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Rate The Rock vs. CM Punk Feud

  • Underwhelming :punk3

    Votes: 78 20.6%
  • Decent/Good :rock

    Votes: 171 45.1%
  • 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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#9,273 ·
Re: So, what was the point in the stipulation?

They did use it. One of the stories of the match was Punk doing all he could to get Rock mad enough to be DQ'd, by slapping and spitting in Rock's face. The other story was the stipulation weighing on Rock's mind every time they went outside. He was over thinking and Punk pretty much dominated him outside the ring.
 
#9,280 ·
The only reason they added the stip was to convince marks that Punk had a chance of winning when he clearly did not, I said that on Monday and it obviously worked a treat. They'll probably use that promise Heyman made to do anything to get the stip later on to set up Brock-HHH.

It was a stupid stipulation but as I said they did a decent job of incorporating it into the storytelling of the match without using stupid outcomes or swerves like Heyman attacking Punk
 
#9,281 ·
The stipulation did have influences on the match. It was added to evolve the feud. Punk's character is ment to be the delusional but smart heel. He shifted the cards to his advantage. It was also to put The Rock over as a strong babyface to beat the stipulation. Punk was clearly trying to use the advantage during the match, slaps/taunts/running away/spitting in Rock's face, Rock Bottom on Table. When he realised those couldn't work he desperately tried to use normal "cheat" methods like knocking out referees/distractions. Rock overcame all this as a strong babyface and managed to pin Punk after a second Rock Bottom. I found the ending anti-climatic (I thought more swerves were on the way), but Punk was booked superbly strong throughout the match. He kicked out of a Rock Bottom and a People's Elbow, aswell as getting Rock down for a 7 or so count with the GTS.(The absent referee can be seen as ironic as Punk had knocked him out before hand to try and swindle some time). Punk won't be involved in the Title Match at Mania , Rock/Cena will be a 1v1 match. As for the "any favour" Heyman now owes Vince, it will most likely be to set up HHH/Brock.
 
#9,287 ·
Punk won't be involved in the Title Match at Mania , Rock/Cena will be a 1v1 match. As for the "any favour" Heyman now owes Vince, it will most likely be to set up HHH/Brock.
I hop Punk gets in the picture cuz not only does he deserve it but it would make that build and feel of the match far better. Rocky/Cena last year was the worst build i ever saw. WWE dropped the ball bigtime at this Mania :(
 
#9,282 ·
Only complaint is that they fucked up the Rock bottom on the table (again). Other than that, decent match. Punk looked strong kicking out of the Rock Bottom and People's Elbow and Rock wouldnt have even kicked out of one GTS. Also, wtf was up with the stupid second ref hurting his knee? It didn't even look like Punk hurt him when he slightly fell on him lol.
 
#9,286 ·
Now that this feud is pretty much over,overall i was disappointed by it. I think they could have done a way better job at it. Hopefully Cena/Rock2 feud wont suck.
 
#9,289 ·
It was an awful rushed feud that they never even explained, where Punk looked like a pussy the whole time. Lame.
 
#9,296 ·
What did he say?

This whole "gassed" fad is getting ridiculous. Rock can't sell a move without being eaten alive by some on here. Yet if he no sold you would just as fast tear him apart for "burying" Punk.
True dat, the jealousy wont allow Rocky haters to not complain about something stupid. He puts dem asses in seats and fattens everyone checks.
 
#9,298 ·
rock v punk was much better than the 1st match, started off slow, it was like they were trying to build a big match fight feel but the crowd sucked balls all night (i wish they would have more international ppv event but this is another story),it eventually built up to a great middle and finish and i give it 7.5/10. Anyone who says rock is gassed is a moron and is getting fooled by his selling abilities. Anyone who has worked with the rock have said how intense and great a worker he is.
 
#9,306 ·
I knew Rock was going to win. But was i the only that thought The Rock was going to get DQ becuase when pinned Punk, the title was laying right beside him? I bet if was Rock getting pinned and Punk won,they would have reversed the call for cheating.
 
#9,313 ·
it's pretty impressive how he managed to make the match look decent and hid almost all of Rock's errors...thats veryy impressive and not something every young wrestler can do.
 
#9,310 ·
I'd like to see how well Punk moves around in six years. And how convenient of you to ignore the part where I said that he doesn't wrestle full time anymore. He's obviously not in ring shape and due to his schedule he isn't going to be able to have sufficient time to do it.
 
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