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Rate The Rock vs. CM Punk Feud

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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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#7,724 ·
one simple reason why this fued is light years ahead of rock/cena, in the rock/cena fued cena was in it for personal reasons and always wanted to come out looking like the best, he didn't do it for the business stand point, while punk and rocky are working together to make this the best fued possible, this is why punk owns cena by miles and punk is the future of this fucking product.
 
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#7,806 ·
Well, according to a report a few days ago by Lords of Pain, the Punk/Rock match, including intros and whatnot, is expected to take up about 30 minutes of air time, and go on before the Rumble match. There are some signs here to me (the placement of the match, the video promoting Punk vs Ryback in Istanbul for the title, and if you look on WWE.com, Punk is still heavily featured next to Rock and Cena as superstars to see on upcoming episodes of RAW leading up to WrestleMania) that points to a Punk win, but at this point, it's very up in the air, and way too tough to call.
 
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#7,808 ·
When you really take the time to think about it, the idea of the Rock - now a FULL-TIME HOLLYWOOD ACTOR, returning after almost a year away and taking the title from a FULL-TIME WRESTLER, who has been champion FOR OVER 430 DAYS, is nothing short of ludricous. I really hope it doesn't happen, because Rock really doesn't need to be anywhere near the WWE title. And it's not just 'cos it's Punk, no full-time superstar on the current roster, should have to lose their title to a special attraction, Hollywood actor.
 
#7,846 ·
:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao:lmao
 
#7,868 ·
Holy shit at that split poll. It's tomorrow guys! WWE CHampionship on the line! The Second City Saint, The best in the world, the reigning, defending WWE Champion: CM Punk versus The Brahma Bull, The Great One, The Most electrifying man in all of entertainment: The Rock

And Cena then wins the rumble and closes the PPV :cena:
 
#7,886 ·
I loved the final Smackdown promo between Rock and CM Punk.. and I specially love the way CM Punk selling what The Rock was cooking

there was a point.. when the two men got in the ring

face to face! in the same ring! As ROCKY ROCKY ROCKY chants erupted.. The Rock went right up to CM Punk and told him flat out.. "the walls are closing in. the walls are closing in around you.. it's over.



at that moment, in that time, it was as if CM Punk's professionalism broke and it hit him exactly who he was in the ring with.. The Great One. The Brahma Bull. The most succesful superstar to transcend out of wrestling! CM Punk broke

he broke.. he actually.. GULPED. Yup.. watch that promo and you can see him gulp and you can see in his eyes

YOU CAN SEE IN HIS EYES.. Doubt. It was as if the words are echoing in his mind so loud he could no longer act his way out of it..

Time's Up

and what's even worse..

IT'S OVER!

look in Punk's eyes and you can see.. he knew.. it's over.. he cracked.. for the first time ever, CM Punk knew who he was up against and he gulped..

they say the eyes are the mirror to the soul.. look into CM Punk's eyes and you see he knew.. he just knew
 
#7,925 ·
This is the match that I've been anticipating for quite some time now. I'm a fan of both the Rock and CM Punk. But regardless of which one I like better, I still would prefer to see CM Punk retain the WWE championship at the Royal Rumble for three reasons.

1. I do not under any circumstances want to see the Rock vs Cena II and I believe that if the Rock beats CM Punk for the WWE championship then that scenario will more than likely happen. Despite all of the hype, the first encounter between the two of them did not interest me in the slightest.

2. IMO, it devalues CM Punk's current WWE title reign. It gives off the impression that the only reason why CM Punk retained the WWE championship this long was because of his inevitable clash with the Rock which in theory is utterly erroneous.

3. Lastly, the Rock simply does not need to win. Courtesy of his voluminous star power, these days the Rock is clearly bigger than the WWE. He doesn't need any championship to remain relevant with the world, he already has that in spades. CM Punk on the other hand, does not have that advantage. If anything, Punk needs to beat the Rock in an effort to truly cement his gravitas as a prominent player going into WrestleMania.

Now if by some chance the Rock wins, I'm not going to be bothered by it immensely. But I can't help but feel that if the Rock beats CM Punk then the WWE is taking the easy way out on some level. But all in all, I applaud both the sheer efforts of CM Punk and the Rock leading up to the Royal Rumble, their antics have stolen the shows leading up to their first match together and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.
 
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#8,121 ·
Was happy with the result in the end, would not of been impressed if we had another Shield ruined match again. Would be more interested if Punk stays in the title picture going into Mania, Rock/Punk/Cena sounds better than Rock/Cena 2.

Don't see why loosing to The Rock would tarnish Punk's reign at all.
 
#8,156 ·
Well, at least now Punk's reign goes into history, and there will be more appreciation for it from a nostalgic standpoint dead, than it ever could've alive.

Punk/Rock's match I give ****. Awesome from the get-go. You could feel the hate and intensity from these two men and the two went at each other with everything they've built up in the feud. I loved the psychology and selling in Punk attacking the ribs and trying to cause internal bleeding on The Rock's part, and The Rock attacking Punk's leg after Punk "re-injured" it. The selling from both men was excellent and it made the match all the better.

The crowd, my god, I can't believe Punk actually split the crowd with Rock for 95% of the match. Wasn't expecting that, and it shows just how over CM Punk is that he could do that with The Rock on the opposite side of the ring in Phoenix of all places. Made the match all the better and really feel like an all-time big main event match that neither man was booed besides Punk during his entrance.

So I'm enjoying this match, and as I was thinking throughout and the past 6 months, nothing could ruin the result for me. Nothing could ruin the match. But boy oh boy, WWE loves to prove me wrong, doesn't it? It was extremely simple on how to end this. Either have Lesnar cost Rock the match, not in that darkness bullshit, but in plain sight after a ref bump, or have Rock pin Punk clean in the middle of the ring. There was no need for this controversial shit they did. First off it makes Rock look weak that even a minute after he was attacked, he still couldn't kick out at 3, and Punk gets beaten fairly easily and has his reign ended in unspectacular fashion with ONE people's elbow, and a Rock Bottom earlier granted, but still kinda silly for a man who's taken two AA's and two pedigrees and still kicked out. They could've at least had Punk kick out of the People's Elbow and then after a few reversals fall prey to the Rock Bottom to lose the title, but instead they go for the weakest shit they could think of.

So all in all, I really can't believe this. A match I thought would be bull-shit proof and have either a clean finish, or build to a mega Wrestlemania main event, ended up being full of bull-shit at the end. Both men look weaker after the match, the match is tainted in unneeded controversy, and we now have to look forward to Rock/Cena. The only solace in all this is if WWE use this to give Punk a reason to be in the Wrestlemania main event, but they still could've done that even if Punk lost clean as they could've had him use his rematch clause for Wrestlemania. That all being said and the bitching out of the way, I'm happy Rock ended the reign tonight instead of Cena ending it at Mania, and it's great to see Rock have the belt, period. Looking forward to his promo tomorrow night on Raw and looking forward to seeing what they do to build up EC with him.

And on Cena winning the rumble... what can I say? I'm all bitched-out right now. It sucks, but WWE seem hell-bent on making 2013 Cena's year, and we get to once again see Cena at the top of the mountain, which is going to suck, but oh well. It may be the perfect excuse I need to give WWE a rest, as long as they don't try some bull-shit like having Taker return full-time to feud with Cena, or Lesnar coming back full-time, or shit like that that would make me keep watching WWE despite Cena. Meh.
 
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#8,176 ·
So I'm enjoying this match, and as I was thinking throughout and the past 6 months, nothing could ruin the result for me. Nothing could ruin the match. But boy oh boy, WWE loves to prove me wrong, doesn't it? It was extremely simple on how to end this. Either have Lesnar cost Rock the match, not in that darkness bullshit, but in plain sight after a ref bump, or have Rock pin Punk clean in the middle of the ring. There was no need for this controversial shit they did. First off it makes Rock look weak that even a minute after he was attacked, he still couldn't kick out at 3, and Punk gets beaten fairly easily and has his reign ended in unspectacular fashion with ONE people's elbow, and a Rock Bottom earlier granted, but still kinda silly for a man who's taken two AA's and two pedigrees and still kicked out. They could've at least had Punk kick out of the People's Elbow and then after a few reversals fall prey to the Rock Bottom to lose the title, but instead they go for the weakest shit they could think of.
This, it wasn't that Punk lost or Rock won, it was the way the match ended which disappointed me. They could have ended it with 2 or 3 Rock Bottoms, then the people's elbow.
 
#8,240 ·
We needed Rock/Cena II. Thank you Vince.
 
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