The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling in his weekly column, the Post Match Angle. Some very peculiar things are happening around CM Punk as WWE appears to be manufacturing controversy they hope to blend into his storyline. Visually, Punk screwing Drew McIntyre out of the World Heavyweight championship for a second time at Clash at the Castle on Saturday was done perfectly.
As Punk slid into the ring, you couldn’t see his face but you could see his Air Jordan sneakers, so the smart fans knew. The look of him smirking and holding up two fingers for both the two-count and the second time – the other at WrestleMania 40 – that he cost McIntyre the belt was theater. Punk would kick McIntyre in the nether regions, allowing Damian Priest to deliver South of Heaven to retain – which likely means Gunther has a good chance of becoming a world champion at SummerSlam.
But there are certainly some issues with how this all went down. McIntyre has lost due to outside interference in two straight championship main events in the UK – this one in his home country of Scotland that left 11,000-plus disappointed fans. WWE tried to explain the injured Punk being there with a social media video of him just so happening to run into referee Jessika Carr backstage with a ref’s shirt just as the ref was knocked out in Priest and McIntyre’s match.
Heck of a coincidence. Yes, there was a segment where Punk was talked about as the potential guest.