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
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