The Punk and Cody collision course is moving too fast

Look, I get it. We are addicted to the big matches. We see Bully Ray talking sense on the radio, wanting them to weave in the ghosts of their AEW pasts, but the cold reality is that WWE is flying through this story like a stunt driver on a suspended license. There is a real fear among the writers and fans alike that we are burning the candle at both ends before the match even hits the PPV poster.

Is it electric? Sure. But these two titans deserve a build that breathes, not just a series of segment-to-segment skirmishes that feel like they were booked to fill a commercial break. If you cram years of baggage into three weeks of television, you aren't building a blood feud—you're just checking off boxes on a spreadsheet.

The man who loves to hate the game

Then you have Phil Brooks sitting right in the middle of the room, looking like he just stepped out of a Rocky IV training montage. He recently opened up about his drastic physique change, and honestly, if you saw him lately, you know he looks like he could actually go a full hour without passing out. He claims watching his peers retire is what keeps the fire lit under him.

But catch him on a bad day, and he is still the same guy who takes issue with the modern locker room. He has been vocal about the current crop of talent chasing hugs and Twitter validation instead of mastering the art of getting the crowd to care. It’s the ultimate old-school take, and coming from the guy who once lied to Vince McMahon about the content of his 2011 Pipebomb just to see the world burn, it carries a lot of weight.

Celebrity burns, not builds

Let’s talk about the downside of the spotlight. Punk has made it clear that while everyone else thinks fame is a golden ticket, he views it as a literal burden. After a series of bizarre hotel incidents, it is easy to see why he is constantly on edge. You can’t be a public figure on his scale without eventually wishing you were invisible for an afternoon.

He is a man who knows exactly who he is, and that is a major problem for his opponents. Whether he is talking about what he would change about the company structure or living in the shadow of his own massive history, the guy is allergic to being a background character. He is also acutely aware that he is in the twilight of his run, and he is treating every segment like it is his last.

The pacing problem is a booking sin

Back to the Cody Rhodes conflict. My biggest gripe is the lack of psychological depth. We are seeing these guys square off with high intensity, but where is the slow burn? We all know how talented Punk is at working a room, and Rhodes is currently the face of the brand. When you put them on a collision course, you should be building to a crescendo that lasts months, not a blink-and-you-miss-it setup.

They are rushing through the paces. It’s like eating a five-course meal in three minutes—you get full, but you don't taste the individual ingredients. If management keeps pushing the pedal to the floor without letting the narrative catch up to the stakes, we risk having the biggest match of the year feel like just another Tuesday match on a random episode of Raw or SmackDown.

Punk has shown he can still deliver, and Rhodes is operating at peak efficiency. They don't need a frantic booking cycle to sell seats. They just need the time to let the fans hate or love them properly. Slow it down, let the tension simmer, and maybe stop worrying about the speed of the turnstiles for five seconds. Give us a story that actually has a pulse before we move on to the next shiny object.