Grade The Feud: CM Punk VS The Rock

[joduke41]

I give it a B.Couldve been way better had we not known it was going to end with the Rock vs Cena at Wrestlemania.Both guys were good on the mic.Doing what they do best.I really think if CM Punk and Rock wouldve done the angle with out getting notes from the back,the fued would've been awesome.The matches were good considering the attention span of your average wrestling fan.It was how we expected it to go down with Vince Jerry Jones-ing everything thing.Now we get stuck with Cena's stale schtick and Hollywood Johnson again.

[Papa Pillman]

Originally Posted by SDS1582

From a pure wrestling match standpoint, you may be right, Rock isn't what he used to be. But from a physical standpoint, he is in the best shape of his life and would snap CM Punk like a twig without even breaking a sweat, in a real fight. However, wrestling a match isn't just about physical ability and we've seen that in the Rock since his return.

No argument here. The Rock is incredible shape muscularly. But carrying all that muscle also doesn't help his cardio issues. There is a difference in looking like a spectatcularly impressive physical specimen(which the Rock clearly does now) and being in "ring shape" which the Rock clearly is not.

Stop talking about "fairness." This business isn't about being fair, it's about making money which is what the Rock does for WWE. Furthermore, Undertaker can't even walk but he main events WM every year. Are you complaining about him? What about Triple H? Brock Lesnar?

I don't mean fair like "how dare they put Rock over at the expense of the full-time stars", I realize that what sells is what is going to be sold. I mean fair like these matches have been built and hyped through the roof around a wrestler who obviously can't hold his own and all the pressure is on the Punk and Cena to kill themselves trying to create an illusion that this isn't the case. They need to figure out a way to get Rock to understand how bad he looks in these matches. At this point if nothing changes and they do go through with Rock/Lesnar this summer, the potential is for the worst quality SummerSlam main event match in history accompanying the show's biggest ever buy-rate. That is ultimately a black mark for the business.

[SDS1582]

Originally Posted by Papa Pillman

No argument here. The Rock is incredible shape muscularly. But carrying all that muscle also doesn't help his cardio issues. There is a difference in looking like a spectatcularly impressive physical specimen(which the Rock clearly does now) and being in "ring shape" which the Rock clearly is not.


I don't mean fair like "how dare they put Rock over at the expense of the full-time stars", I realize that what sells is what is going to be sold. I mean fair like these matches have been built and hyped through the roof around a wrestler who obviously can't hold his own and all the pressure is on the Punk and Cena to kill themselves trying to create an illusion that this isn't the case. They need to figure out a way to get Rock to understand how bad he looks in these matches. At this point if nothing changes and they do go through with Rock/Lesnar this summer, the potential is for the worst quality SummerSlam main event match in history accompanying the show's biggest ever buy-rate. That is ultimately a black mark for the business.

Thanks for clarifying. I get your points now. As for the fairness thing, I agree, it is "unfair" to build up a match and a feud the way they have when one guy can't hold his own in the ring. Rock is athletic but not in the "in ring" kind of way so it does look awkward in these matches. I think he looked more rusty or "out of ring shape" against Punk than Cena. Cena is in amazing ring shape for a muscular-build style of wrestler. I think Punk and Rock's contrasting styles is what made Rock look worse in the ring but there really was no way around it and WWE took a chance.

[j2early]

my only issue with this fued is that we all knew the rock would win both matches. when you are sure someone will win it makes the fued a whole lot less interesting.

[Silver Fox]

I am a huge Punk fan, i really only watch the parts of Raw that he is involved in. Having said that, i felt a bit let down by this feud. It seemed to lack a certain intensity the whole time. I think this is down to how Punk has been booked.

The coward heel has been done to death now. For once it would have been nice to have a dominant heel champion who is not a monster (Mark Henry). Have punk dominate due to his wrestling skill, and live up to the 'best in the world' moniker. Then when Rock returns people will actually buy into what Punk is saying.

Instead, we had 4 months of Punk winning via DQ and interference. Once the stipulation for RR was made, and then with Cena winning the RR match, it just felt like this was something to keep The Rock busy up until 'Mania. The 2 matches they had were nothing special either. Rock's piss poor conditioning didn't help, it really limited the 2 of them in the ring. Having said that, he did the best he could with the short amount of time he had available to train.

All in all, this won't live long in the memory. Punks feud with Cena has been his best, and this was miles off of that. However it provided enough decent TV over the past few weeks to keep viewers entertained, so in that aspect it did its job fairly well.

Grade: C

[gank]

Originally Posted by Silver Fox

The coward heel has been done to death now. For once it would have been nice to have a dominant heel champion who is not a monster (Mark Henry). Have punk dominate due to his wrestling skill, and live up to the 'best in the world' moniker.
Grade: C

Yes i agree , Punk should be a dominant heel. The only moment Punk had last year as a dominant heel was at Night of Champions were he made Cena look like a rookie. After that he was presented as coward all the way, when Shield wasn't involved he was running from Ryback. The shield is a good thing for him,but he needs to stop the coward fleeing.

[JoeMallard]

Originally Posted by Iron Mike Gonzo

I don't get all you marks for CM Punk. He was a disgrace as a champion. To be the best in the world, you have to win your matches without help from Brad Maddox, Paul-E or the Shield.

Are you serious!? Punk went over clean in all his matches until he joined with Paul Heyman, and that was in july, so that means for almost a year he won his matches WITHOUT help. Its morons like you that can't seem to look past the fact that Punk was going over clean until he turned heel.

[DANIELBRYANrealwrestler]

I say its a B, but not so sure if we should grade so soon. I think a triple threat is still possible between Punk/Cena/Rock because Punk will have a match against Cena for his shot against the Rock and a double countout or some sort of unclear finish can easily send them both to WM. Anyways, the build to their match was good. Alot of good promos from Punk and a few brawls with the Rock. The RR match disappointed though, it was very slow paced and I really didn't enjoy the ending. The second match was better, although I didn't like how they were playing too much into stipulation and I found a gimmick match unnecessary. Overall it was good but I think not as good as it could've been. Also I find it funny that they botched the Rock Bottom on the table two PPVs in a row.

[midgensa]

I give this feud a solid B ... maybe even a B+. Primarily on the strength of the Royal Rumble match where it appeared for a short time that Punk was going to go over The Rock at least once.

As some have mentioned ... the major problem with the feud is that it was 100 percent clear how it was going to end. That hurts any feud significantly. It is also hurt by the fact that The Rock never performs in the ring except at PPVs, so you can't have fun tag events or anything that have him involved.

In the end though ... they provided two good matches and great mic work. It has helped elevate Punk even with his lengthy reign coming to an end. And it is two people that when they are onscreen you simply can't turn away from. Can't complain too much.

[sharu7]

If Rocks promos were upto par then it could have been better, but apart from that promo after the royal rumble, he really hasn't been the pie eatin, trailblazin, eyebrow rasin, peoples champ, theeeeeee rock.

Hes been Dwayne.

Also, not coming every single week doesn't help his cause either. He comes after 2 weeks, atleast for this time period he should have taken some time off from movies, but whatever.