In WWE logic they probably thought he was going to get a TON of heat on him from everybody and they thought it would be easier to get rid of him, and also blackball him in the process...and that shyt backfired like a motherfukker
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...
For real, WWE is so out of touch with its product and audience that I believe they thought Punk would flop and they could bury him for months without the audience siding with him. They were not prepared for that promo to take off in the media or for people to flat out say they agreed with Punk.
Then to make matters worse, they were hoping that Cena would be a face against the Rock
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with his promos about the Rock abandoning WWE, and expected the majority of fans to turn on him and boo him
Instead, every show no matter what they did fans kept turning on Cena and were cheering Punk or Rock to the point where it forced them to change the game plans.
Vince doesn't know what the hell he is doing. He thinks this is an old era where he can tell the fans what to like and what they should cheer for and they will go along. I still remember WM 22 when the fans shocked them by turning on most of the faces and booing Cena all night.
They still haven't learned.