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Rate The Rock vs. CM Punk Feud

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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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#8,511 ·
So today I woke up in the morning to go to school. Knowing my excitement, I just quickly turned on my iPad and searched the results. I saw The Rock won the title and I couldn't help but smile for hours. Even doing my best trying to wipe it off, I just couldn't. I pre-read the boards earlier today and the reaction of the Punk fans makes it all more worth.

Hope you enjoyed those painful days because never again will Punk bore people in the main event spotlight this prominently for so long. Thank God the nightmare is over! I'm about to download the whole thing to enjoy the show and mark out! Still can't believe that indy midget no longer has the title on him. Is this a dream?!?!?!?

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
#8,513 ·
#8,519 ·
Re: Ending to Rock/Punk Match.

No match should ever end with an staggered elbow drop.
 
#8,522 ·
Way to obvious.it was going to slow, right when.McMahon came out you knew rock just won, and seriously? Ending it with a peoples elbow?
 
#8,527 ·
Re: Ending to Rock/Punk Match.

The finish was terrible. Absolutely ridiculous. I understand that they were trying for a ~LOL SWERVE but I just wish The Rock could've defeated Punk cleanly, and with a finisher more believable than just the Peoples Elbow. Yes yes yes, we've heard it all before, he beat others with that very move, you're right. But a) He'd deliver the Rock Bottom on them first and more importantly b) To have a 434 day world champion have his reign ended with an elbow is pathetic.

Not bothered about Rock winning, but the finish left a sour taste in my mouth.
 
#8,528 ·
Re: Ending to Rock/Punk Match.

The finish was terrible. Absolutely ridiculous. I understand that they were trying for a ~LOL SWERVE but I just wish The Rock could've defeated Punk cleanly, and with a finisher more believable than just the Peoples Elbow. Yes yes yes, we've heard it all before, he beat others with that very move, you're right. But a) He'd deliver the Rock Bottom on them first and more importantly b) To have a 434 day world champion have his reign ended with an elbow is pathetic.

Not bothered about Rock winning, but the finish left a sour taste in my mouth.
He did deliver the Rock Bottom first though.
 
#8,535 ·
What a day. Just watched the match for the second time.
I can't believe some of the posts in here. What are you? 14 or what?
Yes, you could see that The Rock had/has ring rust, but to say this match was bad or horrible is just plain wrong. Seems to me that you never watched a Rock match in his prime.
He was never a jumping rubber ball like Rey Mysterio or an awesome technician like Shawn Michaels. The Rock's matches were always about telling a story and making the opponent look like a million bucks.
And exactly this happened with Cena as well as Punk. Punk looked like legit a threat to The Rock and therefore it was not clear until the end who is going to win. That's what I love about wrestling.
It was a great old school match with great story-telling and an awesome "AE" ending. The parts of the match were beyond awesome. First they went berserk on each other with Punk getting the upper hand, then he tries to wear Rocky down with the shots in the mid-section. Comeback from Rock after Punk's "injury". Then the awesome Anaconda Vice/Sharpshooter "intermission". Bam People´s Elbow. Light goes out. Punk wins it and the venue goes into absolute silence. Vinnie Mac comes out and bam match restarts. New Champion. Just incredible.
Punk btw was awesome and sold his "injury" to perfection. I hope we see a rematch at Elimination chamber because I have not enough of Rock vs Punk.
It's a shame that the announcer table broke before the Rock Bottom. Would have been an awesome skit of the match. But that's live entertainment. No problem for me.

I cannot wait what they are going to do on Raw tonight.
 
#8,539 ·
I think what annoyed me a bit was the fact we didn't get one GTS from Punk. Did make him look strong though considering it took a Sharpshooter, The Rock bottom on the outside and two Peoples Elbows to beat him.

CM Punk pinned The Rock after one power bomb through an announce table.
 
#8,540 ·
I don't get why so many people are pissed. Punk held the title longer than anyone in the past 25 years. Longer than The Rock, than Cena, Austin, Taker, Trips.
And besides, the crowd went 50/50 last night. The indy guy splitting the crowd against The Rock. Suck on that you stupid Attitude Era marks
 
#8,542 ·
Thank you Rock for finally ending that abortion of a reign. Worst WWE reign of all time, easy.

Loved the way Punk "won" just to fool the smarks:lmao

Punk fans have had things there own way for too long....they deserve to suffer for once

Hopefully Punk will be depushed and buried now
 
#8,545 ·
Have no problems with Rock winning, but I would have hoped that a 430+ day reign as champion could have withstood a singular people's elbow. This match just made Punk look weak, I'm sorry. Match with this build needed some near-falls, I mean Jesus, Punk withstood 3 AA's from Cena regulary.

Sometimes simplest is best. They should have let them have a match with Rock winning instead of all that fuckery with
the Shield and Vince. Didn't they learn their lesson from Miz/Cena at Mania?
 
#8,547 ·
I actually thought they made Punk look strong. The Rock dropped TWO Peoples elbows on him, took advantage of his damaged knee, applied The Sharpshooter on him and Rock Bottomed him on the outside.

It took one powerbomb through a table for CM Punk to pin The Rock. I thought Punk looked the better of the two in terms of who looked stronger through out the match.

What I don't buy though is Cena will be going up against The Rock, someone who beat Punk for the belt. John Cena can't even beat CM Punk, and he didn't beat Rock last year so we are supposed to believe that he can this year? It's bullshit. This isn't 2005.
 
#8,548 ·
This match had an ok result. I don't mind The Rock being the WWE Champion. But the match needed more. I mean come on: No GTS? No Rock kicking out of something? No Punk kicking out of finishers? The only good part about the match itself was the submissions. And then The Rock who can't stand up but ends winning with The People's Elbow... yeah... That was short. I would have seen after Punk won that there will be a rematch at EC or something. But this...with Cena winning the RR... It's gonna be a long 2 months.
 
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