Characters Discussed: Paul Bearer, The Undertaker, Sting, Darby Allin, MJF, CM Punk.
Brief Mentions: Vampire Brood (Edge, Christian, Gangrel), Kane, Mankind, Bryan Danielson, William Regal, Adam Cole.
I want to also acknowledge that I got into wrestling in late March of 2022. It haunts me every day that I could have gone to see the dog collar match without spending any money to leave the state if I had just gotten into wrestling 2 months earlier. It fills me with a fury no one could ever understand. Familial relationships, hooray!
I would like to specify that I'm talking about fake families. The first example that comes to mind is Paul Bearer and his boys (Taker, Kane, and Mankind), the vampire brood (It was there and then it got scrapped because the only people who got it were repressed women who love Anne Rice, like me!) and a well known modern example I will mention before I talk about MJF and Punk. Don't get me wrong, I love actual family dynamics like the Harts (see previous) as well as Eddie and Chavo Guerrero, and you can't forget the Mysterio's but baby, it's all about the acting in my inane ramblings.
So as most of you are aware, the story goes that Paul knew Taker's parents then Taker burned down his house and killed his parents and brother in the process. Taker takes his parents to Paul to be cremated and, using the powers of mind manipulation, uses the urn to have a mindless Taker do his bidding. This eventually fumbles, metaphorically, as in Taker breaking the urn, and physically, as in the American Badass story arc (because honestly, most people do not care about long-term storytelling in professional sporting events because why would they.) However, it's all about looking too closely at a story that will be 40 years old soon, and though it was more explicit with Kane, it's entirely a (step)father-son relationship. You have to consider the physical interactions and acting on the mic. Paul appeared to worship his first boy. He has a "killing" machine that brings fear into the hearts of men before the appearance of Kane in the late 90s. The most obvious example has to be the fake Taker Summer Slam duel. At the beginning of the feud, before Paul becomes aware of the fake Taker, he obviously shows his frustration and confusion at his boy siding with Ted Dibiase. Still, he shows his glee at the end of the fight with the comically large urn with the spotlight inside.
Paul Bearer loved his boys and was obviously distraught at their turning against him. He treated them kindly, and honestly, I know Kane, the guy, is a real-life schmuck, but the way him, Mankind and Paul were together was honestly sweet. Because it was unconditional, even though Paul used Kane as a prop to get Taker back (and just tolerated Mankind when he showed up), you can tell he bet his chips on his first and favorite. And, side note, seeing the way Mankind cared for Kane was extremely sweet seeing how the two of those characters went frequently neglected by Paul. Mankind being an overall fantastic character is a whole other bunch of ideas I'm not willing to put pen to paper to (yet.) At the end of the 2000s, Paul was on the sidelines supporting his boy until his death sometime in 2012. But a few years before that, CM Punk comes in.
Please forgive me for being inaccurate here; I'm almost sure CM Punk just tried to kill Paul. Like, he locked him in a box rapidly filling with sand or concrete, which was a stipulation for a match with Taker. Either you win, or he dies, and you can tell the character of Taker was getting pissed. CM Punk, both the guy and the character, are snarky assholes. I'm referencing the character, but I wanted to bring that up. Anyways, he and Paul Heyman absolutely went wild together. They were the reflection of Paul and Taker; their relationship was just two cynics that agreed with each other in contrast with the tenuous decades-long relationship of Paul and Taker. They turned it on its head and mocked it openly because it was sweet in the end.
Taker and Paul were turned into father-son with time. Paul was explicitly using his powers of mind manipulation to have two demonic undead wizards, and a smaller guy who could easily overpower said wizards with his fingers, all live inside his funeral home and do his bidding. But how about something more healthy and some opinions on Sting.
Sting is one of my favorite wrestlers, I only recently discovered Surfer Sting, and I love him so much because he's a fascinating character. Think of this cool, ripped little guy mentored by every '80-'90s bleach-blonde wrestler under the tanning machine sun, and you have this perfectly molded character that is a face for the company. Except this positive surfer dude character becomes disgruntled by the real-life consequences of working for dubious characters and goes goth to make a name and create an image of his own volition.
After years and years of walking this lonesome road, he gets to meet Darby. Darby is like him, someone who just wanted more from their life and chose to change it. It's kind of a weird relationship. The two of them are loners and enforcers who choose to protect the little guy and protect each other. It's more or less a mentor/mentee situation, but it's all about the look and the copying. Since Darby is extremely similar to Sting style wise it's something that is frequently brought up by people going after Darby. People, like MJF, see weakness in dependency, of course they are both more than capable of protecting themselves. But he actually likes Darby, this is someone he is willing to go out of his way to protect Darby and vice versa. That's more or less the main idea I'm going for here. The niceness that comes with the friendship of an older and younger man.
Sting's discussion with MJF (04/12/23) is a primary example because he stood to bat for Darby. Darby can stand up for himself, but as a mentor, Sting has to protect his ideas. He pointed out that MJF has no one, he had Cody, but he ruined it. He also had someone else (who some members of the crowd decided to shout out), which he also ruined. Sting more or less rubbed it in his face. This skinny little goth kid is my kid.
"I'm sharing my wisdom and years of physical experience and you can't because you have no one in this world who even tolerates you."
I wanted to highlight that the older always protects the younger in some shape or form. The big guy with the experience protects the little guy new to the business. But wait a moment, you think, this doesn't apply to MJF and CM Punk. I'll make it apply.
It's not based on the inherent geniality between an older and younger man. It's hero worship. They bet their chips onto their winning horse. They built these men physically and mentally to create a monster controlling the ring. I'm certain Paul and Taker were paired for the sake of doing it and throwing something at the wall to see if it sticks. But Darby and Sting are a whole other thing. Sting saw potential in this person. Despite Darby being a newer wrestler, an inherent connection allowed for the Mentor/Mentee relationship to grow to as it is now.
CM Punk wasn't physically in MJF's life. He didn't see potential in MJF while he worked in the indie circuit. He didn't care about what he did with Cody Rhodes. The thing with CM Punk is that he saw nothing in MJF until he actually met the man in person. And only then did he actually know his name. But for MJF, it was an entirely different story. Because the character of CM Punk is the backbone of MJF, his mannerisms, and even the way he talks. MJF was taught by the YouTube videos and WWE dvd sets of CM Punk, and then he sought a connection only to be ignored by his hero. Think of it from the perspective of a writer. This character strove to connect with his hero, the guy he wanted to be like as a kid, the one person who inspired him to keep going, and CM Punk did not even know he existed until recently. If you were writing this as a character, this dude would be driven insane by all the wrongs in his life. MJF was overlooked by the older wrestlers he sought a connection with. He wanted help, and some others saw his potential, but no one bet their chips on him. He kept winning and fighting. He gave his all on the mic to be acknowledged by his idol, his hero CM Punk only to be ignored entirely. And as we're all aware, receiving that constant rejection broke him thoroughly.
"You did this to me."
MJF could scream at his competitor. It might be William Regal, Bryan Danielson, etc.
"You made this happen. You used to be as great as me, and you squandered your greatness. So I had to take your mantle."
But his foes know what he said to Punk and how he cried for his supposed mentor's kindness only to be cast away into nothingness. He's bored, but he's also lost. He needs something to give him structure, and he keeps clinging to each man who comes into his life only to be thrown away. He grovels, and his character's life is at a standstill as he is constantly looked over and hated by the other characters on the roster (Adam Cole) while not progressing as a character because he's stuck on CM Punk. (Because they were supposed to go at it again before the locker room fight.)
CM Punk isn't implementing his will in any way, but MJF wants the attention and the influence behind being close to CM Punk, but CM Punk hates him. And god knows what will happen on June 17th because Adam Cole is being used as filler for the massive emotional time bomb, which will probably be another nightmare of a dog collar match.