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Rate The Rock vs. CM Punk Feud

  • Underwhelming :punk3

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  • Great :punk:rock3

    Votes: 130 34.3%

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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#225 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

If they're serious about it then they ought to have Cena pin Big Show or cause him to submit. Then Punk can walk around cutting promo after promo on how he was champ for 9 months and was never beaten for the title.

That is about the only way I'd take the title off Punk at this point.
 
#226 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

If they're going to have Cena win the title and face Rock at Rumble, may as well put the title on Cena at Summerslam or NOC. Personally I like the idea of Rock beating Cena for the title as no one would expect Rock to win the second match between the two of them, and then for Punk to beat Rock at WM would be huge. They have been building for Punk/Rock at the Rumble, but they could easily transfer that over to WM. Have Punk win the Rumble, and have the Rumble winner finally actually get a "MAIN EVENT' title match at WM for the first time since Orton in 2009. I don't think Punk needed to turn heel just yet if they were going for Punk/Rock at WM, as that could've happened after Punk won the Rumble as a face, but it could still work just fine.

What I don't want to see happen is this:

Cena wins the WWE Title at Summerslam
Punk wins the WWE Title at NOC
Cena wins the WWE Title at HIAC
Punk wins the title at SVS
Cena wins the title at TLC

Or anything of the sort. Either Punk keeps the title till the Rumble or Cena wins the title ONCE and loses it to Rock at the Rumble. Please no playing hot-potato with the title, WWE. ;)
 
#228 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

What about 459 days?

Punk retains until Royal Rumble, at the Royal Rumble, he and Th Rock have their match and it ends in dq or countout (possibly by cena interruption).

Then, at Elimination chamber, they have a rematch in which The Rock wins clean, while Cena wins a #1 contender Elimination chamber to face the Rock at Wrestlemania.

At WM Cena gets his revenge on The Rock and his title back, The Royal Rumble winner challenges the WHC and Lesnar faces Taker.

Meanwhile, Punk still gets the longest title reign since Hogan and can either go over a respectable main eventer/upper midcarder at mania in a grudge match, or can help someone pick their way up the card with a feud.
 
#231 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship-WM29 Main Event Discussion

Cena v Rock at RR, then Punk v Rock at WM would actually make more sense. Punk winning the Rumble would do wonders for both him, and the Royal Rumble itself. The idea of the Rumble winner choosing the WHC over the WWE Title annoys me. It's happened 3 times in a row too.

The only potential problem with that is it involves Cena losing to Rock twice in a row. I hope they do it though, and then maybe down the line finally give Cena a clean win over Rocky, ala the Rock v Stone Cold feud.
 
#243 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship-WM29 Main Event Discussion

Cena v Rock at RR, then Punk v Rock at WM would actually make more sense. Punk winning the Rumble would do wonders for both him, and the Royal Rumble itself. The idea of the Rumble winner choosing the WHC over the WWE Title annoys me. It's happened 3 times in a row too.

The only potential problem with that is it involves Cena losing to Rock twice in a row. I hope they do it though, and then maybe down the line finally give Cena a clean win over Rocky, ala the Rock v Stone Cold feud.
There's a bigger problem with that as well. It either puts Lesnar or Cena in no man's land at Mania as well.

WWE is just not going to put Punk above Cena like that so I really this report is bs.
 
#232 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship-WM29 Main Event Discussion

Why are people acting like Rocky wouldn't put over Punk?

He is the one top guy in the company's history who never had a problem putting people over. He did it tons of times back in the day, I really don't think he would have any issue now.
 
#244 · (Edited)
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship-WM29 Main Event Discussion

Why are people acting like Rocky wouldn't put over Punk?

He is the one top guy in the company's history who never had a problem putting people over. He did it tons of times back in the day, I really don't think he would have any issue now.
It's more that people (Rock marks) don't want Rock to put over Punk, and they think it would be a waste.

I personally don't care one way or the other. Punk vs. Rock is all I want to see. Who wins is irrelevant to me as Punk benefits either way.

Maybe my scenario is still possible, Rock destroying Punk on RAW as a revenge beatdown. Beats Cena at the Rumble(I want Mysterio there...), Rock/Brock and Taker/Cena for WM29 with both winners Rock and Taker agreeing to the ultimate match at WM30 the day after 29. That's money.
As much as I love that idea, it sends Punk back to no-man's land. While I know you don't have an issue with that, can't say I'd fully support this idea unless Punk was facing either Austin or HHH at WM29. If that was the case, this could work out. I suppose this card would work:

WM29:
Rock vs. Brock WWE Title
Undertaker vs. Cena
Punk vs. HHH/Austin
Mysterio vs. Sin Cara
Sheamus vs. Orton World Title

Even not considering Punk in this at all, I'm not sold on Rock and Brock competing for the WWE Title. I'd rather that be Taker/Cena, because at least Taker would maybe be around to lose the title back to Punk or somebody at the following PPV (though that I can put a mark on the Taker/Rock match). I wouldn't be sold on that either though if Taker won and just vacated the title the night after. That leaves Punk/HHH or Austin for the WWE Title, which would be a main event tier match indisputably even if it's still the third biggest match on the card like this year's WWE Title match. If it's Punk/Austin for the title it could be the biggest match on the card potentially. But in any event, it would be three top level money making matches happening on one Mania, which might rob the possibility of Taker/Cena main eventing later on. Same thing with Punk/Austin.
 
#233 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship-WM29 Main Event Discussion

If Miz can have a win (tainted, but a win nonetheless) over Cena at wrestlemania, I'm sure CM Punk can have a "win" over Rock at Mania. It seems plausible and in all honesty, I'd rather Punk/Rock at Mania as opposed to other matches like Rock/Cena 2 or Rock/Lesnar. Cena can face Taker, FINALLY, (heel turn, MAYBE?) Lesnar can fight Shawn Michaels or something (beats the shit out of him at Summerslam, HBK comes back and wants a match).
 
#237 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship--WM29 Discussion

I'd love to see Punk vs. Rock at Wrestlemania and Cena losing the title to The Rock at the Royal Rumble. The only problem is that there's no way WWE has Cena lose to Rock twice in a row and never get the win back, which he probably wouldn't. So for that reason, I can't see this happening.
 
#245 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship--WM29 Discussion

When it comes to speculation over the booking of The Rock, Cena, Punk, Taker, Lesnar, Triple H and who knows who or what else between Summerslam and Wrestemania XXIX, all one can really say is, "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."
 
#246 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship--WM29 Discussion

When it comes to speculation over the booking of The Rock, Cena, Punk, Taker, Lesnar, Triple H and who knows who or what else between Summerslam and Wrestemania XXIX, all one can really say is, "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."
are you suggesting a six man hell in the cell.
 
#253 · (Edited)
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship--WM29 Discussion

I'd love that. The Rock vs CM Punk for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania would be an absolute dream match for me.

Ive said time and time again and Deso alluded to it a few posts back, I wouldn't expect the expected when it comes to what we get at WrestleMania just yet.

if WWE were planning on having said match at Mania though they've definitely not gone about it as well as could be, It would have made more sense to do Punk vs Cena one on one at Summerslam as its a much bigger show than 'Night of Champions' and introducing Big Show to the feud later if he was going to play a part IMO.

Punk vs Cena at Summerslam with Punk getting a cheap underhanded win.
NOC could have been where they introduced Big Show and had Cena beat Show to win the title with a fuming former Champion having not been beat to lose his Championship.

Survivor Series you could have built up the rematch with Punk vs Cena with Punk looking to have the advantage when The Rock out of nowhere could deliver a Rock Bottom to hand Cena the win and furthering the heat and momentum for Punk/Rock.

RR could have Rock/Cena II with possibly Punk accidentally costing Cena the title rather than Rock and you then head into Mania with Rock vs Punk or even Rock/Cena/Punk with all three being intertwined along the way.
 
#254 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship--WM29 Discussion

Fuck that. Punk vs Rock at The Royal Rumble and Punk vs Austin at WM 29, Rock vs Lesnar at WM 29, Cena vs Taker....

It's pretty simple if Austin returns
 
#256 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship--WM29 Discussion

Fuck that. Punk vs Rock at The Royal Rumble and Punk vs Austin at WM 29, Rock vs Lesnar at WM 29, Cena vs Taker....

It's pretty simple if Austin returns
Austin not 100% yet Punk/Austin & Cena/Taker should happen WM30, Cena/Rock 2 Rumble seems fine 2 me meaning Punk wins Rumble match gets his title bak WM29. Finally a Heel wins WrestleMania since 2008
 
#257 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship--WM29 Discussion

Austin's surgery will DEFINITELY be healed in less than 3 or 4 months. Without question. It would never take someone of his skill level long to get in ring shape since he's been hitting the weights for awhile since retirement.
 
#263 ·
Re: So the Royal Rumble winner faces the Rock at WM?

The way I would do it is:

Punk retains until Royal Rumble.

At RR, Punk v Rock happens and end in DQ/Countout (possibly due to Cena interference)

Rematch at EC where Rock wins clean. Cena win WWE Championship No. 1 Contender chamber.

Winner of RR challenges WHC and their match happens.

Then WM has Rock v Cena II, Taker v Lesnar and The WHC match. (Possibly Rey v Sin Cara too)
 
#264 ·
Re: So the Royal Rumble winner faces the Rock at WM?

Dolph Ziggler will win the Royal Rumble then beat The Rock at WrestleMania then cash in MITB beat Randy Orton or whoever is the World Heavyweight champion at the time.

I agree OP, cool storyline but having it all figured out 7/8 months in advance will make for tedious television.
 
#265 ·
Re: So the Royal Rumble winner faces the Rock at WM?

I am going to go with the rumors and assume Cena is going to win at Summerslam and hold the title until Royal Rumble. Lose to The Rock, CM Punk comes out and says he is still going to get his title match, sets up Punk vs Rock at WM, Cena tries to demand he wants the match, Undertaker comes out. Undertaker vs Cena for WM. Royal Rumble winner will be for WHC again no doubt.

That's my 2 cents.
 
#268 ·
Re: So the Royal Rumble winner faces the Rock at WM?

I am going to go with the rumors and assume Cena is going to win at Summerslam and hold the title until Royal Rumble. Lose to The Rock, CM Punk comes out and says he is still going to get his title match, sets up Punk vs Rock at WM, Cena tries to demand he wants the match, Undertaker comes out. Undertaker vs Cena for WM. Royal Rumble winner will be for WHC again no doubt.

That's my 2 cents.
That's what I'd go with, although I don't see Punk dropping the title at Summerslam. I think he'll hold it until Survivor Series and drop it there.
 
#267 ·
Re: So the Royal Rumble winner faces the Rock at WM?

Ziggler to win the rumble, cash in MITB at WM after WHC gets a beat down. Wins WWE title dirty.

Unify the titles and create a new star in the progress. Can't lose.

Is it coincidence that hes feuding with this guy then?

 
#271 ·
Re: So the Royal Rumble winner faces the Rock at WM?

Ziggler to win the rumble, cash in MITB at WM after WHC gets a beat down. Wins WWE title dirty.

Unify the titles and create a new star in the progress. Can't lose.

Is it coincidence that hes feuding with this guy then?

Your post. I've never thought about it like that, this could actually happen.
 
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