The WWE management and CM Punk are not exactly seeing eye to eye, but some people claim the company is purposefully attempting to scrub the WWE history of all major references to Phil Brooks. But is this purposeful or just their marketing department attempting to focus on the current roster of WWE superstars?
In a related report by The Inquisitr , it could be said the exact opposite is occurring in the video game world because it is rumored that WWE 2K15 could be delayed due to Phil Brooks’ lawsuit . If CM Punk is being scrubbed, then why delay a major video game title for the inclusion of just one game character?
We do know for a fact that the WWE responded quickly to CM Punk leaving them and shortly after Royal Rumble 2014. First he was removed from the “Then. Now. Forever” montage that airs at the start of WWE shows and was replaced by Kane. Videos of CM Punk talking about Paul Heyman was removed from the Countdown series on the WWE network. Punk’s image was even removed from the WWE app home screen. For some events where he was supposed to do signings he was replaced by Ric Flair.
But the alleged CM Punk scrubbing has apparently been digging into the past, not just more recent marketing materials. Recently, the WWE stuck a post-it note on top of Punk’s face on the Royal Rumble 2014 poster that could be seen backstage when WWE was filming the Ultimate Warrior documentary. CM Punk was also relegated to the bonus section of the new DVD set John Cena: Greatest Rivalries, although it’s not he was excluded entirely.
The WWE even went back in time to last year and erased CM Punk from the SummerSlam 2013 poster which showed all the wrestlers riding a roller-coaster. This is pretty significant considering that Punk faced Brock Lesnar that year, although they haven’t gone as far as editing that match out of the PPV viewable on the WWE Network. But if you go to the WWE website you can see the match results and they even have CM Punk’s face listed along the bottom. Notably, Alberto del Rio is not in that small montage of faces even though he was the defending WWE Heavyweight Champion.
So is the WWE really trying to scrub CM Punk out entirely? If so, it’s hit and miss since it’s obvious they’re not try to promote his name while at the same time he is still being included on the website and some new materials being released.