Paul Heyman and CM Punk bring new life to WarGames

Real-life relationships are adding a whole new compelling nature to The Bloodline story

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Extra Mustard is a weekly column looking at the highs and lows–and everything in between–in combat sports and beyond.

CM Punk wasn’t just the right choice to join The Bloodline at WarGames.

He was the only choice.

In the current storyline, Roman Reigns didn’t have Paul Heyman’s cell phone number. Clearly, however, Punk did. And it all makes sense–Punk is here to avenge Solo Sikoa and the new Bloodline for their malicious attack on Heyman from this past June.

Why is Punk the one to stand up for Heyman, you ask? It’s because Punk is a Paul Heyman Guy.

Beginning in 2012, Heyman managed Punk during his most memorable stretch in WWE. But their relationship runs far deeper.

In the fall of 2005, Punk was sent by WWE officials to OVW, which was the company’s training territory. Punk already assumed he was on his out of the company, especially considering the word from his try-out match on the main WWE roster was that he failed to impress Paul Levesque and Shawn Michaels. Perhaps by design, it appeared Punk was destined to be the latest in a long line of indie stars to fail in WWE.

And then fate–in the form of Paul Heyman–intervened.

Paul Heyman returned to WWE programming in epic fashion this past Friday/WWE

Heyman respected Punk’s passion for the business, and he believed he harness his best qualities. Punk could wrestle, which many others could as well, but he was also exceptionally gifted on the microphone. Think of some of the people who Heyman turned into stars, even briefly–many of whom could neither talk nor wrestle like Punk.

Punk learned from Heyman, redirecting the whole trajectory of his career. He wasn’t fired and back on the indies within months. Instead, a little more than a year later, Punk was wrestling at Survivor Series, teaming on Team DX with Triple H and Shawn Michaels–generating louder cheers from the crowd in Philly than either of his more seasoned peers.