I have to admit almost right off the bat something that may be construed as quite controversial to a lot of wrestling fans: I don’t miss CM Punk one bit. I’ll be totally honest in that of all the guys on the main roster over the last decade I truly believe Punk to be one of the most overrated in the game today. It’s not that I believe he’s not a good worker, he is, and I’ll certainly admit he’s one of wrestling’s best “mic” men but I have never truly bought into this “best in the world” and it’s almost as if the more I hear fans say it the less likely I am to actually believe it.
Punk’s current “leave of absence” or whatever you want to call it has divided wrestling fans the world over. There certainly are some incredibly passionate individuals out there, some who support and some who criticize. I’m going to take a different tactic here as I believe Punk’s walkout has helped to demonstrate why it has never been more important for WWE to have an “off-season.”
This issue has been brought up in the past and most of the time it is universally shot down. Really think about it for a moment and off the top of your heads how many entertainment avenue’s, sporting events, etc have a touring schedule that is literally all year long? Realistically the only break these guys and girls get is a day or two off a week and a small Christmas break. That’s it. When your job entails getting flights all over the world and driving cross-country and beating your body up on almost a daily basis this is most certainly not a comfortable way to live.
Given the WWE’s business model I’ll certainly admit that it may be an extremely awkward thing to trial out at first but given WWE seems to care more about the health and well-being of their talent now more than ever than before, then surely it is time to do something. With the exception of the fall out of Wrestlemania so I’m talking about the post Mania’ Raw then Extreme Rules/Backlash the annual post Wrestlemania period is traditionally the worst year of business for WWE. Given this then an idea could be that after the first pay per view after Wrestlemania the talent is given time off to recover and to rest. Let’s just say for a month. If this scenario were to happen then fan anticipation would grow massively for when WWE comes back “in season” and the product may have a fresh feel.
WWE’s writer’s would be able to take some time off and devise new storyline ideas for when talent gets back, any injuries can be properly attended too and the talent could simply have some time off to maybe even go on a holiday. Lord knows they deserve it after how hard they work all year round. In an era where the WWE Network now makes WWE content accessible 24/7 fans would have more than enough to keep them entertained whilst the season is over.
It works wonders for football every year. A good friend of mine is always in good spirits for when football season resumes and it’s something he looks forward to every year. This could easily be done for WWE. The culmination of every wrestlers work leads to Wrestlemania and the fallout right afterwards so after that a break would be idea. Just imagine what this could do for the talent, the company and moreover the business as a whole. Given WWE could employ this quite feasibly I sincerely hope it’s something they consider for the future.
– By Matt Roberts