Just as he said, CM Punk has made the WWE socially relevant once again. Check these links for some pre-MitB commentary from ESPN and a fantastic interview via GQ:

The Masked Man: On Wrestling and Reality (via ESPN’s GrantlandO

The GQ&A: CM Punk

Last night lived up to (and perhaps even exceeded) expectations. Fun show, compelling, left us asking questions and looking forward to Raw tonight!

WWE is always scrambling in the summer months, still trying to recover from their WrestleMania hangover, where you’re likely to see stock prices drop, only to start moving back up as the next “Road to WrestleMania” begins the following year…

This year, they took a big chance on announcing next year’s WM Main Event: The Rock vs. John Cena. I like this in some ways, but in other ways it’s unfortunate. It takes some of the build up out of the equation, as we know one third of what is ultimately going to be another triple main event has already been decided. (The other two thirds are the World Heavyweight Championship and the Undertaker Streak match). In my opinion, they “shot their wad” a bit early, and the build up has been left to Cena and Rock tweeting insults back and forth every few weeks. Still cool, but not gonna drive ratings and won’t get people excited. After all, it’s all about ratings and PPV buys!

The other big story that’s been out there in recent months is that CM Punk’s contract would be running up this July (now only a couple weeks away). Folks have been speculating on whether he’d re-sign, whether he’d jump ship to TNA or ROH, or whether he’d just take some time off like Chris Jericho likes to do. Truth be told, the answer to that question still seems to hang in limbo. WWE took the internet speculation and let CM Punk run with it. It’s now become the most exciting thing to happen on Raw in a long time. The Nexus Invasion was awesome, but doesn’t even compare.

CM Punk saw his opportunity, and he reached out for more than just another one of Vince’s brass rings… you could say this is his “Austin 3:16″ moment:

WWE has gone to great lengths to promote this angle, as they’ve now “suspended” Punk, leaving his #1 contender spot open:
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon suspends CM Punk [WWE.com]

I’ll end this post by quoting many of my Twitter followers: “Vince, don’t f- this up!”

In regards to the events of Summerslam, the WWE Universe got “Punk’d” on two different levels.

One – the obvious – CM Punk beat Jeff Hardy after perhaps Hardy’s most incredible jump off a ladder to date.

Two – the already infamous “fan” interference during the Cena / Orton championship match.

If you didn’t catch it, the match was moving at a decent pace, with Cena and Orton trading blows for the first 15 mins or so. At one point, Cena appears to be getting the upper hand. In a classic heel move, Orton pushes the referee, drawing a DQ, and retaining the title.

At that point, Lillian called the match, and declared a NEW champion… but yet declared Orton’s name. About a second later, she declared that Vince was calling for the match to restart, including the stipulation that a DQ would result in a change of title.

Had Lillian just given away the eventual finish? At the time, we surely thought so. She looked rather flustered after the “slip” of words. But in retrospect, I believe that Lillian may have done that on purpose, and it was all part of a work…

Later in the match, Orton grabs the belt and draws a count out victory for Cena. Again, Lillian declares that Vince wants the match to go on, and that a count out would be cause for a title change as well.

Fast forward just a bit, and Orton pins Cena with his feet on the ropes for leverage (the top rope, at that… haha).

ANOTHER restart has to take place, as a second referee comes down to notify the original ref of the interference! Can you believe the circus this match has become? Seriously!

Eventually Cena gets Orton in the STFU (or whatever they’re calling it these days), and as Orton is perhaps getting ready to tap, a “fan” slides into the ring and puts the referee in a rear naked choke hold. The ref looked like he was really hurting, and Cena and Orton both looked shocked / appalled / dismayed. Had this “fan” just ruined the true finish?

Well, what else to do but find a way to end the match. Perhaps at this point, Vince called down to the ref’s headset and said “screw it – let’s just keep the belt on Orton and make another match down the road.” So Orton immediately hits two RKO’s and gets the pinfall victory.

I was satisfied with that explanation, until later in the night when I started to get the internet’s take on what happened.

It could be that the WWE creative team had managed to pull off the greatest “punk’d” moment on us – the intelligent wrestling fan base. Perhaps – mind you, I’m just speculating – but perhaps, Lillian “screwed up” on purpose. They wanted us to believe Cena would win. And then later, when the “fan” ran into the ring, they wanted us to think that the wrestlers and referee were at a loss for words and had to improvise something really quickly. I must say… they did a hell of a job, if that’s what they were trying to do. They didn’t even replay the “fan” incident and tried to avoid making mention of it on the broadcast!

Online rumors seem to all point at Ted Dibiase’s brother – yes, another Dibiase – who had been training at FCW – to be the “fan” who was choking out the referee. That being the case, this all makes sense. The up and coming Ted Dibiase turns face (as has been hinted at for months, now), and his brother steps in to continue with Twink Rhodes as Legacy, once the DX storyline blows over.

I’m embarassed. I really thought I knew what was going on. Haha. Times like these are the most fun as a fan. Keep it up, guys.