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Triple H and his creative team have become the talk of the industry since his complete take over creatives from Vince McMahon after their merger with TKO. One of the most detailed planned storylines so far has been CM Punk and Drew McIntyre's feud. In this video we will discuss how much detail went into the execution of the best storyline of 2024 so far.
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#cmpunk #drewmcintyre #tripleh #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
Play now to find out - https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/brainbuster-wwe-player-guessing-game
Triple H and his creative team have become the talk of the industry since his complete take over creatives from Vince McMahon after their merger with TKO. One of the most detailed planned storylines so far has been CM Punk and Drew McIntyre's feud. In this video we will discuss how much detail went into the execution of the best storyline of 2024 so far.
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#cmpunk #drewmcintyre #tripleh #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
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SportsTranscript
00:00Through McIntyre vs CM Punk has been the wrestling rivalry of the year, and they haven't even
00:27had a single match yet.
00:29Everything so far has been crafted with absolute precision, to the point where you may not
00:34even realize the details that have gone into it.
00:37When you really look deep, you think of an inkling of what Triple H's master plan for
00:43this very personal, bitter rivalry might be.
00:48Yes, this is Sportskeeda Wrestling.
00:50I'm Kevin Kellum from the best wrestling city in the world, Chicago, and you can tell me
00:58what you think of this storyline with CM Punk and Drew McIntyre in the comments below.
01:02Come on, what are you going to do?
01:04You're not going to say anything?
01:05Go ahead, use the keyboard.
01:06Use the keyboard.
01:07It's right there.
01:08We'll start with a little bit of the background, specifically looking at the things from Drew
01:13McIntyre's very, very regrettable side of the story.
01:17No wrestler has had a better character arc than the Scottish Warrior since he became
01:23a villain in late 2023.
01:26Yes, that chip is on his shoulder.
01:28It had its roots all the way back in 2021.
01:32Drew McIntyre repeatedly failed to recapture the magic of 2020 during the pandemic days
01:38and regain the WWE Championship, those same pandemic days when he was truly the guy who
01:45worked WWE through a lot of major tough times with no fans present.
01:50He didn't get his crowning moment.
01:52It really peaked a year later in the summer of 2022.
01:55Drew McIntyre, still the valiant hero, was screwed out of the undisputed Universal Championship
02:01at Clash of the Castle in Cardiff.
02:04Yes, he's the big UK wrestler who doesn't get his big moment because, boom, Roman Reigns
02:10has another family member to help him win a match.
02:12Yeah, everyone keeps saying Roman Reigns was a great champion, but cheated a lot, right?
02:16Although it wasn't Jey Uso who directly screwed him out of the occasion, he became
02:21the target of McIntyre's anger, resentment, and frustration following year when Cody Rhodes
02:29brought him to Raw.
02:31This was used as fuel to fire McIntyre into a dark side, which eventually came to light
02:36in late 2023 when he aligned with the Judgment Day in an unsuccessful effort at Survivor
02:43Series War Games.
02:45Even then, it was a slow-burning buildup that took months to play out.
02:49Coming back, there's a new wrestling quiz coming through.
02:53Check out Brain Buster, the daily quiz that tests your WWE knowledge with winning streaks,
02:59stats, and more.
03:00It's time to see if you're up for the challenge.
03:04At the 2024 Royal Rumble, McIntyre once again sought to rocket himself to the top of the
03:11card, becoming the winner for the second time in the Rumble match, only for CM Punk to eliminate
03:18him.
03:20What we all know in that match is CM Punk was injured, but he managed to do something
03:24that was just as satisfying to him as winning the Royal Rumble.
03:28He injured him some more and took him out of what seemed to be a destined WrestleMania
03:33main event with someone else that CM Punk has a personal issue with, Seth Rollins.
03:39This really kickstarted Drew McIntyre's true villainous arc in a big way.
03:44He couldn't keep Punk's name out of his mouth, on television, on social media, everywhere.
03:50CM Punk may not have been on the WrestleMania card, but he was in the WrestleMania conversation
03:55and Drew McIntyre may have been his biggest megaphone.
03:59Whether it was social media, money at Raw, the Scotsman took every chance to take a dig
04:04at Punk.
04:05And while everybody was eagerly anticipating Punk's response, he was sitting quietly
04:10on the sidelines.
04:11And then the opportunity came.
04:13The World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 40 was going to be between Seth
04:17Rollins and McIntyre.
04:19CM Punk conveniently found himself at the commentary desk for the match, an arrangement
04:26he set up in his own hometown of Chicago to a huge response.
04:31What would Punk do against two men that he had very serious issues with and a big prize
04:36on the line at the biggest show of the year?
04:39As McIntyre finally got his moment and won the World Championship in front of his fans,
04:44a vulnerable Weekend Rollins falling to him.
04:48His wife, his brother, his family at ringside, he decided to make the mistake, rubbing that
04:53championship belt in Punk's face.
04:56It's clear that the, this could have been you, but it's me kind of moment.
05:02And just as he turned his back one swoop of the legs from Punk off the commentary
05:08desk, it would send McIntyre into his biggest downward spiral.
05:13Punk trashed the Scotsman, nailing him with the arm brace that was around his injured
05:19tricep, leaving him vulnerable.
05:21And as a result, Damian Priest, Mr. Money in the Bank, would cash in his briefcase and
05:27make WWE history.
05:29McIntyre would have the World Championship at WrestleMania for a few mere moments.
05:34Once again, defined by fleeting, tainted success, and is that really success at all?
05:40Just like that, McIntyre's words had come back to bite him on the ass.
05:44A true moment of karma, but it wouldn't end there.
05:47The next night on Raw after WrestleMania, McIntyre was in a world title number one contenders
05:52match and CM Punk appeared out of nowhere to directly cost him a championship opportunity.
05:58And to make matters worse, the one who pinned McIntyre to get the opportunity was his hated
06:04rival, main event Jey Uso.
06:06This was a huge double burn.
06:09The story cooled off a little bit a couple of months as Punk stepped back while McIntyre
06:13got himself in a world championship match at Clash at the Castle in his home country
06:18of Scotland.
06:19That's when things really came to a head.
06:22A feverish home country was behind their man.
06:28This was Drew McIntyre in Scotland, and they wanted to see him have his pristine unfiltered
06:36pure world title moment.
06:39Clash at the Castle was to be his night, but it became curse at the Castle for Drew as
06:45he once again got screwed out of the world championship.
06:50CM Punk appeared as a referee directly costing McIntyre, helping Damian Priest retain his
06:57world heavyweight championship.
06:59At a loss for words, McIntyre would come out a few days on Raw and announce he quit WWE
07:05while simultaneously deactivating his social media.
07:09And then just a few short days later, in such a reversal of settings, in CM Punk's hometown,
07:15one of the greatest wrestling cities in the world, Chicago, Illinois, at the famous All
07:19State Arena, an arena he made famous, we had this absolutely genius moment of madness depending
07:26on how you look at it.
07:28McIntyre brutally assaulted CM Punk, who was still on the mend and not medically cleared
07:34yet to return to action, and carried his lifeless body to the main stage, dropping it in front
07:40of the Chicago audience who booed Drew out of the building.
07:43It was the ultimate act of revenge.
07:46I was there.
07:47I saw it.
07:48Boo Drew.
07:49Boo him.
07:50It isn't just the specific moments that they chose to get back at one another.
07:55If you really look at it, you'll see that Triple H and his creative team have masterfully
08:00crafted the narrative of this story.
08:03Here are some major hints and clues that reveal that everything isn't as black and white
08:08as it may seem.
08:09There are certainly shades of grey.
08:12When we say black and white, we're referring to the traditional dynamic of a wrestling
08:16good guy and a wrestling bad guy.
08:19Sure CM Punk may have been a villain for one night in Glasgow, but overall he's being
08:23presented as a hero of the story, while McIntyre is the villain, the resentful one who feels
08:29he's doing the right thing, but he's really not.
08:32But is it really that simple?
08:34Some might say that it's actually Drew McIntyre who's going against the grain.
08:38And while his character is obviously not faultless and not to blame for his questionable actions
08:43and ethical consequences, there have been some interesting signs.
08:48After Clash at the Castle, McIntyre's friend, Smackdown commentator and fellow UK wrestler
08:54Wade Barrett had to be the voice of some demented reason while the Scotsman was getting his
09:00hands on everyone at ringside.
09:03An infuriated Wade Barrett would go on to have a near 5 minute rant post show about
09:08why CM Punk should be fired from the WWE.
09:12Not only this, but Barrett even went on to slam Triple H and everyone at WWE for his
09:17comments in his post show media scrum where he repeatedly praised CM Punk and his overall
09:23impact.
09:24Despite Big E trying to fight back against Wade Barrett, he had no legitimate points
09:28justifying Punk's involvement in the main event.
09:31Yes, CM Punk screwed Drew McIntyre in Scotland.
09:34This is a guy who was talking trash for a while.
09:37Say things, things happen to you, right?
09:39And Barrett for his part made some great points.
09:41So what was the consequence of all that?
09:44WWE fined Wade Barrett for his comments on CM Punk and Triple H.
09:47Are we seeing a pattern here?
09:49Yeah, maybe a little bit.
09:50Even Raw commentator Pat McAfee was critical of the way that Punk and Drew's situation
09:55has played out in Glasgow.
09:57Punk was the one who directly got involved in the outcome of two world championship matches
10:02in two months, but it's probably going to be Drew McIntyre who faces the ultimate ramifications
10:07of this because of his clash with WWE management.
10:10Others would say that Drew McIntyre is the one who injured CM Punk.
10:13CM Punk says, I will never let you be world champion again.
10:17Yeah, others would argue CM Punk used to be the rebel.
10:20He used to be the guy who fought the authority system.
10:22He used to be the real Punk, right?
10:25And now he's being completely backed and covered by WWE management.
10:29Or is this just circumstances of him getting caught in all of this?
10:33You see the irony in it?
10:34Yes, the lines are blurred.
10:36Drew McIntyre for his part seems to have realized there's no point in taking his old
10:40approach.
10:41The brutal assault on CM Punk in Chicago was a sign of that.
10:44It's cold.
10:45He's calculated.
10:46He's going to get his hands dirty and bloody.
10:49There is a saying, don't get mad, get even.
10:52McIntyre is doing a lot more than that, and he's getting even more than some of that.
10:56WWE will continue to keep the lines blurry and let fans pick their favorites.
11:01Majority of them are picking Punk.
11:03Again, we're not saying or implying that Drew McIntyre is right or even justified.
11:07And for those of you in the pro CM Punk, anti-Drew camp, let's say this, Drew McIntyre
11:13is a guy who has this chip on his shoulder and he can't get it off.
11:16And that chip is winning a world title and actually running with it in an unfiltered
11:21way.
11:22We've already kind of brought that up, right?
11:24And he kind of thinks in this whole thing he's entitled to that, but he doesn't have
11:28to earn that.
11:30That's worth bringing up.
11:31The next thing he's going to earn is the next page in this story, which likely involves
11:36CM Punk having revenge on Drew McIntyre for his actions in Chicago.
11:42It's hard to see what the payoff will be here.
11:43And if it'll be just one big match at SummerSlam, that's unlikely.
11:47Some claim that Drew McIntyre is going to destroy CM Punk, but also CM Punk has had
11:53really only one televised match since his return to WWE.
11:58So this one could be something special in that regard.
12:01If he is indeed clear to compete at the time we get to SummerSlam, it's going to be a lot
12:06harder if WWE wants to drag this out all the way to WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, and they're
12:11going to have to get really creative if they want to blow it off in April 2025.
12:16That is a long, long time from now.
12:18What's really cool about this story is how it completely deviated from the traditional
12:22good guy, bad guy trope and created something fresh and is built around having a world title,
12:28but not actually competing for it.
12:30Both men, incredibly flawed people and interesting characters with a lot of layers and dimensions.
12:36It just seems to be getting increasingly ruthless over the course of a few months.
12:40And when Drew McIntyre laid out CM Punk on that SmackDown, he took a bracelet from him
12:46that referenced CM Punk's wife and his beloved dog.
12:49He made it personal.
12:51So this isn't about a title anymore or being a world champion.
12:55This is about being the better man.
12:57Who do you pick?
12:59CM Punk or Drew McIntyre?
13:01If CM Punk remains fit for the rest of the year, then this can be one of the rivalries
13:05that wrestling really needs to do something different.
13:09So good it doesn't even need a championship.
13:12That's exactly what WWE needs and it's a continuation of Triple H and the new creative vision mastering
13:17the art of storytelling in this renaissance era.
13:21What do you think?
13:22Should CM Punk come on top or Drew McIntyre?
13:26Once again, let us know in the comments below.