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Rate The Rock vs. CM Punk Feud

  • Underwhelming :punk3

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  • Great :punk:rock3

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Official The Rock vs. CM Punk Discussion Thread

823K views 9K replies 1K participants last post by  Nimbus 
#1 · (Edited)
wwe.com said:
Perhaps the parade was premature. Perhaps the celebrating, the humble tweets to The People and the legions of Team Bring It, and the proclamation that FINALLY, The Rock was WWE Champion once again jumped the gun by just a bit. Maybe, just maybe, The Rock put the horse before the cart when he celebrated his latest triumph on Raw Roulette, because CM Punk is not done with The Great One by a long shot.


How could he be, either? When a Superstar holds the WWE Title — Punk’s “life’s work,” in his own words — for 434 days spread across three calendar years, he does not just simply throw up his hands and call it a good run when the prize is taken from his clutches. So it was of no surprise when, during The Rock’s celebratory address to the WWE Universe as its new champion, The Straight Edge Superstar himself declared would be evoking his rematch clause – “granting” Rock a rematch was how he earned it – at Elimination Chamber. It was also of no surprise that The Rock gladly accepted.

But once again, maybe Rock is counting his proverbial chickens too early, because for all CM Punk’s feverish boasting in his final days as champion, he was right about one thing after the Royal Rumble: Hedidpin The Rock. It was one-two-three in the middle of the ring, although it took a sneak attack by who we can only assume was The Shield to weaken The Brahma Bull enough for Punk to make the pin. And it was only after Mr. McMahon restarted the bout that The Great One found enough of a second wind to silence CM Punk and put The Straight Edge Superstar to sleep, claiming his eighth WWE Championship in the process.

So at Elimination Chamber, the most brutal pit stop on The Road to WrestleMania, The Rock will face his own personal demon yet again. And The People’s Champion will have to be very, very careful, because CM Punk does not make the same mistake twice, and he is very, very angry. The very real opinion exists — depending whom you ask — that Punk should still be WWE Champion. And with it, the very real possibility exists — should The Rock think one victory equals winning the war — that The Brahma Bull’s parade could end as soon as it began and that CM Punk will be champion again, with history in his hands for the third time.


Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson said:
Over 100 years of Heavyweight Champions.

3 generations in my blood.

New WWE Champion.

My honor. TEAM BRING IT.


wwe.com said:
Attitude Era original Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will compete in his first World Title match in more than a decade when he challenges WWE Champion CM Punk, the longest-reigning WWE Title holder of the past quarter-century, at Royal Rumble on Jan. 27.

The WWE Universe has anxiously awaited The Great One’s return to the WWE Title picture since he announced his championship opportunity on Raw 1,000 last July. Though there was no guarantee at the time whom The Rock’s opponent would be, the always-confident Punk fired an opening salvo that night, cutting down The Rock with a clothesline before knocking him out with a picture-perfect Go to Sleep. The following week, The Voice of the Voiceless defended his actions by suggesting The Great One, having been “gifted” a WWE Title match, viewed victory at the Royal Rumble as a foregone conclusion.

Whether a real or perceived slight, the implication that The Rock places himself on a higher plane than the current WWE Champion was seemingly all the motivation Punk needed to make sure he would still have the title on Jan. 27.

In the half-year since Raw 1,000, The Second City Saint stunned WWE fans by aligning with Paul Heyman and ratcheting up the vitriol of his speech. More important than either of those details, he has — by hook or by crook — maintained possession of the championship gold. Having turned back challenges by John Cena and Ryback in recent months, The Best in the World now looks ahead to testing himself against the seven-time former WWE Champion who vowed in 2012 to regain the title.

For The Rock, an A-list Hollywood action star and third-generation Superstar who has sports-entertainment coursing through his veins, the Royal Rumble title match represents the start of a potential career renaissance inside the ring. Since March 2004, The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment has competed in only two sanctioned WWE matches, teaming with John Cena to shred The Awesome Truth (The Miz & R-Truth) at Survivor Series 2011 and overcoming the Cenation leader at WrestleMania XXVIII.

But by vying for the most treasured prize in sports-entertainment, The Rock is committing to more than another appearance as a “special attraction.” Rather, he is setting his eyes on again becoming WWE’s gold standard.

Hell-bent though The Rock may be on introducing a new generation of WWE fans to The People’s Champion, there is no discounting Punk’s deftness once the bell rings. Controversial endings to several high-profile title defenses may have tarnished The Second City Saint’s reputation in the eyes of some critics, but they have done nothing to change the fact the WWE Championship still sits around his waist. Before his seedier side came into focus in late summer, Punk spent much of 2012 disposing of WWE’s best and brightest, ranging from Chris Jericho and Daniel Bryan to Dolph Ziggler and Kane. How will the WWE Champion match up against one of the pillars of The Attitude Era?

As the WWE Universe excitedly counts down the days until Jan. 27, the back-and-forth between two of WWE’s most compelling talkers is bound to pick up steam. It will not be until the Royal Rumble, however, that the trash talk gives way to the gravity of a game-changing WWE Championship bout, the likes of which hasn’t seen in years. Will Royal Rumble mark the rebirth of a championship Brahma Bull, or will it only underscore what Punk has claimed all along, that he is untouchable and in a class by himself?
The Rock explains why he wants WWE Title

WWE part-time star The Rock revealed why re-capturing the WWE Title is important to him in a new interview with WWE Magazine. It's a statement that has been missing from WWE television leading up to the Royal Rumble PPV.

"It starts with recognizing what the WWE Championship represents to me," Rock said in the February 2013 issue. "Every time I hold that title over my head in victory, it not only signifies the fact that I have delivered the absolute best entertainment that I could to the WWE Universe, but that I'm taking a moment to live an experience that all the generations of wrestlers in my family strived to achieve.

Rock continued, "There is no other award that I could receive that's as deeply ingrained in my blood and history as the WWE Championship - and that's why it means so much to me."

At the same time, Rock said that after his first WWE Title reign - which came in 1998 - he decided that he would never allow his possession of or lack of the WWE Title define his career.

"After my first WWE Championship run came to an end, I made a conscious decision that night that I would work harder than any other Superstar in the locker room to become the type of WWE entertainer who, if I never had another championship run again, it would not define my career. I never wanted to rely on a title run for success."

Rock's next statement reflects his recent approach to mixing "entertainment" with "seriousness." Rock concluded, "My goal was to get to a place where I relied only on what I could bring to the table in terms of being entertaining and having a one-of-a-kind - and electrifying - connection with all of the WWE Universe."

[ FYI: Rock's interview is part of a cover-feature on Rock in the latest WWE Magazine. ]

Link - http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_News_3/article_68014.shtml














 
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#5,170 ·
CM Punk's promos are good not because he says insider stuff but because his content is intelligent, relevant and above all, meaningful in the real world. When he has the right opponent, his promos are simply on another level. He absolutely destroyed the crowd in a couple of occasions and they didn't even realise it.

The Rock was his usual self, very entertaining, controls the crowd like few others but basically says nothing of importance. It's pure mindless and escapist entertainment and that's what the general audience and Vince McMahon wants wrestling to be. The Rock is by far the best at it so of course he's adored.

I think it's fair to say that judging by this promo alone the feud will be a hundred times better than Rock/Cena, mainly because Punk and Rock's personalities complement each other way better. How I wish this match could take place at Wrestlemania instead of the Royal Rumble. I cant believe we'll have to endure a two month Cena/Rock feud instead of this :facepalm:
 
#5,288 · (Edited)
Shazayum said:
I think people are ruining the feud for themselves by focusing more on "WHO OWNED WHO" and less on just the feud as a whole. This segment had corny jokes on the Rock's part but he also brought intensity and it succeeded in establishing the intensity, something Rock/Cena failed to do. Any reasonable wrestling fan will just sit back and enjoy the feud instead of focusing on OMG HE OWNED HIM
^Editing
 
#5,291 ·
I think people are ruining the feud for themselves by focusing more on "WHO OWNED WHO" and less on just the feud as a whole. This segment had corny jokes on the Rock's part but he also brought intensity and it succeeded in establishing the intensity, something Rock/Cena failed to do. Any reasonable wrestling fan will just sit back and enjoy the feud instead of focusing on OMG HE OWNED HIM
This so much.
 
#5,302 ·
All I know is Brodus got bodied, and Tyson Kidd got a rub. Why? *shrugs* who knows, but it was awesome.


I enjoyed the promos more before I came on here and saw all the knuckleheads in battle gear mark warring. Just enjoy it...I think Punk had the stronger performance overall but its not that big a deal. I definitely think they did what they wanted...and got some real interest, intrigue and some motherfuckin heat in this feud and match.
 
#5,318 ·
I think Rock was definitely holding back in terms of trying to destroy Punk on the mic, he focused on selling the fight instead which is what you're suppose to do. He could have gone at Punk a lot harder but instead he gave him props on his title reign and said he knew how tough it was going to be to beat him, sure he made jokes at Punk's expense because that's what The Rock does but he never made it seem like Punk didn't belong in the ring with him and the two of them actually had you excited for their match. Which is what a promo is suppose to do, now compare it Cena and Ziggler feud where Cena tears down Ziggler's credibility every promo and makes it seem like there's no way Ziggler has a shot at winning cleanly over him.
 
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#5,326 ·
It seems not a lot of people liked the first part of the promo before Rock came out and found it nonsensical and boring. I absolutely disagree. In my opinion it served as to for once and for all put a lid on any other beef Punk may have had leading up to that point. It was punk emerging as the victor, still champion, still here, still defiant. It crystalized his entire philosophy and helped him discard his previous, whiney gimmick and replace it with a much more credible, much more serious style. It was like watching him take off his ring attire and put on a suit of armor and preparing himself for a real war against the rock, and not just his previous opponents. He knew he wouldn't be able to pull the same shit against the Rock in that gimmick and therefore he "suited up" into his main event armor so to speak.
 
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#5,339 ·
Have you people not seen Rocks shoot promo? He destroyed Cenas existence and exposed him for the fraud he is, no wounder WWE never aired it bc there posterboy wouldve never been able to recover. Punk cut a great promo before Rock came out then underperformed once Rock was in his face. He lost all credibility when he tried to act like hes Rocks biggest challenge.

Rock faced guys like Hogan-Steve Austin who are the only guys close to his level, now hes has to sell that a guy like Punk whos so far beneath him as threat and he did it perfectly while making Punk look far better than Cena ever has. Rock looked great compared to 2012 when he held back to make Cena look good. I like the direction of this feud already and commend Punk for not reducing himself to crying like a baby about Dwayne not being there all the time.

Ive come to grips we will never see 98-03 Rock, but this Rock will do, as long as i never see 2012 Rock again.
 
#5,340 ·
Now that I think about it. It really is a war between hardcore wrestling fans and the attitude era fans. That's why we have so much bashing going on. The Attitude Era fans are always going to have The Rock's back and bash CM Punk. These are the fans that have watched wrestling in the Attitude Era and are now just casual viewers of WWE. The fans that have been watching religiously even after the Attitude Era or since 2006 are going to have CM Punk's back.

This really is going to be split but I would think that more than 50% of the IWC will want Punk to win.

Either way, The Rock's winning. Great segment between the two once again.
 
#5,341 ·
The most important thing for me was the intensity that was brought forth. Both men appear to be legitimate threats to eachother and didn't disrespect eachother by no selling like Cena would do whenever things got heated.

I'm happy. I believe the majority of fans will be happy with this and the internet smarks can continue doing what they've always done. That is never going to change.
 
#5,346 ·
The most important thing for me was the intensity that was brought forth. Both men appear to be legitimate threats to eachother and didn't disrespect eachother by no selling like Cena would do whenever things got heated.

I'm happy. I believe the majority of fans will be happy with this and the internet smarks can continue doing what they've always done. That is never going to change.
Cenas selling was amazing tonight. Did you see that trainer?

:damn
 
#5,380 ·
Re: CM Punk Promo... I'm Sorry.

Honestly man, That was the CM Punk I love when he cuts these kinda promos its just amazing. Everything he said before Rock came out was so true, and he got Rock in the promo when Rock was out. I hope he cuts these kinda promos again. Sorta reminds me of the time around MITB 2011.
 
#5,389 ·
Re: CM Punk Promo... I'm Sorry.

I actually disagree, i think they where both on par with each other, nobody out shined anyone for me, The Rock was his usual funny self but still badass he had good comebacks and punchlines whilst CM Punk was more serious. The dynamic worked well because they have completley diffrent gimmicks and that is something we havent seen in a long time
 
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#5,392 ·
Re: CM Punk Promo... I'm Sorry.

The pre-Rock promo was good, as he twisted it into a way of getting heat, but don't expect him to keep breaking that 4th wall, since WWE still heavily relies on kayfabe.

Plus, it would be lazy of Creative if they rely on real-life shots on Rocky rather then an actual feud.
 
#5,456 ·
Re: "Understand that your arms are just to short to box with God"

Understand that your arms are just **too** short to box with God
 
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#5,463 ·
Re: "Understand that your arms are just to short to box with God"

I loved the promo and the saying but something about it was just off to me. I think it might be his size compared to the rock who was so much bigger or because he was booked like a bitch since turning heel but it didn't sound right coming from the person who looked like the underdog. I guess on the otherhand it makes sense if punk was going for looking like a guy that is delusional, but the line would have been more epic coming from the goliath whose hubris brings him down rather than the David, like maybe if Andre the giant said it.
 
#5,474 ·
Re: "Understand that your arms are just to short to box with God"

I loved the promo and the saying but something about it was just off to me. I think it might be his size compared to the rock who was so much bigger or said it. because he was booked like a bitch since turning heel but it didn't sound right coming from the person who looked like the underdog. I guess on the otherhand it makes sense if punk was going for looking like a guy that is delusional, but the line would have been more epic coming from the goliath whose hubris brings him down rather than the David, like maybe if Andre the giant
Your taking the quote wayyyy too literal. It's not meant to be about size, it's meant to be about Punk's kayfabe title reign and immense talent in the ring and on the mic. Punk was basically saying he's the most complete wrestler Rock's ever fought.
 
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