CM Punk vs. The Rock Analysis

By John Perry

CM Punk vs. The Rock will be how the WWE starts the 2013 Pay-Per-View schedule. This match has the most potential to be The Rock's best match since coming back in 2011 and more importantly, he's getting a WWE Championship match. The last time The Rock won the WWE Championship was at Vengeance (2002) when he defeated Kurt Angle and The Undertaker before eventually losing it to Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam (2002).  Here we are, 11 years later, and now in the same position. At Wrestlemania 28, he defeated John Cena in his singles return match and proved that he is the best. But is he better then the Best in the World and current WWE Champion, CM Punk? 

CM Punk has held the WWE Championship for a total of 423 days (as of this writing) and has had some extremely talented wrestlers (Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, etc). But at the Royal Rumble, he will have his toughest challenge to date (with the exception of his feud with Undertaker back in 2009) when he battles The Rock. 

The Rock has had some major ring rust, since he hasn't wrestled in almost a year so that will definitely play a key impact in the match. The arguement could be made that CM Punk is still recovering from his knee injury but that shouldn't take anything away from the buildup to this match.  

The buildup of this match began at Raw 1000 when The Rock announced that he will be getting a WWE Championship match at this upcoming Royal Rumble and has gotten very stale since then. Since Raw 1000, there were not many mentions of the future match and it felt like WWE did not put a consistent effort into it. Of course, CM Punk would throw in his usual shot at The Rock during a promo but I don't believe "taking shots" will persuade fans to await the upcoming showdown. 

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The buildup for this match in 2013 has not been up to par for me. I thought the promo from last week's Raw with CM Punk laying down the pipebomb was absolutely fantastic but it took a detour this week with the "Rock Concert" segment. The segment was more about mocking Vickie Guerrero then it was to build up the match. Hopefully, the last Raw before the Rumble will live up to the hype and make it seem more realistic. CM Punk has had matches with Ryback and Brodus Clay this year so far to prepare for his faceoff with the People's Champion. But could CM Punk actually go one on one with the Great One and defeat him? 

There are 3 possibilities for this match. The first and popular one, The Rock defeats CM Punk for the WWE Championship, John Cena wins the Rumble. We end up having another "Once in a Lifetime" match between Cena vs Rock for the WWE Championship and Cena gets the big win. The main reason I don't want this to happen is because it wouldn't make much sense. It would send CM Punk back down the cards for Wrestlemania. He faced Chris Jericho at last year's Wrestlemania and despite being overshadowed by Rock/Cena and HHH/Taker, it was a very good match. The second one, The Rock wins the WWE Title and somehow, we end up having Rock vs Undertaker for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania. This theory does not make much sense, considering the fact that there wouldn't be any background and for WWE to just throw Undertaker in a feud with The Rock would leave the WWE Universe very confused. The one that I think will happen, CM Punk defeats Rock at the Royal Rumble, The Rock beats Punk in the Elimination Chamber match for the Title and a Rock vs Cena match will happen. As for Punk, to keep him from being considered an afterthought, he could move into a feud with The Undertaker. 

I still expect the build-up to the show of the immortals to get hot very soon. CM Punk vs The Rock will definitely be a great match to look forward too. With the talks of Triple H, Brock Lesnar, and Undertaker all coming back to participate in the show, it will not be one to miss. I see Triple H vs Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker vs CM Punk, and The Rock vs John Cena for the WWE Championship being worked in for Wrestlemania 29 and will only add on to what would be an already great show. Please let me know what you think. Will The Rock defeat CM Punk for the WWE Championship or will the Straight Edge Savior save the WWE Universe from the Great One? Let me know your plans for Wrestlemania! Peace!

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