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August Classics: John Cena vs. CM Punk - RAW 8/22/11

Hey, remember when the Summer of Punk was tainted by the involvement of Kevin Nash and Triple H and Alberto Del Rio and pretty much anyone else they could throw in the mix? This match was a #1 Contenders match for new champ Del Rio, and it's a pretty good match all things aside.



Comments

  1. I literally can't remember a Wrestlemania since like 21 with four good matches. Maybe 23? Even 30 which was the best one in YEARS has only three + a decent battle royal.

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  2. I'm sure that after 3,5 years, The Boss was thrilled to finally get revenge on Rude for all the "Yo Momma" jokes.

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  3. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonAugust 26, 2014 at 1:15 PM

    I think what got lost in that schmozz at the end was..CENAWINSLOL.

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  4. Wait until what happens at SuperBrawl!


    Also, he turned the trick himself on Big Show about his dad in '99, remember?

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  5. Apples and oranges, brah.

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  6. I think they literally spelled it all three ways in graphics. "The Barbarian" works fine. Sionne is his real name and spelling.

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  7. Let's be honest. The so-called Summer of Punk lasted from June 27 Raw (the pipebomb) until he returned to beat up "new champion" Cena on the July 25 Raw. It was all downhill from there.

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  8. If this show were to air in 2014, we would be blasting the hell out of it for being a 45-minute promo for a PPV.

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  9. It was to keep it more in line with the other Headshrinker names. The rare WWF effort to make something feel like "more" of a tag team.

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  10. how is "aligning with the one manager that has never been thought of as someone who would betray his "client" and beating that guy down with the very symbol of his strength" in any way "tainted"?

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  11. Very heelish of Cena to win that way.

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  12. Forgot this match existed. I also wanna say that though MITB and Raw in Feb. 2013 are hailed as classics, I absolutely LOVE the Night of Champions draw.

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  13. Wow, so they have Punk lose the belt to Del Rio, then job to Cena on RAW, then never get any sort of revenge on Nash and then to top that off, he jobs to Triple H at Night of Champions. And after all this, he STILL had enough momentum to win the belt back and carry it for over a year.

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  14. Mark Henry would be a waste but Swagger, Cesaro, Sheamus, Ambrose etc could look strong against Brock if they wanted them to. All they have to do is BOOK IT

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  15. Extant1979 - Ghetto SuperstarAugust 26, 2014 at 2:07 PM

    I'm still amazed that WWE never pulled the trigger on a Cena-Punk WrestleMania match. It's like deciding that Hogan-Savage didn't need to happen on the biggest stage they had.


    Those two guys had amazing chemistry in the ring, they worked well opposing each other on the mic and probably would have delivered a 4-star main event without breaking a sweat.


    One of the biggest missed opportunities for the WWE in the last 4-5 years.

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  16. Rybully might have been my favorite gimmick from all of last year.

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  17. I took a hiatus from watching after this match.

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  18. A manager turning on the face to help the heel win is the definition of a tainted win.
    Which is fine, Mankind was a heel, but he didn't "Brock Lesnar" Taker. He cheated to win.

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  19. I can't really argue with that

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  20. Wasn't this the episode where Lawler spent the entire time burying Punk on commentary because he didn't think Punk was the "Best in the World"?

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  21. Virgil's Gimmick TableAugust 26, 2014 at 2:21 PM

    Just imagine what could have been if they hadn't booked him like a chump all fall.

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  22. Personally I think that way of thinking is holding back the industry from becoming universally accepted again. But to each their own, of course, my friend.

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  23. The episodes where Hogan gets beat up by the Dungeon of Doom with a woman's shoe. That and the debut of Scott Hall Nitro.

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  24. Even as a young mark that Sting/Hawk match is fucking INTERMINABLE. Jesus, what a shit match. Did anybody ever have worse chemistry than Hawk and Sting? Two babyfaces who do the exact same thing?

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  25. I don't remember this match at all. I think I quit watching by this time.

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  26. After MITB they did everything wrong which they could do wrong. First they building this thing, that Punk leaves when he wins the title. And he won! And he left! And what did they do? They rushed a "tournament" and couldn't wait for Summer Slam to have the final match. They brougth back Punk only one week or so after he left. WTF?! They could have stretched the tournament until Summer Slam and they could have stretched Punks vacation until Survivor Series or so. But nooo, they couldn't wait for a rematch and destroyed everything with Nash, Del Rio and so. They just don't know how to book wrestling proper.

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  27. I always preferred the one where guys were shooting.

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  28. It's difficult right now.

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  29. I think people are specifically referring to that period when they use the term. As I'm sure you're well aware, the phrase was a reference to an ROH storyline. It was applied optimistically to Punk's angle pretty much from the word go, to ever-diminishing returns.

    We've discussed what went wrong with the second Summer of Punk several thousand times, so I won't comment on it's complete implosion. It still makes me a bit angry, though. It seems almost impossible to fuck up - even when they hotshotted Cena regaining the title and Punk returning in one night it still seemed salvageable and I felt optimistic that it would play out well in the end.

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  30. Hey man...you just gotta wait and see how it plays out.

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  31. And half this board was defending it at the time... *SMDH*

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  32. Seriously, how did they not do Rey/Cena at Summerslam for the title. Rey defending the WWE Title in LA seems like one of those no brainers.

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  33. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryAugust 26, 2014 at 2:51 PM

    Punk got shafted out of a WM main event so many times, I'm surprised he didn't quit sooner

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  34. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryAugust 26, 2014 at 2:52 PM

    Because he's FAT!

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  35. It's a damned shame. Especially considering how not great Rock looked at RR and EC against Punk, and then how anticlimactic Rock/Cena 2 was. They could have at least made the main event a triple threat.

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  36. Yeah...all three are amazing matches. Those two get a few more PPV shots against each other and it's one of the great rivalries of all time.

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  37. Uh...he always looked pretty skinny to me.

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  38. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryAugust 26, 2014 at 2:54 PM

    They could get over by promoting the girls who can wrestle (AJ, Paige, Nattie, Charlotte, Emma) and letting them wrestle, BUT THAT'S CRAZY TALK

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  39. Bo's fine. Have you seen his brother?

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  40. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryAugust 26, 2014 at 2:58 PM

    They said "next week", so I'm assuming after RAW on Monday?

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  41. Because The Rock ruins everything.

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  42. The timing was bad. It should have been WM 27 since Miz sucked, but that was also before the Summer of Punk, so he wasn't as white hot as he would get. After that it didn't work out. Totally agree though, a huge missed opportunity. I'm fine with Rock/Cena at 28, but you could have done Cena/Punk as the main event to 29 and done something different with Rock.

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  43. Virgil's Gimmick TableAugust 26, 2014 at 3:10 PM

    I do agree with you in part there. The ridiculousness of things has made wrestling ridiculed in the general public. But I don't think, for this specific example, Punk beating Lesnar would make it worse. If booked correctly and treated as a legitimate match they could totally play it off and have Punk win using his cleverness in a no DQ match and set up a rematch. I think what's holding wrestling down is shitty Jerry Springer reject storylines like the Bella twins and comedy that is not funny like Hornswoggle.

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  44. Nah, lucky needs to be some awesomely brilliant mid carder held back by his hat (known as "politics")

    HE or Vincent as Pozo though.

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  45. Another very short sighted match by WWE. If they pretend it never happened within a year (which they did, since the story later became that Cena couldn't beat Punk), then they probably shouldn't have done it.

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  46. I really liked this, Kyle. Good wit and flow.

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  47. What about Warrior? Who else could pull off Lucky's 'thinking' like that?

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  48. cowardwhotriedtoquitAugust 26, 2014 at 3:23 PM

    Viewership from Prowrestling.net (Sorry if this is already listed in a thread below): Average 3.973M (vs. 4.194M last week).

    The first hour of Raw averaged 3.859 million viewers. Hour two drew 4.057 million viewers. The final hour of the show averaged 4.005 million viewers.

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  49. Sting was way way better than Hawk.

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  50. I've never gotten the love for Flair-Vader. Slow, sloppy match.

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  51. They killed off everyone's momentum from Mania. It's sad, really

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  52. You now have a BoD RAW gimmick.

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  53. but you have to admit that "the month of Punk" sounds lame.

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  54. Technically you're right, there was nothing wrong with most of the matches, but WM tends to be a pretty bloated show with tons of filler. As a kid, I preferred watching the Royal Rumble 94 show over WM, despite the fact the Rumble didn't have a ***** match.

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  55. I think it's noteworthy because everyone assumed that Cena vs. Edge would be Cena's version of Austin vs. Rock. but Cena and Punk's chemistry was just as great.

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  56. "skinny fat"!

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  57. Look, we're still waiting for it to play out to see where it goes.

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  58. I think Punk quit for a dozen reasons that were more important than his spot on the WrestleMania card.

    If his main reason really was "I never got to main event WrestleMania", well, what a mark.

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  59. He still jobbed to Rude on PPV and el lawsuit stopped Traylor's career having meaning in WCW.

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  60. Listening to JR on podcasts really have soured me on him , he comes across as a know it all asshole and if you disagree with him then your wrong.

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  61. I get it, but I don't get it.

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  62. He only got "shafted" twice, at WM 28 and WM 29, and in both cases there were bigger match-ups with a lot more money to be made that took the top spot. It's like HHH facing 'Taker at 'Mania 17 while Austin and Rock had a one-on-one match in the match. Yeah, Trips was coming off of a great year, but ultimately a singles Rock/Austin match was where the money was.

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  63. Making it a Triple Threat could've quite possibly lessened (or diluted) fan interest.

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  64. His Survivor Series 2011 match against ADR where he won back the belt felt really hollow and anticlimactic though. I remember laughing when he dived into the crowd afterwards because it felt so forced and over-the-top. The Rock/Cena main event against Awesome Truth was the big story at the time, and Punk's odyssey to reclaim the belt felt minor in comparison.

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  65. Actually a drunk Steve McMichael talking about Coma on Raw next week would be funny. If we could keep it clean, he could moderate a second debate with Brie and Nikki.

    Mongo; So, is this Coma?

    Nikki: I wish my sister died in the womb.

    Mongo: ... and that don't mean you are digging around in the dirt with farm implements, baby!!!!

    Cole: Technically Mongo, they call it an abortion.

    Mongo: So Nikki, do you have suicidal thoughts since you wanted your momma to abort your twin sister.

    Nikki: That was not what I was saying. She is do darn selfish.

    Mongo: My ex-wife was selfish, but I blame that on her bring female and crazy and getting old with me wasn't going to happen. I mean girl, if Cheese was selfish maybe it is because you were selfish.

    Nikki: WHAT?!?!

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  66. More like Chris Hero ate a dozen Hero Sandwiches

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  67. It amazes me they won't push him when he is getting over. Sure, he is not the best wrestler and has a poor physique in terms of what the WWE wants but the dude entertains and the fans buy into his act. Why can't they just go with that for a bit?

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  68. His Twitter feed is the same way.
    No wonder Vince shit all over this guy. He is a grumpy asshole. Guess Tom Zenk was right all along

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  69. I stopped following him.on Twitter, its all retweets of his BBQ sauce and ppl telling him that his podcast is the greatest thing ever !

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  70. The perks of government employment

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  71. Agreed. JR is like Jim Cornette, except he keeps his cool enough to stay employed and is a 100x less interesting.

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  72. All this time, I thought I was the only one who felt like that.

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  73. It's one of the reasons I'm not as fond of the current product. That, and the shitty camera work.

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  74. He is mostly right, though. His podcast still sucks though because he is a terrible host and interviewer.

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  75. He probably could, but it's another thing to convince WWE to allow him to. And lord knows that if he takes matters into his own hands, he'll just get Ryder'd.


    WWE, everyone!

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  76. All he does is interrupt his guests , the worst ones were with AJ Styles and Sting , kept talking over them

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  77. Foley too

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  78. Yep, then you'll learn to take it in in small doses.

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  79. It's just getting me annoyed with JBL.

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  80. I said something similar in a thread the other day. He just seems miserable and it comes across in his interviews. Austin and Jericho are both much better.

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  81. He's a lot like Miz, actually, in that he has a face that won't allow him to be a babyface. It's just too eminently punchable.

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  82. OMFG getting tendonitis in my thumb from having scroll through all these post-whoring motherfuckers

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  83. WHAATT?! YOU BASTARD!

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  84. As a wrestling fan I don't want suspend belief so someone like Miz or Ziggler can beat guys they shouldn't beat. Lesnar is an indestrucable machine, he's booked like one and he shouldn't job to anyone old wrestler. I feel the same way about 1993 Vader.

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  85. Well, that was every Cena storyline during Punk's title reign.


    Cena facing the BIG SHOW was considered a bigger deal than Punk defending the title against both Bryan and Kane.

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  86. CruelConnectionNumber2August 26, 2014 at 8:20 PM

    Ryback absence = WWE responding to his babyface reaction in Vegas, noting they have hardly any babyfaces, and bringing him back as a huge babyface in a couple months to a huge pop with the Feed Me More theme music.

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  87. I'm not talking about the way the storylines were treated necessarily or their position on the card. Cena/Big Show obviously didn't feel like a big deal. On the other hand, Cena/Rock vs Awesome Truth (being Rocky's in-ring return after seven years) legitimately felt a lot bigger than Punk's WWE title match.

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  88. When Hogan no sold Vader's powerbomb it was all over for him.

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  89. Build up 2011 Mark Henry again. Have him face Brock. Let the universe decide who they want to cheer. Don't remember a PPV where Brock fought Mark... time to reopen the Hall of Pain

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  90. I think the HBK match did more for him than the Taker matches that year. Then the next year the JR interviews propelled him even further. The thing that made him a mega star was easily the HITC match vs Taker.

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  91. If only Cena hadn't refused to JOB.

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  92. I really enjoy the "big atmosphere" shows. They aren't always the greatest wrestling wise, but the big crowds and high energy level does make the shows more fun. I particularly line the June 9, 1997 show -- the first one they did at the Fleet Center. It has one of those early, very elaborate Sting entrances that the crowd just pops out of their minds for.

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  93. We know how it played out in 2011. ;-) Punk is at home and Cena still sucks. ;-)

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  94. Great. Now I have to actually read BOD Raw? Damnit.

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  95. What makes X7 so great is that it flows so nicely and is so well structured. Yes, it's long and it could probably stand to lose the odd thing here or there on balance, but it's just so easy to watch. Perfect balance of enjoyable midcard filler and stunning marquee stuff, hitting every right note in between.


    If 20 wasn't so swollen (ooh err!) it'd probably give X7 a run for its money and then some. As the show stands, it's just *way* too long, with way too much stuff on it; even matches that would pass for passable crap on another PPV are just brutal to get through. I never, ever sit down to watch the thing now (despite it being home to one of my favourite matches of all time).

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