It’s been 24 hours since Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer set the internet wrestling community abuzz by reporting that CM Punk had walked out of RAW on Monday and went home.  He did not have much information on the situation or an exact reason as to why CM Punk decided to quit but speculation has been running wild all day.

While it has not been verified by CM Punk or WWE as of yet, I would not be surprised if this was true.  Apparently, Punk’s contract was set to expire this summer.  After spending 18 months as the world champion and breaking the modern longevity record for length of the reign, he has been nothing but an afterthought since WrestleMania.  He was champion for basically a year and half and was bypassed for main event of WrestleMania.  As champion, he was second fiddle as Vince brought back The Rock to face John Cena.  Then they brought The Rock back and had him beat CM Punk at the Royal Rumble to win the title and wrestle John Cena in the main event for the second year in a row.  An unbeatable champion that had run through every competitor in the WWE including multiple wins over John Cena and yet Punk couldn’t beat a guy that hadn’t wrestled in a year and had only wrestled 1 match in half a decade.  CM Punk then lost to another part time guy and once a yearer when he was added to the list of The Undertaker’s WrestleMania victims.  Not as bad as losing to The Rock at the Royal Rumble but still a case of the WWE refusing to let younger stars break through the glass ceiling and pass the part timers that just come in to take all the best spots on the biggest show of the year.

After that turn of events, CM Punk was buried in the mid card all year.  He was forced to feud with boring rejects handed to Paul Heyman in hopes that his amazing mic skills could give the heels a personality.  Curtis Axel and Ryback needed a lot more than Paul Heyman’s speaking skills to make people care about them so the feud was lackluster to say the least.  After avoiding the Ryback/Axel stink, it was then on to a prolonged feud against “The Authority.”  The Shield.  The Wyatt Family.  Kane.  HHH.  Funny that a guy that owned the title for so long was never really given a chance to win it back.  The long running rumors was that CM Punk would face HHH at WrestleMania in New Orleans.  I’ve seen people online giving Punk grief and calling him a crybaby for quitting.  I’ve seen them say “isn’t wrestling HHH on WrestleMania good enough for the spoiled brat?”  Does anyone with a pulse think that HHH was going to let CM Punk beat him on the grandest stage of them all?  It would just be another instance of a part time wrestler hogging the spotlight and being made to look great at WrestleMania while someone that killed themselves for the company all year is screwed over.  Add in the fact that Punk had to sit back and watch the same thing that happened to him two years in a row happen to Daniel Bryan this year when he was passed over and shit on so that Bashitstain can be brought back straight into the WrestleMania main event.  It was truly a case of “the more things change, the more things stay the same.”  The writing was on the wall with John Cena, Randy Orton, HHH and Bashitstain getting all the air time and all the main event action.  It is 2004 in WWE Land instead of 2014.

I remember the day that I heard CM Punk had gotten signed by WWE and he came in to IWA Mid-South for his farewell dates.  I told all my friends that I didn’t think he’d last a year.  He was too outspoken.  He was too proud.  He was too stubborn.  He would never accept the glass ceiling and the politics that HHH made everyone play to get ahead.  So I’m amazed that it has taken this long for CM Punk to get fed up and tell Vince and HHH to shove it.  From everything I’ve heard, he has saved up his money.  He doesn’t buy fancy clothes.  He doesn’t own a fleet of expensive cars.  He doesn’t have twenty houses.  He doesn’t go on week long drug and booze benders.  Therefore, he doesn’t need the money.  He can make more than a decent living doing the Wizard World shows signing autographs, wrestling conventions and the occasional indy appearance.  Instead of being on the road 300 days a year, he can be on the road less than half that.  Instead of getting thrown around and banged up 5 nights a week, he can do it one or two.  He can get out with his health, his sanity and his dignity.  Not too many wrestlers get to do that.

That is one of the main reasons I hope this story is true.  Good for him for beating the system.  Maybe this will also open up some eyes in the WWE.  The status quo is never going to change if no one revolts.  If fans don’t stop watching, if wrestlers don’t stand up for themselves, then the cronyism will continue.  If the entire roster, minus Cena, Orton and Bashitstain, stood up and told Vince they were quitting if Bashitstain vs. Orton was the main event at WrestleMania, Vince would have to change it.  He can’t replace the entire roster this close to the show and not have it effect the WWE Network and WrestleMania buyrates.  There will never be a time when the wrestlers have as much leverage and power as they do now.

Of course, all of this becomes a moot point when CM Punk is on RAW in three weeks.  It is hard to believe this story since we just had the whole CM Punk is quitting thing a couple of years ago and he has constantly talked about it.  It might have reached the point where it’s the “boy who cried wolf.”