'Do I have your attention now?'
The dust has barely settled on a pretty shitty Royal Rumble last weekend and if sources for the Wrestling Observer and PWInsider are to be believed, Vince McMahon could be facing even more wrath from fans with reports that CM Punk has quit.
Punk, along with Daniel Bryan, has been perhaps the most popular wrestler in the WWE over the last three years, but has reportedly become fed up with being overlooked by 'part-time' stars such as The Rock and the recently returned, winner of Sunday's Rumble match, Batista. Punk didn't appear on Monday's episode of WWE Raw after he apparently walked out due to late changes to the script.
These changes are supposed to have happened due to the huge uproar at Daniel Bryan not being included in the Royal Rumble match, and rumours are that management decided to push Bryan into a feud with Triple H for Wrestlemania instead of Punk, as was originally planned.
PWInsider say:
Former WWE and World champion CM Punk has been pulled from all advertising of WWE live events going forward after a meeting with WWE management yesterday at the Raw taping in Cleveland, Ohio.
We have been working on details for the last 24 hours (as Dave Scherer and I noted on our respective Elite audios earlier today), but the belief among those who are willing to talk about the situation is that Punk is no longer factored into company plans. Punk is under contract to WWE through July.
Of course, Punk would have little problem with Bryan's elevation but more with the fact that he is now the fall guy for the resounding unpopularity of Batista.
It's not the first time that this type of controversy has surrounded the Chicago wrestler. In 2011, he was set to quit the company for similar reasons but a shoot (not in character) promo in the weeks prior to his departure propelled him to a new stratosphere of stardom. Mostly due the fact that he tore Vince McMahon, Triple H and The Rock a new one in his speech.
His popularity soared, he signed a new contract and would go on to become the longest reigning WWE Champion of the modern era (yes I know it's scripted).
However, since losing his title to, 'part-timer', The Rock at last year's Royal Rumble, Punk has been left in limbo storyline wise and it's looks like he may have decided that enough is enough.
