdown in 2003 with Brock as champion drew as much ratings - if not more - than live Raws in 2011-2012 with Punk as champion

People followed Brock in his ventures outside of wrestling, he had more name recognition with the casual audience that tune into wrestling every once in a while. Punk didn't have that reach, he had a cult following that adored and believed in him unlike Brock, but was never the star Brock was.
 
D
#7 ·
Punk peaked in 2011. By 2014 he was still a name, but had lost most of that 2011 momentum

Brock in 2004 was just getting started. He still could've jumped over to Raw and had killer feuds with HBK, HHH, Orton, Batista, Jericho, and even his ex-partner in Shelton Benjamin. Benjamin was at his best and most over in 04, that could've delivered some really great matches
 
S
#10 · (Edited)
My first thought was easly Punk but it's actually very close.

I would say Punk in 2014 was bigger than Brock was in 2004! But still Lesnar's leaving was a big loss for the Company too, had he stayed i still think to this day he would have been the Company Guy instead of Cena. The guy had the biggest Run in such a short time. 2002 was a crazy year for him.

Punk was already the biggest Top Guy besides Cena. Not even Orton was as hot as he was at that time. Yes Bryan was getting more over and over but nobody would have chanted his name for 7 Years like they did with Punk.
 
#11 ·
Punk, no question. The fans chanted his name for years after. Brock wasn't that big of a name yet,
 
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#12 ·
Brock really didn't become the draw he is today until he went to the UFC.

There he had crossover appeal and there was a lot of intrigue about how he would do. When he had a dominant spell (which is somewhat overrated) he legitimised himself as a fighter, which then further increased his drawing power in WWE as the most believable monster they've ever had.

People forget now but a lot of people got pretty sick of Brock in 2003 - So much so that they were forced to turn him heel pretty quickly. He had some great matches obviously but people felt he was getting an underserved push. He makes Roman's rise to the top look like a marathon by comparison.
 
T
#13 ·
Punk.

Brock was a big deal, but he was only two years in and once WMXX was done nobody really thought about him until he was winning World titles in UFC. Then the clamour to get him back really started.

Punk's walkout though caused chaos at arenas for quite a while. Plus you only have to look at his return in 2021 to see how big a deal it was for fans to see him back.
 
T
#14 ·
Punks walk out caused a lot of smarks to be upset, but didnt affect the company much otherwise. Punk was already midcard by the point, and they had plenty of other stars to fill the void.

Lesnar was their planned FOTC for the next decade, a true athletic freak, and someone who adopted pro wrestling with ease.
And remember. His walk out occured only a year after WWE lost their two biggest stars in Stone Cold and The Rock. So this caused real painc in WWE, as there was hardly anyone to take the top spots on the card.
 
G
#18 · (Edited)
In the wrestling world Punk. Fans chanted for him for years and years but Brock's was a bigger story due to him trying out for the NFL with it. Him leaving was a national story that even got time on ESPN and sports radio. Then you get into him fighting MMA. The difference with Brock is he's real athlete and could do things outside of wrestling and people were genuinely interested if his freakish skills could translate to real sports. With Punk his venture into MMA did make some headlines but people knew it was a joke.
 
R
#19 ·
Brock. He was the face of WWE from 2002-2004, and they had invested so much into him: he went over Rock, Undertaker, Hogan, and Angle. They expected him to be the main guy for at least another decade

when Punk left in 2014, there was a feeling that he had given fans a whole career’s worth of wrestling, and his best years were done
 
#20 ·
Fearless Viper said:
Brock Lesnar walking out caused WWE to break up Evolution by having Orton winning the world title to erase Brock Lesnar's record as the new youngest champion. Over in SD, they were forced to push JBL into the main event scene since they need a huge heel to put Cena over later.
Click to expand...
WWE2014 said:
They had to rely on career mid-carder JBL as their (transitional) champion after Brock Lesnar walked-out.

Enough said.
Click to expand...
RFalcao said:
With Lesnar's departure, Vince had to change Bradshaw's gimmick and elevate him to WWE Champion, before that Lesnar had to drop the title to Eddie.
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I don't know where this notion that they "had" to push Bradshaw into the main event comes from.

Even after Goldberg and Brock both exited WWE, the company still had the following names who had all been a former world champion and could've been pushed as such again if management needed them to:

Big Show
Booker T
Chris Jericho
Kane
The Undertaker

Furthermore they had the likes of Randy Orton (who got the World title on Raw), John Cena, Rob Van Dam and Edge on the rise, all of whom could've won the world title before Bradshaw could've.
 
#22 ·
The run that led to him becoming the longest-reigning WWE Champion on SmackDown:

"It just happened that I was in the right place at the right time. It was late in my career, and I thought my career was over. I tore my biceps and had two hernia surgeries. I didn't know if I would do much of anything again, and all of a sudden you have people get hurt."

"Kurt Angle got hurt, Brock Lesnar had left the company, and [WWE] needed somebody against Eddie Guerrero right away. That's when the JBL character was created."

Read More: JBL Talks How He Got WWE Title Push, Needing Police Escort During Eddie Guerrero Feud, More
 
#23 ·
Brock Lesnar. He was THE face of the company and his departure forced Vince to search for a new young star to lead his company.

He first tried pushing Orton, then Batista, but his biggest attraction would be the one he neglected, Cena. WWE got lucky they had Cena around because they were in real trouble had they fired him earlier. Cena was able to break through to the mainstream crowd, though he was never as popular as Austin or Rock.

Brock leaving made the news in a time before social media. Then he became a bigger sensation outside of wrestling. People were always curious to know how athletic he was in different field. He is a genetic freak of a person, there is not many people who look like him.
 
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#29 ·
This isn’t even close, and it’s Brock Lesnar.

He was going to be the face of WWE for years to come. Him leaving changed everything that was to come for years to come.

Punk, who was never going to be the face of WWE, changed plans for a couple of months; a relatively easy pivot.

Not that I’m downplaying Punk or his following/fandom, the truth is that he was not, nor would ever become “the guy”, whereas with Brock, he was very much going to be ”the guy”.
 
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