I think CM Punk has certainly had his fair share of detractors since he came to the WWE. And to be honest, I've been one of them. I loved watching Punk in Ring of Honor, in fact one of the big reasons I don't bother with ROH anymore is because guys like Punk are no longer around. "The Summer of Punk" angles was one of my favorite in recent years. When he first came to the WWE, I was so excited, because to me Punk combined entertainment value and in-ring ability that I hadn't seen in an up-and-comer since Chris Jericho. Finally, a year later he debuted on ECW, and I quickly was disappointed. Part of this was because of the way he was being booked, without much of a character to speak of. But then, in his matches, everything fell flat. Obviously WWE puts restrictions on the way that guys work, but to me Punk wasn't able to overcome that and get the crowd on his side. Sure, in some arenas he would get decent pops, and stuff like his ECW title win got a huge reaction, but for the most part I felt that Punk was creeping into overrated territory.

So tonight the crowd reaction for Punk's win wasn't THAT great, but to be honest they were only going to react so much to Punk. I'm sure some people probably think that if Punk had earned more wins since WrestleMania he would have gotten a better reaction here, but please, wins over Chuck Palumbo and even Edge on ECW and Smackdown weren't going to make Punk into some fan darling. Punk has very rarely gotten GREAT reactions during his entire WWE run, and he certainly didn't get one at WrestleMania, so to have expected anything better just a couple of months later is silly.

I do think though they could have done a better job of creating an atmosphere for Punk to get the win here. It was so sudden and out of nowhere and honestly made Punk seem kind of bitch when he's a babyface. Sure, Edge gets his MITB comeuppance but was the point to embarrass Edge or to make Punk the new champ?

I don't know if this would have created for a better environment or not but - say Edge comes out not only with The EDGE GUYS but Chavo and Bam as well, and maybe even Umaga. He cuts the same promo, and when he runs down Cena, HBK, Rey, and Dave, 3 of those 4 come out one by one to get the crowd pops. They each cut a little promo on Edge and say that he's right, they don't have the chance, but there is one guy who could bring the belt to RAW, and then they all make way for Punk on his way out to the ring. So now you've got a similar dynamic to when Foley beat Rock for the title and DX and the Corporation were at ringside. Of course, Punk now is nowheres near as loved as Foley was then but at least the dynamic is similar, so who knows what the reaction would have been.

Maybe the finish for the match is even something like, the faces are brawling with La Familia on the floor, Edge is about to put down Punk with a spear, but then the lights go out and you get a gong. When they come back on Edge is freaking out, and there's no Taker, but Punk gets him up for a GTS for the win. It's more or less the same ending as Foley/Rock had, although in that case Austin actually came out (and I don't know about you guys, but to me this was the biggest pop that I have EVER seen in the history of pro wrestling) whereas in this one Taker doesn't come out to the ring, but his presence is there.

Then you have Dave, Cena, and Rey putting Punk on their shoulders and putting him over for bringing a World title back to RAW.