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Rate The Rock vs. CM Punk Feud

  • Underwhelming :punk3

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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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#1,479 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

I agree, I want a proper feud between The Rock and CM Punk, NOT a feud between Dwayne and Phil. I hate all this shoot stuff, and calling each other by their first names is just plain stupid and the least cool thing to do in wrestling. It's a spit in the face of one of the most basic wrestling rules. I don't mind the odd subtle nod to something real life, but keep the bulk of the feud fictional and entertainment based.

It seemed all Cena was interested in doing was taking real shots at Dwayne Johnson. Surely, the main goal is for both guys to make each other look as good as they can be, because that's what sells the feud and makes the most money.

WWE are lucky that when it came to Rock/Cena, the tickets were sold as soon as the match was mentioned. Because they did their best to ruin it all in the build up.

Nobody ever feuds with Undertaker and calls him Mark, do they??
 
#1,481 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

I agree, I want a proper feud between The Rock and CM Punk, NOT a feud between Dwayne and Phil. I hate all this shoot stuff, and calling each other by their first names is just plain stupid and the least cool thing to do in wrestling. It's a spit in the face of one of the most basic wrestling rules. I don't mind the odd subtle nod to something real life, but keep the bulk of the feud fictional and entertainment based.

It seemed all Cena was interested in doing was taking real shots at Dwayne Johnson. Surely, the main goal is for both guys to make each other look as good as they can be, because that's what sells the feud and makes the most money.

WWE are lucky that when it came to Rock/Cena, the tickets were sold as soon as the match was mentioned. Because they did their best to ruin it all in the build up.

Nobody ever feuds with Undertaker and calls him Mark, do they??
This all day long. So many people, including the wrestlers themselves, have got caught up in trying to 'own' the other that they forgot the whole point of wrestling promos; to promote and build to the match. They are NOT to tear the other guy down and make him look like a fool. The best example of this is that Punk/HHH promo before NOC where they're both taking shot after shot at each other and forgetting that they're trying to sell a PPV. Then it clearly hits HHH that they're going in circles and he literally has to steer them back to talking about their match. It's just mad and I want it to stop. The Rock vs. CM Punk? Fine. Dwayne Johnson vs. Phil Brooks? No.
 
#1,480 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

They do it with Rock because he has the Dawyne 'The Rock' Johnson on their website and in his movie titles.

But they fail to realize is the fans don't chant Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson or Dwaaaaaaayne, they chant Rocky and know him as Rock in the wrestling world.

But it seems this is what they do now with Rock and Rock only called him Phillip because Phillip uses Dwayne. It's all fucking silly. UGH
 
#1,482 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

To quote Rock; "You're only ever as good as your opponent". I have hopes that due to short nature of the feud, as well as the nature of Punk's heel character, that they will steer away from the Rock/Cena route.

Because: 1)They already did that story.
2)Rock will want a nice feud to go with winning his first title in a long time.
3)Punk needs to use this to show what he is truly made of as a heel, he won't have as high a profile opponent for a long time, if ever after Rock.

Maybe I am just desperately looking for reasons, but I really cannot stand another Rock/Cena type feud. Bring back the sunglasses.
 
#1,484 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

Just read several pages in this thread for the first time. People really need to stop kissing The Rock's ass so much. I'm a big Rock mark but a big group of you need to stop being so overbearing in your support, its ridiculous and almost making me turn against my childhood hero. STOP IT.

Anyway, yeah, If Punk and Rock are gonna shoot on each other, at least its not one of the biggest matches of all time and it makes sense considering Punk's character (being a outspoken loudmouth) where with the Cena and Rock build it made no sense for two pop culture, larger then life icons to be doing some insider shit.
 
#1,494 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

Just read several pages in this thread for the first time. People really need to stop kissing The Rock's ass so much. I'm a big Rock mark but a big group of you need to stop being so overbearing in your support, its ridiculous and almost making me turn against my childhood hero. STOP IT.

Anyway, yeah, If Punk and Rock are gonna shoot on each other, at least its not one of the biggest matches of all time and it makes sense considering Punk's character (being a outspoken loudmouth) where with the Cena and Rock build it made no sense for two pop culture, larger then life icons to be doing some insider shit.
Rock marks are the most rational, objective and unbiased marks of all time. Don't misinterpret fandom and support with "kissing ass" or whatever you think it is that we're doing. And if a few posters on the internet can impact your personal enjoyment of a wrestler, you were never much of a fan to begin with.
 
#1,529 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

I'm a Rock mark but some peeps in here do take things a bit far imo. Marking out over Rock eating pizzas and cupcakes is a bit much if you ask me lol.
:rocky GOAT

But we know what you want Starbuck :hhh


:mark:
:mark:
 
#1,493 · (Edited)
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

I love staredowns. The moment where time stands still, the flashbulbs go off and everything is just frozen in time. Sounds corny but I just love them when they're done right. Strangely enough, there doesn't seem to be many guys who can do it well these days.

The Rock was easily one of the best. Hogan, Austin, Undertaker were all great too.

Cena can't do a staredown for shit. At Wrestlemania, he just kept talking and ruining the moment.





 
#1,504 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

:( That sums up how fucking bad Rock/Cena was compared to what it should have been, WWE should have made us :mark: at the thought of seeing them wrestle again instead 99% of people either don't want to see it or aren't excited at the thought of seeing it.

The Build they did to WrestleMania 27 was initially the "your not here/im here" shtick and looking back I didn't mind it as it would be a good way to introduce the feud and in essense worked but that should have been the end of it.

Im confident Rock/Punk won't go down that way simply because Punk should be the most hated figure in the company come time for that match and his job (and he's good at it) is to get even more heat so I think that will play into the hands of Rock's mic work and just the general build.
 
#1,510 · (Edited)
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

Cena was exposed in this program as clueless to many basic aspects of wrestling and how to create a memorable moment/environment, it's no wonder that you need to think really hard to find an all-time memorable moment from his career before Rock/February 2011. One of the things was the staredown at WM, you can see Rock trying to tell him something, probably to move his fucking head and he just stares at him like a goof when Rock tries to sell the epic atmosphere. There's only one guy in history who is close to Rock's caliber in working an audience at that's Hogan, which is probably why together they created the greatest staredown of all time.





:mark: at the thought of seeing them wrestle again instead 99% of people either don't want to see it or aren't excited at the thought of seeing it.
Personally, this is not the case. The program was extremely memorable every step of the way, it was also extremely hypocritical but even if it "The perfect build up"(which from business standpoint, it was close to it), the dream matches between two big stars, should always be one match. Rock/Hogan, Hogan/HBK, Rock/Cena etc. There's no reason to ruin it because nothing will top the magic of the first confrontation. I hope they're smart enough to think about it that way and not do the predictable, pointless rematch. Apparently Michael Hayes' ideas are as good as his clothes if he really pushing for it.

Rock/Brock - Floyd as the special enforcer, NY crowd, perfect.
 
#1,506 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

If Punk faces Rock at the Rumble, which I expect he will, then EVERYONE will assume Rock is winning. Maybe this will cause WWE to reconsider and go in a different direction. Maybe Brock screws Rock and they do Brock vs. Rock at 'Mania with Punk in a Title match, or you could have the same scenario but with Cena instead of Brock (setting up a re-match but not involving the Title).
 
#1,507 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

If Punk faces Rock at the Rumble, which I expect he will, then EVERYONE will assume Rock is winning. Maybe this will cause WWE to reconsider and go in a different direction. Maybe Brock screws Rock and they do Brock vs. Rock at 'Mania with Punk in a Title match, or you could have the same scenario but with Cena instead of Brock (setting up a re-match but not involving the Title).
The Brock idea seems most logical since Punk is with Heyman and only Heyman (kayfabe wise) can pull those strings. I don't see Cena vs Rock happening again unless it's for the title. Then again it could very well happen again in a non title match.
 
#1,508 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

Brock's eventual return is a big question mark. There are so many possibilities for the Mania card this year with Punk/Rock/Cena/Lesnar/ even Taker (lets face it , he's not done at Mania.) Cant wait till 2013. Should be very intriguing, just hope it all turns out good because I think we can all agree that WWE needs a huge refresh and start to the year.
 
#1,512 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

Punk should beat rock in a dirty finish a rumble, then ryback wins the rumble and beats punk at mania. This would put over both guys HUGE, making ryback a star and punk an even bigger star than he is now. Don't do punk/ryback before mania p, keep teasing it because it has potential to be a big money match.
 
#1,514 ·
Re: Official The Rock WWE Championship Discussion

Exactly. He cold be the guy that beat the guy that beat the guy John Cena couldn't beat, lol. I think we shouldn't be so picky, any chance WWE gets at having a big star n their hands they should take,because it needs star power .
 
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