CM Punk and Kevin Owens have been getting personal, but Jinder Mahal thinks Punk may have picked the wrong target when he started taking shots at Owens’ body.
The August 14 episode of WWE SmackDown featured another heated face-to-face between Punk and Owens ahead of their Undisputed WWE Championship match in Toronto on August 21. The two dug even deeper into their 20-year history, including their issues dating back to the independent wrestling scene. Punk also went after Owens’ physique again, eventually promising to put Owens’ “fat ass to sleep” when they meet for the title.
During the latest episode of Busted Open, Bully Ray and Raj Dhesi, formerly known as Jinder Mahal, broke down the promo and weren’t sold on Punk making Owens’ weight part of the fight. Dhesi first said the entire Punk-Owens rivalry works because it feels like the two men are mixing WWE storylines with legitimate history and taking real shots at one another.
“I love when reality is brought into storyline, and I don’t even know if all of this is storyline. Me and you both have had promos in WWE. We both know how the scripting works, or whatever the process is with writers, or if you go out with bullet points, what you’re gonna say, the general direction. I really think both of these guys, yes, they know a general direction, but they’re shooting live shots. Live rounds are going off. And both guys are quick-witted, slick talkers. It’s making for excellent television.”
Things changed when the show replayed Owens confronting Punk over his comments about his appearance. Bully stopped the audio and said Owens has already proven that he doesn’t need abs or a traditional WWE look to become a top star.
“Here’s the thing about the ‘fat slob’ comment, or whatever colorful language Punk used last week, telling Kevin that he’s fat or needs to wear a shirt — I believe means absolutely nothing. Because I think fans realize that, okay, he doesn’t go to the gym, he’s a little chubby and he wears his shirt. He’s also main-evented WrestleMania against f*cking Steve Austin. He headbutted Vince McMahon in the face. He tears down the house every time he’s in the ring. He knocks the promos out of the park. He gets massive pops.”
Bully then made it clear that Owens’ body has never stopped him from reaching the top of WWE.
“Who cares if he wears a shirt? Who cares if he likes to go to catering twice a day? And who cares if he doesn’t have abs? Dusty didn’t have abs. Neither did f*cking I, and I wear a shirt, and I’m a two-time World Heavyweight Champion. My point is Kevin Owens doesn’t have to be a body guy to be a top guy.”
Dhesi agreed and said Punk actually lost some ground by going after Owens that way.
“Yeah, exactly. But that, to me, Punk took a bit of an L even going that direction. Yes, I understand he’s trying to take a personal jab at him. Give me something better, Punk. Give me something better. Like, dude, come on. The lines are so blurred between who’s a babyface and heel across the entire landscape in WWE, but Punk has to be a little bit careful in this situation.”
Bully also believes Owens is dangerous for Punk on the microphone because the two have enough history that Owens knows exactly where to hit him.
“I think Punk knows that Kevin knows enough about him and can expose him a little bit because of their history way back in the day, OG Ring of Honor. He knows enough about the history that he could put a couple of dents in Punk’s armor. And I think Punk is smart to this. He knows this.”
The subject came up again later in the show when Dhesi questioned whether Punk could eventually say something that turns the WWE crowd against him.
“Punk is so polarizing. Where is the line where Punk says something or does something that turns the crowd? And is that possible? Or is he just too over? Does he perform at such a high level that it’s irrelevant? He can do no wrong? What’s the situation?”
Bully believes Owens could absolutely become the more sympathetic guy if Punk keeps hammering away at his weight.
“I do think that they could hate Punk and love Owens, because I do think Punk, if Punk just focuses on Owens’ physique, even though Kevin has had so much success with his physique, if Punk just goes after it enough, I think people will boo him. People will be like, ‘All right, come on, man.’”
That’s when Dhesi pointed out the biggest problem with Punk’s approach. Punk spent years hearing the same kind of criticism about his own body from people such as Triple H and Kevin Nash.
“This version of Punk that we’re seeing, this jacked, tan version of Punk, this is brand new. The same knock that he’s making against Kevin Owens, Triple H and Kevin Nash and so many others were making it on WWE television, calling him ‘skinny fat.’ That was the same knock on CM Punk, the same knock that he has on Kevin Owens. And it’s interesting to see how things have changed.”
Bully immediately saw an opening Owens could use against Punk.
“If Owens were to say to him, ‘You turned into one of them. You are saying to me what they said to you, which makes you a f*cking sellout.’”
Dhesi agreed, noting that Punk himself was never considered the stereotypical WWE Superstar when he first became champion.
“Yes. Exactly. Because Punk, when he was champion in his first run, he wasn’t your prototypical star. That was the knock on him: ‘You don’t look like a star. You don’t dress like a star.’”
Bully then brought the whole thing back around to Owens.
“That’s basically the same thing that he’s telling Kevin Owens. He proved to everybody that he didn’t have to look nor dress like them to become a star and a world champion. And Kevin didn’t need to look or dress like Punk for him to become a world champion.”
Punk and Owens already have two decades of baggage to work with, so there’s no shortage of ammunition heading into their WWE Championship match. Dhesi’s point is that Punk may want to dig somewhere deeper than Owens’ waistline, especially when Punk spent years proving that a wrestler doesn’t need the traditional WWE body to become one of the biggest stars in the company.
Do you think CM Punk going after Kevin Owens’ weight makes Punk look like a hypocrite, or is it fair game in a personal wrestling feud? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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