A funny thing happened last Monday night on WWE Raw: WWE superstar CM Punk called himself the “Taylor Swift for men” on live television. That claim stems from his current rivalry with Drew McIntyre and its recent developments around a bracelet Punk wears from a fan.
Taylor Swift did not invent bracelets of any variety, but her friendship bracelets have become a cultural phenomenon, much like the pop icon herself.
Apart from beaded bands around their wrists, though, is there any truth to Punk’s claim? Was it an apt comparison or a line designed to pop the live crowd? Yes, he is a wrestling legend with a passionate fanbase, but CM Punk is not “Taylor Swift for men.”
A Headliner vs. A Main Eventer
CM Punk is still, even at his age, a main event act in wrestling. He can be the world champion on any roster and be credible to fans, the wrestling media, and top executives. Some performers could never do that, but he does it consistently and well into his forties. While Punk can absolutely sell some tickets, and his appearances draw views, he isn’t alone.
The top guy, WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, and a legion of stars like Rhea Ripley, Seth Rollins, and the recently returned Roman Reigns all command vast amounts of adoration and contribute significantly to WWE’s viewership and success.
Discounting their appeal and the appeal of countless other superstars would sadly be inaccurate or perhaps even purposefully delusional. CM Punk shares the burden of the main event, but Taylor doesn’t.
Taylor Swift has celebrity friends and a famous boyfriend (famously also a Swifty before he became the unofficial first gentleman of pop music) who frequent her shows. Fans witnessed an Ed Sheeran performance at her concert in Wembley Stadium before she says so long, London, as the arena is set to host AEW’s All In after her shows conclude.
None of those possible guest spots or Travis Kelce sightings are selling tickets and commanding thousands of dollars worldwide. All of that success comes from the headliner, Taylor herself. Her name is the marquee, and her songs sell seats, all of the seats.
THIS. IS. WWE. ❤️#WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/lprQnyXPrz
— WWE (@WWE) April 8, 2024
The fundamental difference between a main eventer and a headliner is that a main eventer has the undercard. For WWE, in particular, those slots are stacked with talented rising stars like LA Knight, Jade Cargill, and Sami Zayn. They also have established main eventers who are not slated for the top spot on any given night.
If Taylor consistently shared the spotlight with similar acts like Billie Eilish, perhaps a comparison could be made. However, her Era’s Tour massive scale and nearly supernatural consistency for sales is something only out of Triple H’s wildest dreams.
Exhausted by Rooting for the Anti-Hero
Perhaps the closest that CM Punk and Taylor Swift come to parity is in the idea of “industry impact.” Swift, being an agent for change in music, may seem ludicrous to an outside observer. Still, the impact she has had is notable. From an individual standpoint, Swift has shattered concert attendance records.
She has won accolades for writing hits in multiple genres and, according to a Forbes piece by Marisa Dellatto in 2023, is the first musician to make the billionaires list based solely on her songs and performances. None of that may seem relevant to people who are not named Taylor Swift.
Even if the billion-dollar musician doesn’t have tenure in the tortured poets department, that success has mattered. Broadly, it has shown the staying power of a female act when societal forces and industry insiders would have deemed it improbable. Secondly, it has given her the name and power to take back her music from executives looking to bilk their artists and force streamers to pay their artists.
No, she doesn’t need the extra income, but a lot of artists do, and Taylor’s economic impact is making change possible for those acts, too.
CM Punk similarly changed wrestling more than once. His initial run at WWE changed what it meant to be a WWE main eventer. You needed a specific build and bio to rise up the ranks. Very few people broke that mold. CM Punk did it and paved the way for smaller performers and indie wrestling standouts to find a spot.
His success meant these talents could rise to the top of WWE. Wrestlers, once consumed with “the look” to the point of harmful substances, were able to prove themselves in the ring and on the mic in a way that never would have happened without CM Punk’s WWE career.
Punk again changed wrestling by co-signing with the upstart AEW promotion. He was the biggest free agent in the industry, and he went to bat for the underdog, although the relationship did not last.
Both stars are impactful, and it is not at all premature to say that both will be Hall of Fame-caliber performers in their fields. Still, CM Punk is not Taylor Swift for men.
The difference comes down to size once again. Switchfoot, Paramore, and even Neil Young are all looking at Swift-inspired records to wrest control away from executives and into their own hands.
A lot of labels and representatives are allegedly switching to more licensing deals upfront to evenly share more of the earnings while leaving control with the artists. That is a massive shift in a major entertainment industry that Swift directly influences.
Punk’s influence, while great, has a different impact. He changed the face of his industry, but that is a far more niche form of entertainment. A reigning pop star and a wrestling legend would not occupy the same space, even if both did help future artists break into their field.
Bracelets and Bad Blood: Is CM Punk at all like Taylor Swift?
So no, CM Punk is not the “Taylor Swift for men.” The bracelets involved in both of their current personas don’t make for a compelling comparison. They do share some anecdotal similarities. I
t is worth sharing those, too, to try and explain the apparent similarities Punk may have seen when he said the line. Both have used their lofty perches to advocate for progressive causes, even if their past makes those attempts uneven. Taylor Swift came out for causes and candidates during the 2018 and 2020 United States elections.
This is after decades of staying quiet on the subject and making herself very wealthy in the process. CM Punk has also had some scandals in his past involving other talents and his comments toward them. Despite that past, Punk has been vocal in his support for progressive causes like women’s reproductive choice.
You deleted this: @FrankieTheBoul pic.twitter.com/92HB3VzNrh
— player/coach (@CMPunk) May 25, 2022
Punk and Swift are also famous for holding onto grudges; ask Scooter Braun and Jack Perry about that. Taylor Swift has made a career of calling out her previous relationships through her songs. It has created a cottage industry of content creation, looking at the easter eggs within songs to determine which ex is getting axed in the stanza of every song.
Meanwhile, Punk quit WWE due to creative differences. Punk was fired from AEW for fighting with his coworkers. Facts are that CM Punk is a highly divisive figure, a situation that Taylor Swift finds herself in as she pushes against some fans of the National Football League.
These similarities, too, are only at the surface level. CM Punk got into actual altercations with co-workers, and it has famously been caught on camera. The general consensus around those events is that CM Punk holds some responsibility. Taylor Swift, by comparison, hasn’t been accused of doing anything to warrant the ire of her enemies.
Sure, some of them probably haven’t done anything either; breakups do happen. However, NFL fans, heavyweights in the music business, and John Mayer are definitely working as the heel in those sagas. While people’s views on the two are similar, how they got to those points is very different.
Taylor Swift vs. the Second City Saint
There is, of course, a chance CM Punk meant he was Taylor Swift for male fans. Right off the jump, there is a slight problem with that reading as well. CM Punk, and Swift for that matter, have male and female fans alike.
Yes, the term “Swifty” often conjures an image of a twenty-something woman decked out in her lover-era pinks and purple butterflies. However, another Forbes article from 2023 suggests that women make up 52% of the fanbase, and 48% are male. Her fans are not all women, regardless of perceptions.
Swift’s popularity globally should be a clue that men, too, like her style. CM Punk has considerably less data available regarding his fandom. Wrestlenomics did a breakdown of wrestling audience demographics last December.
CM Punk’s current employer, WWE, was 35.67% on average across Raw, Smackdown, and NXT. His former employer that year in AEW had an average of 33.67% across its three shows. So, roughly a third of wrestling fans are women,
Now, to defend CM Punk a bit, nobody is Taylor Swift. Almost no current performer has the connection that Taylor Swift has with her global coalition of fans. The numbers leave little room for interpretation, regardless of how he meant it.
Her space is rarified air, and CM Punk isn’t tall enough to breathe it in. They have one last similarity: both will say whatever it takes to fire up the live crowd. That was most likely Punk’s intent when using the line. It would have to be.
Any actual position that he is at all like Swift because of some bracelets and thin similarities won’t hold up to any real scrutiny, instead suffering death by a thousand cuts.
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