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A side note on CM Punk's interview with Ariel Helwani.
I thought the whole thing was great, and absolutely fair. He didn't bury anyone, just confirmed what everyone already knew, and clarified a few things. The way the Internet has taken the interview and clipped every point out of context while adding their own spin has really stirred it up into a "pipe bomb" type promo, when it really wasn't. But I think that's the magic of CM Punk, his golden egg production, so to speak - when he talks, people talk about what he says, whether they love him or hate him. He brings that unpredictability to the product that many have forgotten was a key ingredient for the success of the Attitude era in the 1990s, even when the storytelling was still not quite there yet, it made the show interesting - IMO, as the storytelling got better, the unpredictability vanished (there was that sweet spot, probably best defined as the year 2000 where they had unpredictability + solid storytelling) but that was almost completely gone by mid-2002. But I'm getting away from my point.

The point is, CM Punk is that agent of chaos that brings that unpredictability back into the mix, and every moment he's on screen, every time he picks up the mic or you always wonder "What the fuck is this guy going to say?" and "Is this how its supposed to happen?"

My one criticism of the interview is more about presentation. CM Punk said multiple times: "I probably shouldn't say this, but I didn't come to this interview to censor myself, ______" when he could have highlighted the juicy stuff with an intro more like: "Here's something they don't want me saying_____" - a very minor criticism, but I like the idea that CM Punk being so mad at AEW that he's going to spit stuff he shouldn't, rather than making himself out to be the good boy who is unveiling stuff because Ariel asked him in a big interview. I think know its consistent with his character, but I felt he could have come off stronger.



I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.