Tonight, under the social media banner #HijackRAW, pro wrestling fans will be out for blood, and not the kind that Vince McMahon’s WWE is known for dishing out.
While the word ‘hijack’ may sound a bit dramatic for fan participation, the modern pro wrestling audience has made dramatic misbehavior its calling card. By hijack, this portion of the crowd attending Monday Night Raw (USA Network, 8–11p), means to disrupt the entire broadcast, by way of overwhelming chants, meant to drown out the majority of the talent that will come out on stage.
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While the WWE can prepare for this reaction, unless they have an ace up their sleeve there may be little they can do to stem the boo birds. Some of the chants will be in support of Daniel Bryan, a superstar whose talents many fans think are being wasted. Other chants will be against the returning David Bautista (who, confusingly enough, goes by the stage name Batista), who returned as a good guy only to be rejected by the crowds.
Most of those who will use the #HijackRaw hashtag, though, will be chanting for CM Punk, the self-declared “Best In The World” straight-edge superstar, who may not even be there to hear the chants. Punk hasn’t been on WWE television since January 26, and his absence has not been acknowledged on air by the company. Off air, the Punk-shaped-hole in the WWE universe has only been brought up once, when McMahon (on a conference call with investors) fielded a question about his M.I.A. talent by saying “[Punk]’s taking a sabbatical, let’s just put it that way.“
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The well-circulated rumor is that Punk told McMahon, ”I’m going home,” after exhaustion and dissatisfaction with the company brought the superstar to walk out on his contract. While that may sound like a part of a story, this kind of real-life off-screen drama has happened before, most notably when Stone Cold Steve Austin walked out on the company with a year left in his contract. On Monday night, chants will rain down for Punk from fans believing that they’re playing the role of jilted lover, begging for someone who left them. At the same time, there’s a chance he hasn’t actually walked out on the company, and is ready to return. Austin, for what it’s worth, has been predicting Punk’s disappearance will be worked into the on-screen story, bringing him back in the company in time for April’s much-hyped Wrestlemania 30.
Additionally, pro wrestling rumor-monger Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline, is reporting that his sources guarantee Punk will be at Monday night’s event. So, either through absence or appearance, we’ve got a must-watch event on our hands in Chicago.
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