CM Punk: A Guy I Can Relate To

I was a huge fan of pro wrestling growing up and still watch it once in a while.  That being said, it has gotten a bit stale, to be honest.  This is probably because WWE has no real competition and thus, no reason to up the ante anymore.  Not to mention that they have oversaturated the market.  Who can honestly sit through three hours of live wrestling every week?  Nonetheless, I love watching the documentaries, and one of my favorites to date is "CM Punk: Best In The World."

What I really like about him is that he doesn't buy into the "Cult of Positivity" culture that America has fallen prey to over the past decade.  He is brutally honest about how he feels, from overcoming a less than ideal family situation, to not fitting in at school, to being snubbed over and over when he finally makes it to the WWE, even as a champion.  He shows that being yourself has a price, but that, with a lot of hard work and determination, it is possible to succeed without selling out.  One of my favorite parts is when he writes up weeks of material for himself to perform, puts it on Vince McMahon's desk, and tells him that that's what he is going to do.  Vince is so impressed that he had the balls to do that that he lets him get away with it.  I also like that CM Punk is willing to listen to reason, too.  When he plans to quit the WWE after dealing with all of the politics and bullcrap, Joey Mercury convinces him to stay by saying that he can't change anything from his couch.  That is my favorite part of the documentary, because it shows that sometimes, we have to persevere through awful circumstances order to change things for the better. 

I can really relate to CM Punk on a lot of levels.  Like him, I don't want to be something that I not.  I want to be the unique individual that I was born to be, even if it rubs some people the wrong way.  I also want to change the world for the better.  At the same time, like CM Punk, I don't want to waste time feeling sorry for myself if things don't go my way.  I want to get up and persevere until I succeed, in the same manner that he did.  Like him, I also believe that family members should be responsible in their interactions with each other, and that they need to be held accountable for their deeds.  I know that people will constantly try to force me to be what they want me to be, in the same manner that the WWE creative team constantly tried to force him into a certain mold.  Fortunately, he had the courage to tear up their scripts and do things his way.  Likewise, I will figuratively tear up the "life scripts" that people try to force me into and do things my way.  If I work as hard as CM Punk, I know that I will succeed.