Major Backstage CM Punk Inside Here, Final SNME Rating
By WOPW
on Thursday, August 7 2008
Carlito did not appear at the SD! taping last night. Interesting.
The official final rating for WWE Saturday Night's Main Event was a 1.4.
According to a new report by The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the suggestion for CM Punk to win the World Heavyweight Championship initially didn't go over very well, but arguments were made that since the company was pushing a new "youth movement" and to shake things up that Punk was the guy to push more than anyone else. Interesting enough that since decisions like this have gone down, ratings have seen a jump across the board for all three shows (more so for Raw and ECW).
The general discussion at the time was that Punk was more popular than he really should have been giving his push and that he sells much more merchandise than someone in his position should have. When Vince McMahon green lighted the move to make Punk the new champion, sources noted how everyone in creative suddenly were 100% backing his decision and very behind it. It should be noted that the producers (agents) were very quiet when they were told of the decision as many reportedly don't think highly of Punk's work, but none argued against Vince's direction since they were afraid of losing their job.
It's no secret that Triple H has never been a big supporter of Punk behind the scenes dating back to his arrival in the company. One source has indicated that Triple H was overheard joking that they needed to turn Shawn Michaels heel so Punk had someone who could actually work him through what a World Title match should look like. The current direction of Punk's character not looking as strong or coming off as the underdog was Vince's idea as he feels Punk as a babyface always "clinging to the belt" against guys who are looked at as stronger and better will work out in the end with the fans getting behind him. This was roughly the same idea Vince had with Rey Mysterio as champion on Smackdown, although many felt he was never truly behind Mysterio to begin with looking at him as a transitional champion at that time.
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WrestleMania VII was moved from the Rose Bowl to the Sports Arena in Los Angeles because Vince McMahon feared a sniper might try and take out lead heel Sgt. Slaughter, playing the role of a Iraqi sympathizer during the Gulf War.
