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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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#5,435 ·
Re: CM Punk Promo... I'm Sorry.

The truth promo is getting old really fast. The first time is a good shock value but now it is getting old. It is like a old person saying how bad today's kids are. Blah, Blah we know grandpa punk. I blame lazy writers for this more than punk.

"You want the truth, you can't handle the truth."
No, duh that is why I am watching wrestling. :cool2
 
#5,437 ·
Re: "Understand that your arms are just to short to box with God"

As an atheist myself, I would demand - evidence please.....

And no, the WWE universe does not exempt you from Epicurus.
 
#5,439 ·
Re: CM Punk Promo... I'm Sorry.

Not entirely true. Alot of the stuff he said about the fans buying and him being the anti superstar is a load of hog wash.

The fact regarding Punk's character is there's no meat to it. He complains about his status in the company but that's all he can do and that's why his face run fail. He's like Austin only when Austin actually turned face he was a bad*ss who flipped everyone off, drank beer, created chaos etc etc.

Rock actually probally had the most accurate dig when he pointed out to the Punk that your face run and attempt to revolutionize industry was nothing more than failed attempt to sell ice cream bars.
 
#5,442 ·
The promo was awesome but I hated it when Rock gave a trending approach to Cookie puss.He just replaced fruity pebbles with cookie puss.For god's sake I don't want the fans to chant cookie puss at Punk again,why did the Rock treat this feud like Rock/Cena feud?Why didn't he treat it differently,we don't want this feud to be a copycat of Rock/Cena feud where people kept chanting 'Fruity Pebbles' at Cena and the seriousness was killed.Rock should reinvent himself everytime and make this feud more serious and not turn it into a joke.
 
#5,445 · (Edited)
but but......if this rock comes back its the end of the world as we know it............................
 
#5,449 ·
There was nothing wrong with Rock's promo and I went back and watched Phils and he was good.

Rock does what he has ALWAYS done, cut serious but with comedy threw in. He's always done that with whoever he's worked with. Punk went to breaking 4th wall which he's great at. This is from Jason Powell and he says it just right.

Powell's POV: I'll leave it to Punk and Rock fans to debate who had the best digs and whether Rock's insults were funny. The thing that got me was that Punk said he's going to kick Rock's ass, Rock didn't back down, yet still put over Punk's toughness while saying he's taking the title. People can make it about who got the better jabs if they want to. The goal is selling the match and the pay-per-view and I felt like they did a great job of that by creating strong intensity and talking about beating one another. Very well done. I'll have a lot more to say in Dot Net Members' audio later tonight.
Spot on.
 
#5,451 ·
Re: CM Punk Promo... I'm Sorry.

I think what people fail to realize is they aren't going for a Cena/Rock 50/50 thing its traditional heel/face. Punk did an excellent job of establishing himself as the most vile wrestler in the WWE (while still giving his diehard IWC fans something to sink their teeth into) and blowing up that balloon to pop when the rock's music hit. Rock's comedy was hit and miss but had the crowd with him every step of the way. Great to see two of the best ever rising each others games. God i love wrestlemania season.
 
#5,453 ·
The promos exceeded my expectations. I'm legitimately excited for the WWE Championship match at the Rumble. This is so much better than Cena/Rock already, it feels more like Austin/Rock which is epic. Rock looked goofy holding the WWE strap though, belt needs to change if he wins, or if Punk wins. Though Punk is much shorter and smaller, they look like worth opponents. Rock is even going to be on his show, Smackdown.. I'm happier than a pig in shit.
 
#5,455 ·
Re: CM Punk Promo... I'm Sorry.

I thought both of their promos were fantastic but they didn't feed off each other as seamlessly as I thought they would. I won't comment on the actual details of the promos because it should all be left to everyone's own perception of it. I can say, however, from a physical standpoint, Rock absolutely towered over CM Punk and made him look like a little whining and babbling child as the Rock looked down at him. Even though it was hard to look past how much of a presence Rock is compared to Punk, I can say that both did a great job at delivering their promos but not as well as actually attacking each other in the promos. Perhaps that was intentional.
 
#5,456 ·
Re: "Understand that your arms are just to short to box with God"

Understand that your arms are just **too** short to box with God
 
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#5,459 ·
Re: punk promo pre-rock entrance

Just excuse the Punk marks they don't know any better. They, like the idol they worship, can only find happiness in tearing another person down and devaluing all accomplishments said person achieves because they themselves are insecure. After his feud with the Rock, CM Punk will go back to being the same non-factor he was before the Rock showed up. Minus the title, of course.
 
#5,461 ·
This feud should have been booked for a Wrestlemania 29. This will definitely be better than Cena/Rock ... I can smell it. What a promo these guys delivered... it was magical! Pre Rock Cm Punk promo was great as well.

I liked how CM Punk took all the insults and waited for his chance to rebuttal unlike Cena who kept interfering like a 12 yr old. This has to be one of the best promos in the recent history. I havent been this excited for a match since last years Rock/Cena and Lesnar/Cena, but this time i am excited because both men competing are great unlike those matches.

I cant wait to see the Shield and Maddox's involvement in this feud. I hope WWE doesnt fuck this up.. really looking forward to it.
 
#5,463 ·
Re: "Understand that your arms are just to short to box with God"

I loved the promo and the saying but something about it was just off to me. I think it might be his size compared to the rock who was so much bigger or because he was booked like a bitch since turning heel but it didn't sound right coming from the person who looked like the underdog. I guess on the otherhand it makes sense if punk was going for looking like a guy that is delusional, but the line would have been more epic coming from the goliath whose hubris brings him down rather than the David, like maybe if Andre the giant said it.
 
#5,474 ·
Re: "Understand that your arms are just to short to box with God"

I loved the promo and the saying but something about it was just off to me. I think it might be his size compared to the rock who was so much bigger or said it. because he was booked like a bitch since turning heel but it didn't sound right coming from the person who looked like the underdog. I guess on the otherhand it makes sense if punk was going for looking like a guy that is delusional, but the line would have been more epic coming from the goliath whose hubris brings him down rather than the David, like maybe if Andre the giant
Your taking the quote wayyyy too literal. It's not meant to be about size, it's meant to be about Punk's kayfabe title reign and immense talent in the ring and on the mic. Punk was basically saying he's the most complete wrestler Rock's ever fought.
 
#5,466 ·
Re: punk promo pre-rock entrance

Punk certainly stepped it up and brought his A game, I knew these two would have epic promos. Rock definitely used catchphrases way to much whereas Punk was just great and pulling out some awesome lines. The match at the Royal Rumble will be a classic as will the segments with these two leading up to it.
 
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