[Seabs]

I thought this was gonna be better than their 2 matches last year up until the 1st GTS. Maybe not as special or significant as the MITB match but a tighter match.

[Last Chancery]

Originally Posted by Bubz

Because Cena still had that big move to pull out of the bag, Punk had already hit 2 GTS's and Cena kicked out of both, so he had nothing else of his own left to dish out, hence him going for a moonsault and the Rock Bottom, moves he's never used before.

Dunno, just thought it was only used as a way to have both guys shoulder's down at the end. I mean, why did they think Cena could even pull that move off. A middle rope bridging german suplex pin? Could Cena even do a normal german suplex bridge? It just looked awful imo, and they didn't need to risk the quality of the finish just to have both guys get pinned. Like seabs said, probably loads of other things they could have done without risking the quality and making the crowd not care. Just didn't like it personally. Like I said though, I absolutely loved most of the match, and they looked to be heading to their best match yet for the first two thirds of it.

I agree on the SS match being the best. Adored that match (MITB too, but the SS match took the in-ring work up a notch, and had the best finishing stretch last year imo).

He used the Rock Bottom a week ago on Raw, and not because he didn't know what else to use, but because it was a shot at The Rock. Punk hates Rocky, and he knows using his finisher against someone who already lost to it, like Cena, would irritate him. I don't remember fully, but I want to say Punk pulled out the Rock Bottom before he hit that second GTS.

Agreed with pretty much everything else, though. The finish was strange but I appreciated seeing both men use moves we haven't seen from them before. I've personally never seen Punk do a moonsault or Cena do a German, and now I know why. But still, it was fucking cool as hell seeing Cena, and Punk for that matter, trying new shit instead of going to the well again for the millionth GTS or AA.

In fact, I almost like how bad those off-arsenal moves looked. Cena doesn't ever use a German suplex, which explains why it looked awful. Punk never uses a moonsault, which is why it looked awful. They were each getting desperate -- as Cena is wont to do in big-match situations (see: WM28) -- so it's expected that those moves would look like garbage. There's a little more charm and realism to watching Cena struggle with a German suplex than if he were to just hit it perfectly. Now, THAT would have been silly.

[EmbassyForever]

NOC 2012:
CM Punk vs John Cena - ****
Dolph Ziggler vs Randy Orton - ***1/2
Tag opener was enjoyable too.

[Violent By Design]

Originally Posted by Last Chancery

He used the Rock Bottom a week ago on Raw, and not because he didn't know what else to use, but because it was a shot at The Rock. Punk hates Rocky, and he knows using his finisher against someone who already lost to it, like Cena, would irritate him. I don't remember fully, but I want to say Punk pulled out the Rock Bottom before he hit that second GTS.

But it isn't one thing or the other. I mean obviously it was not completely random that he chose the Rock Bottom, but at that point I think the general feel was that GTS for the 3rd or 4th time wasn't going to work.

In fact, I almost like how bad those off-arsenal moves looked. Cena doesn't ever use a German suplex, which explains why it looked awful. Punk never uses a moonsault, which is why it looked awful. They were each getting desperate -- as Cena is wont to do in big-match situations (see: WM28) -- so it's expected that those moves would look like garbage. There's a little more charm and realism to watching Cena struggle with a German suplex than if he were to just hit it perfectly. Now, THAT would have been silly.

That's why I liked the moonsault. A guy like that rarely does the moonsault, so it would make sense that it is sloppy. I believe even the commentators pointed out that it looks like Punk isn't used to high flying based on how it looked aesthetically.




I think if they had eased in the traditional finishes so it meant a bit more, the ending would have come across better. Cena did an epic no sell too after he had "won", granted he always does it.

[Bubz]

Yeah Cena just getting up and running around after was hilariously bad.

[Seabs]

Cena saying "Can I get least something" along with Punk and Heyman's reactions made the finish ite with me for me a bit at least.

Didn't Punk use the moonsault in his early ROH days. I liked the pulling new tricks out story with Cena using a tope and Punk using the crossface for example. If you're gonna do new stuff though make it look half decent. The moonsault was pig ugly and got nowhere near Cena. I get the "he doesn't do that move so it failed" story but it just looked TOO ugly. I get why they did that and the german double pin and the thinking behind them was sound but the execution in the context of the match wasn't so.

[TaylorFitz]

The moonsault was pretty bad looking. From what I can remember Punk never did a good moonsault but that was exceptionally bad. Haven't seen the whole match because I got back from King of Trios at like 10:30 and I found a stream and Punk was already in an STF. So basically I saw the finishing stretch, which while exciting did seem an awful lot like they were just spamming finishers. But then again I did miss the set up to that stretch so I should be too critical.

[Yeah1993]

Punk was doing shitty moonsaults in his early WWE run, and he knows it. IIRC he joked in a 2007 WWE magazine I got that CM stood for Crooked Moonsault.

[Bubz]

I remember him saying that on something else too. I thought someone was going to get seriously hurt when Punk jumped for that moonsault. When Cena rolled out of the way, he almost rolled straight under Punk, looked pretty dangerous. Hoping Punk will never do that again because apart from that everything he did was amazing. From his character work and expressions to his control segments. The man was on point.

[Last Chancery]

At least it was somewhat apparent that Cena moved out of the way when they replayed it. That moonsault wasn't meant to connect anyway, which is why it looked so horrible initially, but upon seeing that replay, it made it slightly better.

He also used it during like, the 24th minute of a 27-minute match, if I remember correctly. He was exhausted and desperate and hadn't done one in a long time, so from a logical standpoint, it doesn't bother me that it looked so terrible.