The Outlaws Turn On CM Punk
On the January 13, 2014 edition of WWE Raw, CM Punk teamed with The New Age Outlaws (“Road Dogg” Jesse James & “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn) against Authority members The Shield (current United States Champion Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, & Roman Reigns). Just as Punk was reaching over to tag in one of his partners, The Outlaws shockingly walked out on him, thus turning heel in the process, and it would allow The Shield to pick up the victory. Afterwards, Punk was convinced that The Outlaws are in cahoots with The Authority, the very faction that Punk has had issues with as of late. Punk believes this is due to the fact that Triple H has history with The Outlaws in their days as members of D Generation-X.
Signs Start to Become More Clear
Four days later on Smackdown, there were some signs that pointed to Punk’s assumption. First, The Outlaws were conveniently in a non-title tag team match against WWE Tag Team Champions The Brotherhood (Dustin “Goldust” & Cody Rhodes). If The Outlaws were able to knock off the Tag Team Champions, it would put them in line for a future opportunity at the championship. Thanks to Smackdown General Manager Vickie Guerrero coming out and interrupting the match and making a pointless announcement, she provided enough of a distraction to allow one of The Outlaws to roll up Cody for the pin and the win. Now, while I do not think that Vickie is a member of The Authority, I do know that she will do anything that they tell her to do, no questions asked. Therefore, I am convinced that The Authority sent Vickie out to do what she did to help The Outlaws get the victory. Then, later on in the night, Punk called out both The Shield and The Outlaws. Before chaos would ensue, Authority member and WWE Director of Operations Kane came out to call off the dogs. Kane then tried to assure Punk that The Authority is not against him, but Punk did not buy into it. After Punk had some choice words for Kane, Kane told The Outlaws and The Shield to get him. This allowed Kane the opening to hit Punk with his signature maneuver, the Choke Slam.
Conclusion
The current members of The Authority consist of WWE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Vincent K. McMahon, One of the Principal Owners of WWE Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H, WWE Director of Operations Kane, color commentator and Interim NXT General Manager John “Bradshaw” Layfield, current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton, and The Shield. After the events mentioned above, I am convinced that The Outlaws are the newest members of The Authority.
