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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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#7,591 ·
l0l, like once at survivor serious 1998.....
 
#7,592 ·
Some people felt it was wrong for Rock to come back and beat this generations biggest star on such a grand stage. Admittedly, I thought that doing so would be a bad move for obvious reasons. However, having been there at SunLife Stadium in person, it's hard to describe the sheer and utter JOY and elation that people experienced when Rock went over. It's a curios situation given Cena's predicament but I think it was the right move. It was in Rock's home town and it's what everybody there paid their money to see, they paid to see Rock beat Cena and that's what they got. However, the fact still remains that a past icon came in and beat the current icon and that sends the wrong message.

Well, if Rock/Cena II for the title is indeed the plan which we all think that it is, then WWE are going to get the best of both worlds. They broke records with the first match and gave everybody what they wanted, with the second match they'll be able to put over their current icon and establish that this generation is up to scratch with previous ones. Whether you believe that or not, it's the right thing to do.

Enter CM Punk. Punk isn't the standard bearer of this generation and has only really emerged as a major player in the last year. Rock didn't come back to put him over, he came back to put Cena over. That's what I think anyways which is why I think Rock goes over at the Rumble, Cena wins the Rumble match, they have their rematch for the title at Mania 29 and Cena goes over. Yes, it's predictable but in a way, it's sort of the right thing to do after what happened last year. Maybe they'll surprise us by doing something unpredictable and turn Cena heel. That would be fantastic and if that's the pay off to all this then I'll happily take it.

I'm playing devil's advocate to some degree in what I'm saying and hey, maybe I'm even wrong, I don't know. This is what I think is going to happen though and in the end, I can see where WWE are coming from. As much as I enjoyed Rock winning last year and the special moment it created for a lot of fans, could you imagine if Hogan went over Rock back at X8? It reinforces that the past is where it's at and the present isn't up to scratch. Unless you're planning to do a big warring storyline about that, it's wrong. Cena/Rock II is predictable but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't happen either.

I await people biting my head off for even thinking such blasphemy. :cena2
 
#7,593 ·
Re: Any chance that Punk keeps the WWE title after Sunday?

If The Shield hadn't have already been involved, then I would have expected them to cause The Rock to lose.

Can The Shield interfere? I thought I heard that if they do Punk will be stripped? I may have heard wrong.

If that's the case then I can think of a couple of outcomes for Punk to win, none are clean:

A new member of the Punk/Heyman/Shield/Maddox rumored clan debuts and costs The Rock.

John Cena interferes. He is attacked earlier in the night, with suggestions it was Punk or one of the people "associated" with him who beat him up, comes down when Rock has Punk beaten and AA's Punk, leading to a DQ win, then AA's The Rock too. Then Cena wins the Rumble and this leads to a Triple Threat at 'Mania: Punk(c) VS Cena(rumble winner) VS The Rock who was cheated out of the title. (God I would hate that...)

I know it would be good for business if The Rock is champion, but is he going to be on at least a show a week until Wrestlemania? I feel like the champion should always be there in person.

To answer the original question in this thread, I think there's a chance Punk will retain. Probably 70/30 in The Rock's favour to win, as I would feel it's expected he will win, but with outside shenanigans then hopefully Punk can scrape it.
 
#7,595 ·
Hogan and Austin both tapped to Rock's(DEADLY)Sharpshooter. WM18 and the cage match after WM17.

Someone found a vid of Rock's SD promo? There's only one vid from the SD taping of the end of the Punk promo and Rock's entrance. Hope someone will upload it, the live, unedited version of the Rock/Sandow/Rhodes segment was better than their TV version.
 
#7,596 ·
but both times the ref was "unconscious" like always..................
 
#7,610 ·

OBAMA is GOAT
 
#7,611 ·
I don't thing they should put the title on The Rock.
Yes,he's a big draw money name and Vince's ratings would go on top as well as with a WM rematch(John Cena vs The Rock).
But they all forget how easily The Rock left WWE and made a 7 year career on Hollywood without even mentioning WWE or wrestling in his interviews.Not even once.He's leaving and coming back whenever he wants and now 99% he's winning the title.

Imo a good scenario would be Brock Lesnar returning at the RR to help Heyman's guy CM Punk retain so he could go on face Dwayne at Wrestlemania(Brock vs Rock).I think Punk should at least reach WM with a 500 days reign and face...let's say The Undertaker.
 
#7,613 ·
I don't thing they should put the title on The Rock.
Yes,he's a big draw money name and Vince's ratings would go on top as well as with a WM rematch(John Cena vs The Rock).
But they all forget how easily The Rock left WWE and made a 7 year career on Hollywood without even mentioning WWE or wrestling in his interviews.Not even once.He's leaving and coming back whenever he wants and now 99% he's winning the title.
Theres a lot of misconception about this topic. From all my research Dwayne actually wanted to juggle acting and wrestling but Vince was pissed he wanted to do movies outside of WWE Studios. Rumor is Hunter convinced Vince to let Rocks contract expire go to Hollywood, fail, then come crawling back which would allow them to resign him for far less money. I for one dont think Hunter had anything to do with it but its interesting none the least

Imo a good scenario would be Brock Lesnar returning at the RR to help Heyman's guy CM Punk retain so he could go on face Dwayne at Wrestlemania(Brock vs Rock).I think Punk should at least reach WM with a 500 days reign and face...let's say The Undertaker.
That would be awesome id die for Rock/Brock at Mania but it wont happen. Also Punk has only held the title so long because of his match with Rock, it was planned way before Raw 1000 for Rock to win at Rumble.
 
#7,612 ·
If ANYONE should interfere during punk/rock who will it be?

Thought this would be a fun thread, I do see someone interfering here.... Rock winning clean would be fucking lame.

My choices are

Brock lesnar: of course this man would make the most sense. He's the biggest Paul heyman guy and Brock helping heyman and punk out would make most sense. Thus setting up Brock/rock.

John cena: how amazing would it be for cena to cost the rock this match? I would totally mark out, even tho it's unlikely I'm not counting cena out.

Brad Maddox: him interfering would be different no doubt, but it obviously won't set up a match with Rock. Maddox would join punk and heyman or something.

The shield: I still have no clue what these guys are gonna do here... I think them and ryback are done so I don't see them costing him the rumble match .... any possibility for them to still get involved in punk/rock? Unlikely but still won't count them out.


Those are the only names I see getting uninvolved in this match.. Who you guys seeing interfering if it actually does happen?
 
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#7,618 ·
I think The Shield will interfere but The Rock will fight them off. Lesnar interfering and costing Rock the match would be sweet, but I can't see that happening.


would be great to see rock fight off shield turning into a gts for a punk win
 
#7,620 ·
Re: If ANYONE should interfere during punk/rock who will it be?

The ONLY person that is both logical and entertaining to see is Brock Lesnar.

John Cena - Lets face it, nobody wants to see this again. Not only do they not want to see him involved with The Rock, nobody wants to see him involved in the title either. Keep him away.

Brad Maddox - Involving a nobody like this who is 3 levels below jobber status in a high caliber feud like Rock vs Punk would be completely lack lustre and illogical.
 
#7,622 ·
GOAT HATER
 
#7,629 · (Edited)
OK you can believe what ever you want.
There isn't a single person in this planet with national recognition(from politicians to athletes) that has ever actually ADMIT something "bad" or wrong that he did in his career.
If you actually think that an AMERICAN hero like The Rock is telling the truth in every interview,I'm calling off.
 
#7,642 ·
I refuse to let Cena winning the royal rumble take any shine or excitement away from seeing the belt where it belongs once again around The Great One's waist!

10 long years we have all waited

Cena winning the rumble does not guarantee Rock-vs-Cena 2

:) I myself am praying, wishing, hoping for a Fatal Threeway: Punk-Rock-Cena at WrestleMania!!
 
#7,639 ·
When Vince added the stipulation on the shield interfering, in my mind I thought, they can have Punk go over and still have him remain unbeaten as WWE champion if they strip him of the belt the next night.

That way you could lead into Elimination Chamber match for the vacant title and out of it you could come out with a Cena/Rock story and Punk wins back the title to resume his unbeaten streak. Which is what I would do, to set up him vs. Taker or HHH.

for me, for sure their's interference, and cut the lights twice, and go through 2 refs.
 
#7,640 ·
I think this match should also be last at the card.
Yeah,we also know that if Cena wins the RR,then we automatically know who's gonna win the title match.But I don't think that the CM Punk vs The Rock match should be before the Rumble.What do you think?

P.S. the last time we saw that was at the 2006 pay per view(Kurt Angle vs Mark Henry)
 
#7,645 ·
Cena isn't winning
if you remember last year a lot of people though Jericho is winning the rumble since his match vs punk was already rumored for WM28
and they went with Sheamus and still we got the match for the title at WM
Cena doesn't need the rumble win to get involved in the title match at WM
 
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