CM PUNK'S TITLE REIGN: 11/21/11 - 1/28/13

CM Punk won the title in November of 2011 and kept it until this month. That's a hell of a streak, especially considering the WWE has four weekly TV shows now and monthly ppv's. The one interesting thing is that he was not in the main event for 8 straight ppv's. The best match? Either the Daniel Bryan match at MITB or the Cena one at NOC. The worst? Duh. When he won the title. You probably won't see something like this for awhile if ever, so I thought I'd do a little retrospective.

 * means this match was the main event

(Survivor Series)
CM PUNK vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO: This was a super dull match. Punk may be a good talker but he's rarely in great matches. He did win the title. This means that Punk had the title in July, Cena in August, Punk in August, Del Rio in August, Cena in September, Del Rio in October, now Punk in November. Way to make it special. *

(TLC)
*ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. CM PUNK vs. THE MIZ "TLC MATCH": The surprise? Cena wasn't on this show. Another surprise? Del Rio's ring announcer took the biggest bump in this match, falling off a ladder and through a ringside table, backwards. There weren't as many big spots in this match, but it was entertaining. **1/2

(The Royal Rumble)
CM PUNK vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER: John Laurenitis decided to let another, regular ref call the match. It was slow until the finish that had Punk beating Dolph four times while the ref was hurt outside the ring and John was tending to him. Both the ref and John L. did the final pin and Punk won. It was mediocre. **

(Elimination Chamber)
 C.M. PUNK VS. CHRIS JERICHO VS. THE MIZ VS. R-TRUTH VS. KOFI KINGSTON VS. DOLPH ZIGGLER ELIMINATION CHAMBER MATCH: Good opener with a weird, anti-climatic finish. Jericho ended up being kicked in the head by Punk and falling out of the chamber (the door was open because Jericho threw the eliminated Kofi Kingston out). Jericho was knocked out and couldn't continue. So Punk ended up beating The Miz to win. I guess this sets up a Jericho/Punk 'Mania title match. **1/2 (out of ****)

(Wrestlemania XXVIII)
CM PUNK vs. CHRIS JERICHO: I was looking forward to this...but it was slow, awkward, and didn't get exciting and fast until the end. The crowd was also dead for most of it. Punk just has not been in a great match in forever. Maybe he isn't the best wrestler in the world? Jericho tapped out to the Anaconda Vice after a back-and-forth of submission holds. **

(Extreme Rules)
CHRIS JERICHO vs. CM PUNK "CHICAGO STREET FIGHT": A little awkward and slow early but it picked up at the end with a ton of gimmicks. Punk used a fire extinguisher and lept off the top rope and onto Jericho and the Spanish announce table. Punk's sister was ringside and slapped Jericho. Chairs and canes were used. These two just don't mesh well but it had enough craziness to work. & my god the crowd was awesome tonight. ***

(Over the Limit)
C.M. PUNK vs. DANIEL BRYAN: Good, not great. Really looked like a ROH match. Long, holds, back and forth. A crap WWE finish, though; Punk was in the Yes Lock but rolled over to pin Bryan and then Punk tapped. So kind of a lame ending but a good match. **1/2

(No Way Out)
C.M. PUNK vs. DANIEL BRYAN vs. KANE: Good, not great. Thank Kane. **1/2

(Money in the Bank)
CM PUNK vs. DANIEL BRYAN: Good match. They used a chair, a table, and kendo sticks. AJ didn't really sway the match...so what was the point of her being the ref? Punk put Bryan through a table from the top rope to win. ***

(Summerslam)
CM PUNK vs. BIG SHOW vs. JOHN CENA (12:34): Funny...but they did the same thing in this match that TNA did last week. Punk and Cena both put on submission holds on Show and two refs rang the bell but AJ came out to restart it. Punk has been the champ since last November. Wow. This match was dull. First off; Kane and The Big Show suck and have always sucked. I think Shane O'Mac was the only one ever to get a good match out of them. & he quit the company. *1/2

(Night of Champions)
*CM PUNK vs. JOHN CENA: A good, almost great main event. I guess the WWE learned how to produce a classic by re-watching the last few Undertaker Wrestlemania matches; make the guys kick out of every finisher. And Cena also kicked out of a Rock Bottom and the finale had Cena running up to Punk on the top rope to suplex him off like Kurt Angle does. Cena pinned Punk and won...but the ref said that both of their shoulders were down so it was a draw. A long (27 minutes) match with a lame finish. The crowd did chant, "This is awesome!" so I'm assuming they got their money's worth. ***

(Hell in a Cell)
 *CM PUNK vs. RYBACK "HELL IN A CELL":  I wrote this last November: "This means that Punk had the title in July, Cena in August, Punk in August, Del Rio in August, Cena in September, Del Rio in October, now Punk in November. Way to make it special." Are they reading my blog? Punk has had the title for almost a year. Wow. This match was the best of the night but not really that good. I loved the finish, though. Ryback was ready to deliver his finisher when the ref low-blowed him and Punk rolled up Ryback to pin him and end his Goldberg-esque undefeated streak. At least it was something different...and Punk needs to keep the title so he can lose it to The Rock at The Royal Rumble. What I loved was that the guys climbed on top of the cell. When was the last time the frigging cell was actually used? Nice unique ending albeit on RAW they didn't even bring out the evil ref. **1/2

(Survivor Series)
*RYBACK vs. CM PUNK vs. JOHN CENA: The plan for the past few months has been for The Rock to fight CM Punk at the Royal Rumble for the title. This plan would not make sense if CM Punk wasn't the champ. So the WWE does the worst thing ever and introduces an undefeated, new, fan-friendly star into the title hunt. Why? I'm not entirely sure. I guess to sell ppv's, although Cena vs. Punk would have done the job better. They probably didn't want Cena to lose again to Punk at Hell in a Cell...but he lost here, anyway, and Ryback was undefeated but has now lost in the main event at two straight ppv's. Logic? So now it's a matter of: how can WWE keep the title on CM Punk in the strangest ways possible? God forbid he win a match clean. Last month the ref was evil and during this match three NXT stars beat up Ryback and put him through the -guess- Spanish announce table (earlier, Punk & Cena teamed up to put Ryback through the regular announce table). This match had two table breaks but a poor ending (we already saw a NXT invasion). A very weak show. **

(The Royal Rumble)
*THE ROCK vs. CM PUNK: Poor. The Rock is a star, sure, but over acts and just isn't wrestling enough these days to be at his peak. The big spot, a Rock Bottom through the announce table, was botched when the table collapsed before the move. The swerve, the lights went out, The Rock was put through the other announce table by The Shield, CM Punk won, was awful. Vince let Rock re-start the match (also The Rock more or less gave himself this title match...?) and Rock quickly won. Really? I guess this was to shock those (everyone) that thought Punk would never win. But to have Rock win this way the big celebration finish was marred. Bad choice, dull match, mediocre show. *1/2

WWE ROYAL RUMBLE

Sunday, January 27th, 2013
Phoenix, Arizona

THE BIG SHOW vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO "LAST MAN STANDING MATCH": Wow. If you had told me that the best match on any show would be between these two and I would have laughed in your face. But it wasn't a very good show and this one at least had some hijinks by the entrance (Show tossed Del Rio off the set through a table) to make it entertaining. The ending however was atrocious. Del Rio taped Show's ankles to the ring ropes so he couldn't stand for the ten count. **1/2 (out of ****)

DAMIEN SANDOW & CODY RHODES vs. DANIEL BRYAN & KANE: Pretty boring. And, seriously, what are there? Three tag teams in this division? *

THE ROYAL RUMBLE (JOHN CENA): The surprise was Chris Jericho as entry no. 2. The highlight was The Godfather who was quickly eliminated after what seemed like a ten minute entrance. Sin Cara and Mysterio came back. Some young buck from Next eliminated Wade Barrett. The finale had Cena eliminating Ryback to win. Not the best Rumble. **

THE ROCK vs. CM PUNK: Poor. The Rock is a star, sure, but over acts and just isn't wrestling enough these days to be at his peak. The big spot, a Rock Bottom through the announce table, was botched when the table collapsed before the move. The swerve, the lights went out, The Rock was put through the other announce table by The Shield, CM Punk won, was awful. Vince let Rock re-start the match (also The Rock more or less gave himself this title match...?) and Rock quickly won. Really? I guess this was to shock those (everyone) that thought Punk would never win. But to have Rock win this way the big celebration finish was marred. Bad choice, dull match, mediocre show. *1/2

TNA GENESIS

Sunday, January 13th, 2013, from Orlando

What a way to kick off a new year! Sadly, that's just me being sarcastic. This ppv was mostly a joke. In fact, TNA's ppv's have been jokes for so long that this year they're doing something about it. This show, Genesis, April's Lockdown, June's Slammiversary, and October's Bound for Glory will be the only four live ppv's of the year from now on. The others will be pre-taped and air on Friday nights for a cheaper price. In fact, they taped February and April's ppv's on the Saturday before this show. Yes, two ppv's taped in one day (one was a joker's wild tag team show airing April 5th...the other an X-Division show with an RVD/Jerry Lynn main event for Feb.) This means that these taped ppv's won't have title matches or current storylines. The point is that most of the wrestlers had ppv money in their contracts so they couldn't get rid of 12 a year just yet. But this show, Genesis, will be the last live ppv in Orlando. The rest are on the road. God speed.

CHAVO GUERRERO JR. & HERNANDEZ vs. MATT MORGAN & JOEY RYAN: I'll admit up front that I was mostly paying attention to The Golden Globes telecast. This match was mediocre. Joey Ryan is hilarious but they stuck him in a tag team and he's better on his own. *1/2

SAMOA JOE vs. KEN ANDERSON: Mr. Anderson won. Samoa Joe is great but still buried. This was very dull. 1/2*

CHRISTIAN YORK vs. KENNY KING: Ugh. Who are these bores? 1/2*

RVD vs. CHRISTIAN YORK: Yeah...so the winner of the last match got to lose to RVD. Remember when the X Division was awesome? Memories...1/2*

DEVON vs. JOSEPH PARK: I miss Abyss. Strange...but a lot of the wrestling writers/critics online always talk down on violent matches that feature barbed wire and thumbtacks and what-not. I love those type of matches, though, and now that Park is not Abyss but just Joseph Park...it's all gone. And he's a fucking bore. His "storyline" has gone nowhere. And Devon and Aces & Eights are dull...until we get that epic, violent, clusterfuck that will be Bully Ray vs. Devon. -No Stars-

WOMEN'S GAUNTLET MATCH (VELVET SKY): Kind of hate the TNA's girl division. Velvet is back. She looks like a plastic Barbie doll except the white trash version. *

JAMES STORM vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS: Eh. Daniels is great. Hilarious. Storm is kind of overweight and boring...though in WWE he'd be great; they'd make him lose weight, he'd be the outlaw. *1/2

STING vs. DOC: God did this ppv blow. Sting is too old. -No Stars-

AUSTIN ARIES vs. BOBBY ROODE vs. JEFF HARDY: Well this was a good match. The only one. The crowd even chanted, "This is awesome!" during it. They did it elimination style; so the heels teamed up on Hardy then turned on each other and Roode was pinned then Hardy won. The finish was great; Hardy did a Twist of Fate on Aries over the top rope and onto the edge of the mat. Good ending to a dismal night. ***

Best Wrestler of 2012: DANIEL BRYAN

Daniel Bryan came into 2012 as the Smackdown champ and was as big this year as almost anyone in the company. He not only had a great match with Sheamus at Extreme Rules but he was teamed with Kane for the second half of the year and actually made Kane entertaining. He was in a wedding on RAW's 1,000 episode -and- got a nickname (Goat Face). He was all over. The WWE gave Bryan the lamest, most comedic storylines and gimmicks this year and any other wrestler would have withered and died but Bryan is such a good in-ring wrestler and such a great personality that he elevated everything. He had a few terrific matches with Punk in the summer and closed out the year in a very entertaining TLC match. He was one of the only aspects of RAW worth watching and one of the only wrestlers you actually wanted to see in skits and in the ring. He got a massive catchphrase that will go down in history as the new "what?" by shouting "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and then "No! No! No!" When he's introduced at a show the crowd stands up and chants...still. His schtick hasn't gotten old. It's already legend. It was his year.

Best Show of 2012: WWE EXTREME RULES

It's a little surprising that the best show of 2012 was the follow up to Wrestlemania, which is supposed to be the best of the year. Extreme Rules of course featured the return of Brock Lesnar, which I think was even bigger than The Rock returning. Lesnar vs. Cena did not disappoint. It was a wild, sloppy, bloody main event that was better than expected. This show also featured one of the year's best: a 2 out of 3 Falls match between Sheamus and Daniel Bryan. Their match at 'Mania lasted mere seconds so it was good to see them go long and entertain the hell out of the audience. CM Punk also did a top-rope elbow drop onto Jericho and the Spanish announce table on this show and Kane was actually in a good match that went all over the building. The show had a few awful matches but it had enough great moments to make it the best show of the year. &, seriously, has there ever been a show where Cena and Kane were in good matches?