People familiar with C.M. Punk, or perhaps more so people who heard about Punk being a big deal in pro wrestling because of his promo ability and mic work, likely expected fireworks from him going into his first fight. That has not been the case, though, either from Punk or his opponent, Mickey Gall. In fact, they have been cordial and spoken positively about each other as people.
“I think people are very excited for this, from what I’ve seen,” Gall said when asked at last week’s media conference call about the lack of verbal sparring with him and Punk. “We’re not going to put on and pretend to hate each other. I think there is an appropriate amount of build up. people are excited, and I know we are.”
Punk explained that one of the reasons there isn’t a lot of trash-talking is that the fight is going to be real, and that is enough for most people when it comes to seeing him enter the Octagon. Plus, people already have firm opinions in many cases on whether they are hoping to see Punk succeed or fail.
“I don’t see a need for [trash talking or verbal sparring],” he said. “People either love me or hate me already. I’m not trying to talk anybody into the building on this one. The allure is just that it is happening; the story just writes itself. It’s not a fabricated thing where I need to create some drama between me and Mickey. We’re going to fight. That’s the beautify of it. It doesn’t need to be a weird verbal pissing content. While it’s entertaining and it’s a shit-talking business, I don’t see it this time.”
KELLER’S ANALYSIS: The fact that Punk as not proven to himself or anyone else that he’s great at MMA, or even qualified on a prelim level, it wouldn’t make sense for him to be brash going into this fight. He is also spot on in saying that this fight sells itself because of the intrigue of seeing someone as well-known as Punk enter a real fight situation in a very high profile situation. Also, Punk in a way is trying to be more cerebral and not just play into the stereotype that pro wrestlers are just loud-mouths who are going to act a certain bombastic way. Although he could hold his own in a verbal battle with Conor McGregor, until he has some big wins he is smart enough not to put himself out there like that.
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