Hey Scott, wrote up this blog post this morning about why I think Punk should win Sunday...and keep the belt forever. Would assume many on the blog would agree with me. Do you? I'm not really looking forward to Rock/Cena again, to be honest.
Honestly, if it's not changing today, it's changing at Elimination Chamber, and that would be lame. Rumble at least is a big show and it'll be a big memorable title change. Either way, you're getting Rock/Cena II because Uncle Vince has lots of crappy movies that still need to be financed, so you might as well just accept it.
I hope the fans in attendance on the ROAD TO WM RAWS do everything in their power not to boo him, despite every cheap heat tactic he might try.
ReplyDelete...If he loses...
I also don't care about Rock/Cena 2. I'm a huge Rock fan and was looking forward to it last year, but its done. They resolved their issue. Everytime they've acknowledged each other since, they've been either somewhat friendly or at least neutral. The Raw Rock came back, Cena opened the show sucking up to Rock. What issue is there for them now? They can fight for the title which is likely what they'll do, but I don't care. Rock/Punk has been really good, and I have no interest in going back to Cena telling poopy jokes again against Rock.
ReplyDeleteAlas, they're not booking for me.
Am I the only one who would love to see Rock/Brock, instead? You take the two biggest names that have made Vince the most money in 2012 and put them in a match against each other? Yeah, we've seen them wrestle before, but not for a good, long while. Certainly long enough that the younger audience might not remember.
ReplyDeleteBesides, wouldn't that make even more money than a rematch we saw just last year?
Only way I'm interested in Rock Cena II is if its a vehicle to turn Cena heel. (which I doubt it is)
ReplyDeleteI have zero interest in seeing John Cena as he is now go up against anyone, let alone Rocky who is always entertaining at the very least
CM Punk dropping the belt at any PPV, in any style, to lead to Rock/Cena II at WM is lame. Punk being the champion for over a year has been THE story of "this season", and as we all know, all stories are supposed to end at WM. Ending the reign earlier than that doesn't help drive down the road to Wrestlemania, it's more like the car runs out of gas and we need to walk the rest of the way.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly how I feel, no matter how great those matches might be, as a cynical "smark" you just know what the results will be even before they lock up.
ReplyDeleteAlso when Punk loses the title (be it tonight or in the chamber) why would get allow Cena and The Rock to headline Wrestlemania instead of enforcing his rematch clause.
Wreslemania XXIX - UNWANTED REMATCHES
ReplyDeleteThat sums it up perfectly.
If Vince really is as set-in-stone as he's rumored to be, then it's a lose/lose situation for Punk - if he's booed out of the building, then he's the heel that should be dropping the title to the face, but if he receives incredible fan-support, then he's "not doing his job as a heel", and drops the title anyway.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I don't think Vince is QUITE that hard-headed - I'm actually expecting Punk to win tonight, leading to Punk/Rock/Cena at "WM".
Can anyone explain how Rock-Cena II would be bigger than Punk-Rock II? Just because it's John Cena and just because it's The Rock and because it sold 1 million+ buys last year so that means it automatically will sell 1 million+ this year? Rock-Cena sold last year because it was hyped as a dream match that would never happen again. I don't see how anyone thinks that just adding the WWE title to that match would make it special, and I don't see the buildup to that match being anything special or different from what we got last year.
ReplyDeleteLike NewKidsOnTheBlog said, THE story of this year has been Punk's title reign and who's going to finally dethrone him. The WWE is built on stories, or at least it once was. What's a better story for The Rock (and for the WWE) than losing unexpectedly at the Royal Rumble, realizing Punk actually is the best in the world and that he's not the guy he once was, only to make one last comeback at the biggest show of the year to finally dethrone the longest reigning WWE champion since Hulk Hogan? That would be the best possible thing for The Rock, for Punk, and for the WWE.
There is no weigh PG Punk should be going over The Rock. The Rock is a much bigger star then Phil will evar be. Rock should win the title and take on Brock at Wrestlemania. Two Attitude Era legends colliding on the biggest stage of them all!
ReplyDeleteAnd CM Punk vs John Cena for the WWE Title... why not.
ReplyDeleteWhat if Cena scews Rock out of the title tonight? He can justify it since Rock screwed him at WM XXVII. Not necessarily a heel turn, since it is completely justified. The little kids would still like Cena for sticking up for himself and adults would still hate him, cause they already hate him. That gets us to Cena/Rock at Mania, without the title, but with some emotional reason to have the match. Have Bryan last about 50 minutes to win the Rumble and make him look strong. Since he's super over as a face already, we get face Bryan vs heel Punk at Mania. Also allows you to set up a Taker/Brock match about how Brock doesn't "respect" the wrestling BUSINESS.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't a prediction, just a thought about how to keep the title on Punk and still get to the Rock/Cena rematch they want so badly.
You called him PHIL! That's a shoot brother!!!
ReplyDeleteSay the "set in stone" plan goes through and Cena gets the belt back by beating Rock at WM--then what? What can they possibly do with a Cena title reign that they haven't done before? I know they say "they're telling stories" but it'd be more interesting for me if they'd try telling some NEW stories occasionally.
ReplyDeleteDwayne vs Phil! What is this, a match for the Heavyweight Accountant title?
ReplyDeleteGuys, sorry but Cena is winning tonight. He'll probably manage to embarrass the whole roster along the way including poor Dolph. Rock wins too. We're heading for another awful Cena title reign. And CM Punk probably gets buried in the process.
ReplyDeleteHonest truth, if there's one thing this feud was missing, it was Punk calling The Rock "Dwayne" with that sneer in his voice like he did when he first cut that pipe bomb promo.
ReplyDeleteI think WrestleMania would do well no matter what to be honest. They'll do in the neighborhood of a million buys as long as they keep adding new paying international markets and so long as the sheen doesn't wear off -- which at some point I'm sure it will. I don't think they'll hit last years number though, I imagine they'll have an overall 200k or 300k drop just by virtue of headlining the show with a rematch of the previous years main event without putting a new spin on it.
ReplyDeleteI sort of disagree. With ratings the way they are I would be inclined to watch a Raw or Smackdown that featured Rock wrestling. Otherwise I'm turning on PS3 or an NBA game. Rock having a warm up match ala his match with Hurricane in 2003 or being in a tag match would keep people tuned in. I'm not saying every week, but certainly once or twice before Mania. This is a mistake I feel they made with Lesnar this year as well.
ReplyDeleteI would regard him as "Post Attitude" or "Ruthless Agression" era.
ReplyDeleteIf Cena screwed Rock out of the WWE Title tonight without going full on heel, you might as well kiss about 250-300K buys from WrestleMania and another ratings point off Raw goodbye. Not only would it create an audible backlash from the very vocal segment of the audience who is tired of Cena's hero act, it would be completely out of nowhere and lead to the most craptastic build to the main event at WrestleMania in quite a long time.
ReplyDeleteRock and Brock are the only 2 guys they have that move the needle on PPV buys, and I think it's because that's the only way you get to see them wrestle. If you announce they are gonna be on Raw, the ratings go up, regardless of if they wrestle or not. Plus, Rock gets $7-10 million a movie... he's not wrestling unless he gets a PPV payday.
ReplyDeleteYeah I would be curious to see how his contract is structured - is it a certain amount per appearance, or match? Would he get paid less just showing up at Raw and doing his catch phrases or would it be the same if he was in a tag match and hit a few spots?
ReplyDeleteWell Cena wins that right by winning the Rumble match. Punk would have to superkick Cena and sign his own name on a contract already drawn up for Cena to get himself into the 'Mania match.
ReplyDeleteHow is it out of nowhere? Rock cost Cena the belt. This is the first time Rock has wrestled for the belt (the reason he said he came back) and Cena screws him. They are already doing Cena/Rock at Mania without Cena turning heel, so I don't see how having him interfere with the match is going to make people want to see it less...
ReplyDeleteI would guess he is getting paid a certain amount, plus some % of the PPV, with the understanding that he is only doing the 2 or 3 PPV matches, or whatever it ends up being. That's a total guess though.
ReplyDeleteHulk Hogan is a bigger star than The Rock - does that mean Hogan should come back and beat Rock for the title?
ReplyDeletePunk's going to be just fine. He's going to be living off the reputation of "Champion for 434 days" for the rest of his career, the same way Flair lived off "16-time World Champion".
ReplyDeleteGreat way of putting it.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, after the subtitle of Wrestlemania XX, I joked to my friend that Wrestlemania XXX would be 'Where it all begins again. Again.'
ReplyDeleteBecause the rules (which, granted, don't amount to much these days) are that a rematch clause isn't like MITB. You have to use it within X number of days before it lapses and you lose the right. If Punk lost at Rumble, the latest he could invoke the rematch clause would probably be Elimination Chamber.
ReplyDeleteI think Lesnar vs. anyone would be more appealing to a casual fan than another Rock/Cena match.
ReplyDeleteI said the same thing a couple days ago. Having no doubt about the outcome of the top 3 matches on the card is a no buy for me. Especially HHH/Lesnar II, there's really no good reason to do that match at all. Seriously, what the hell would be the point?
ReplyDeleteEither Punk drops it today or he keeps it until WrestleMania. Dropping it at EC would be anticlimatic. It'd be like when he dropped the title to Del Rio after Summerslam.
ReplyDeleteStill don't get why they had Punk lose the title. He should have just held it from Money in the Bank until now. Those Mysterio-Cena-Del Rio reigns really meant nothing. Either way, extremely excited for the show today.
My predictions: Punk wins(the mark in me picking) Daniel Bryan wins the Rumble(mark) Rhodes Scholars. Realistically Rock and Cena are winning.
You know what..I totally forgot about that! My apologies!
ReplyDeleteThat's what you get when "rules" don't get enforced.
Hey, I don't blame you one bit for forgetting, my friend.
ReplyDeleteWWE goes out of its way not to enforce its rules. That's why one of the most prevalent theories you'll see on the internet with every MITB winner is that they'll cash in on the other brand's title. Because everybody feels "Well, rules don't mean anything, so they could easily have Dolph cash in on the WWE title, even though it's the WHC MITB briefcase."
True, ah..'rassling. the only fake sport where the rules confuses the hell out of you :D
ReplyDeleteNo weigh at all.
ReplyDeleteMy fear with Punk/Rock/Cena is no matter the outcome (assuming Cena wins), something goes unresolved. If Cena pins Punk, he never gets his win back from Rock. If he pins Rock, the longest reign of the modern era ends without the champion being pinned. Lose lose.
ReplyDelete