The Battle Of The Punks
Posted by TWV Guest Columnists
on 09/08/2006
Want to get your column on this site? Just click here and follow the instructions. No experience is needed!
Guest Column By James Johnson
I was just reading Dave Scherer's ECW Thoughts and just thought I'd pipe in my opinion on the "Prince Of Punk Vs. CM Punk" situation.
Now I appreciate that although some people may not understand why this would make a good feud (story wise, not ring wise) and why don't they just tag team or something, going into "social analysis" mode for a moment, I think WWE's Creative have,
God above forbid, hit on something with this. In every society, there are a number of groups divided by varying social outlines - I'm 19 and living in Liverpool, England (cheap pop) and I have to say that not only does this storyline actually interest me, but I think it will interest a lot of younger people.
The past few years have seen social trends change and the current fashion is the alternative. Within alternative culture are vary social groups, call them what you will; "goths," "moshers," "emos," et cetera; but at the heart of the fashion is the red headed love child we like to call "punk." I disagree completely with what I have just wrote because punk is not a fashion statement, it's a way of life and that applies to all of the groups and many more that I mentioned.
But, a lot of people see the lifestyle as more of a fashion statement than an actual way of life.
Herein lies the feud; the true core of alternative culture against the outsiders, the "posers" who seemingly mock it's values. Think of it as the difference between real ECW fans (old school ECW), people who are passionate about the business and entertainment form that they love, versus the guys who just turn up trying to incite fights at house shows just because somebody said that they like John Cena.
On one hand you have CM Punk, the wrestling embodiment of true punk, the real spirit of working your way out of hell and making something of yourself whilst never forgetting where you came from. Of course, as well as rocking out and following a straight edge lifestyle (something I myself follow), discipline, hard work, and not being ashamed of who you are.
On the other hand, you have Shannon Moore, the wrestling embodiment of a poser. As seen in his vignettes, he considers himself to be seen as a "reject," a "social outcast;" but at the same time on ECW this week, he said, "I'm the Prince Of Punk and I'm bringing sexy back." Couple this along with his outset attitude, claiming to be society's victim without actually ever saying why, and you have your classic heel! A whining, snot nosed "punk" (pardon me) who feels that he should be the center of attention at all times. Consider Shannon Moore to be the alternative equivalent of Johnny Nitro and you can see why people of my generation can't stand the guy.
With the simple words, "you're a poser" and a slap to the face, CM Punk fired the first shot of this war between the old guard of true punk and the new breed of spoiled brats who think they're punk just because of how they dress/look; and just like any poser in that situation, Shannon Moore did
not react because he's cocky and hey, who needs to fight this guy when you're already so far under his skin just by being who you are and representing what he hates? I hate WWE Creative at the best of times but I honestly think, if this feud can be given some background combined with simple promos as saw on this week's ECW, we may have our first break out feud of the new ECW. I don't want to draw historical comparisons, but this
could be the new ECW's equivalent of Tommy Dreamer and Raven, in that they seemingly come from the same background and have an intense feud which gradually develops into a love/hate relationship (if they do end up teaming). Remember, I said
could; maybe a comparison to one of the greatest feuds of all time is optimistic to say the least but we're looking at possibilities here. Sure, Shannon Moore is not the greatest worker in the world, but who ever looked at Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Goldberg, et cetera and thought "five star match?" No, we accepted these performers for the way they played their parts in stories, not for their technical prowess and because of that, the matches came second place, but still seemed amazing.
I genuinely believe that this will get more younger people interested in ECW; a modern retelling of the classic face/heel scenario; but it seriously needs time to develop unless Creative wants fans left scratching their heads at what the hell just happened (as if Creative would ever do that!). I'm no expert on wrestling. I've never written an article on it before and this is all just based solely on my own opinions, social background, and under a minute of footage on ECW. The fact is though, society has changed, but to all the older readers who were there for the first pure incarnation of punk, it's true that the more things change the more they stay the same.
Now since I first wrote this article on another website, I have had some feedback and I feel it is only right to include some of this here. One reader commented on the difference between "fake and real" and how not only this applies to my punk analogy, but also the difference between fake/real fans and also old school ECW wrestlers and the new breed of ECW wrestlers. When this article was first written, it was at 5 AM in the morning and I had no expectations of it ever being read. Now in hindsight, I can say this:
yes, Creative stops with Vince and he is trapped in some sort of time warp. He is influenced by those around him, some of which do not want ECW to be a success.
Yes, Matt Hardy/Edge, Paul Burchill as a pirate, The Blonde B***** Project; he never totally understood any of them or somebody didn't. Katie Vick, the less said the better; the recent Steve Irwin line, tasteless as heck. But would we keep watching if we did not have faith? Ric Flair and Mick Foley, an excellent feud. If anyone points out how they are legends and are let off of the creative leash, I point to Batista and King Booker or Cena and Edge. I am keeping the faith because although Punk is essentially still an underground movement, a lot of WWE's writers come from a Hollywood or TV writing background, therefore keeping with today's social trends has got to be something they can do.
We have been given a spark of hope by WWE, will it pan out? Who knows? I haven't written this just to say, "Well, WWE should do this, they should do that." I've done it because I believe Creative have tapped into something that they won't let die out inexplicably like so many other storylines before it.
The Prince Of Punks versus The True Punk? All I can say is in the words of The Ramones, "Beat on the brat, beat on the brat, beat on the brat with a baseball bat,
oh yeah!"
Send feedback to
jj_uk@hotmail.co.uk.
Want to get your column on this site? Just click here and follow the instructions. No experience is needed!
Copyright © 2005; TheWrestlingVoice.com & Douglas Nunnally.
All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer & Privacy Statement
