5 Reasons CM Punk Is Now WWE’s Biggest Competitor - 3

3. He Generates The Kind Of Buzz That Breaks the Internet

CM Punk is bigger than Kim Kardashian’s butt. There, it’s been said. When the now infamous cover of Paper magazine featuring Kardashian’s exposed behind was released, it came along with the subtitle ‘Break the Internet,’ presumably because the publishers felt that the image would become viral to the point of somehow grinding all of the Internet to a halt. And while the image did make the rounds, the Internet survived.

Then, on November 26, like an RKO out of nowhere, CM Punk at long last broke his silence regarding his departure from WWE in January of this year. Showing up as a guest on The Art of Wrestling podcast hosted by his long time friend and fellow wrestler Colt Cabana, Punk gave about as much detail on what lead to his walk-out as any fan could hope for. And that’s when the Internet actually broke.

Specifically, the Internet broke for Cabana’s podcast website as it simply could not handle the influx of traffic coming in to stream/download this new episode. Keep in mind; this is a podcast that has featured major names in pro wrestling, including Stone Cold Steve Austin. By the time everything was said and done and the episode was made available via other means, The Art of Wrestling became, for a brief moment, the top downloaded podcast amongst all podcasts and, suffice it to say, there’s a lot of popular podcasts out there.

Interestingly, that episode was released a few days before the advertised appearance of Vince McMahon on a special live episode of Austin’s podcast on the WWE Network. So while McMahon’s unprecedented podcast appearance was not booked directly as a response to Punk’s shoot pipe bomb, it stands to reason that the topics of conversation covered between Austin and McMahon were definitely different than they may otherwise have been. It’s likely that McMahon may not have been as candid regarding the state of affairs in the locker room had it not been made apparent by Punk and Cabana that candor sells.

In an age where WWE needs to stay relevant in the realm of the webosphere and social media, the kind of Internet-breaking buzz generated by Punk would have been priceless. Punk’s original pipe bomb promo drew a lot of attention towards the WWE and now, his two podcasts with Cabana have done the same, but for all the wrong reasons. Going forward, it seems likely that the WWE will work more closely with the likes of Austin and Jericho and other podcasters in their good books (read: not Jim Ross) so as to capitalize on the growing popularity of this medium. Because if the WWE wants to break the Internet, it’s going to have to top CM Punk.