Night of Champions 2012: CM Punk (c) VS John Cena [WWE Championship]

[Ruthless-RKO]

When this match was first announced, I had no doubt in my mind that Cena was going to win and also in his home state! But Since adding Heyman into the mix and Punk gathering more heat than ever, I just have a funny feeling, Punk will retain the title..

This will set up a match between the 2 at Hell in a Cell which Cena will then win the title, Punk will take the title back maybe at Survivor Series or TLC, and then lose to the Rock at Royal Rumble!

I don't see WWE having Punk break Cena's 380 days record!

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Honestly While this is the two biggest stars in the company & I don't doubt this will be at the very minimum a good main event, I don't feel invested in this match at all & I am REALLY dreading the outcome.

And maybe I'm being cynical but I don't see this match being nearly as good as either of their one on one matches in 2011.

-New Shirt
-"Fighting" for Cancer
-"Fighting" for Lawler
-His Hometown of Boston

It has become really hard not to pick John Cena in this situation.

It is clearly the most logical for Punk to walk out champ. If WWE is planning on having the rumored match of Taker/Lesnar for Mania 29 then this is setting up for Cena to get his "big win" for the title over Rocky at Mania.

(While I'd prefer Punk/Rock at Mania, if Taker/Lesnar is happening where does that leave Cena? WWE wouldn't put him 3rd to last match or lower on the card.)

So it seems all too clear at this point this is all set-up to have Cena take the belt from Rock at Mania, but who said Cena couldn't win in before that? It's not like it is uncommon for WWE to give Cena the belt a couple times in a year.

So while I think all signs point to Punk retaining, I think WWE (for a stupid reason because the other matches need it more) is saving the "swerve" of the night for this match & while it seems illogical & stupid for Punk to drop the belt, I will just assume Cena wins so that maybe I will be pleasantly suprised.

 

[BaraaTZK92]

Great match , the finish was so strange and could have been better imo.

Punk controlled the match and completely dominated Cena throughout the match, proving that he is indeed the BEST IN THE WORLD.

But still, the finish made Punk look weak and that was the only negative point imo.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Great match , the finish was so strange and could have been better imo.

Punk controlled the match and completely dominated Cena throughout the match, proving that he is indeed the BEST IN THE WORLD.

But still, the finish made Punk look weak and that was the only negative point imo.

I didn't see it making Punk look weak at all. He and Cena went tooth & nail for almost 30 minutes and threw everything that they had at one another, including the kitchen sink.

The ending with Cena landing a German suplex off the top and both of them being kind of prone with their shoulders on the mat just made it look like both guys were even. Both men were exhausted and had given a physical match that ultimately resulted in what needed to happen: CM Punk retaining the WWE Championship and John Cena being unable to beat him in front of his hometown crowd.

If anything, the match and the ending only keeps both guys looking strong and sets up what'll probably be an even more physical match for the Hell in a Cell ppv.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

I liked the fact that they had each man kick out of the others finishers twice and each man getting out of the others submission fnisher. I have no problem with the double 3 count as a finish, but would have had it go down different then Cena executing the move to set it up. It's nit picking and not that big a deal, but I wish they would have came up with a finish that didn't lean so heavy towards Cena.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Great match. Didn't like the finish but its logical because both of them look very strong and feud can continue...

I am looking forward for what happens next with the feud. Though I think that Cena will win in HIAC match. I dont believe that Punk would retain it all the way to RR.

 

[RawIsJericho]

I don't really get the love so many seem to have for this match. I don't enjoy just seeing finishers kicked out of/escaped over and over and then Cena hulking up. That's pretty much what this was, only difference between this and the usual Super Cena offerings is the cluster fuck of a finish, that makes me sound like a Cena hater, I don't like him but he hasn't had the belt for a long time now so I'm not going to be mad when he finally gets it back, us anti Cena crowd have had a good run. I wish they could have matches where suspense is built from something more than just OMG HE KICKED OUT OF A FINISHER!!!, kicking out of finishers has been pushed so far that in PPV title matches in particular I'd be more shocked if a guy didn't kick out of a finisher.

At this rate in a few years we will see guys kicking out of 10 finishers before they can finally be finished off because the bar will need to continue to be pushed. As I say, I already expect that the first one if not two finishers will be kicked out of, so now they need to start kicking out of more to actually surprise me, then I'll get accustomed to three or four finishers being kicked out of (hell this is already to be expected in the really hyped events), and then they'll need to start having people kick out of five or six finishers to actually surprise people.

 

[blueskyy]

Great match! I'm officially returning to the "Let's go Cena" camp. Cena doesn't suck no more! Look at how well he performed last night. And judging by how CM Punk's been performing in the last year, he definitely isn't the best wrestler in the world, quite far from it actually. Even The Rock can perform a moonsault better than him.

 

[Mikechase69]

Great match! I'm officially returning to the "Let's go Cena" camp. Cena doesn't suck no more! Look at how well he performed last night. And judging by how CM Punk's been performing in the last year, he definitely isn't the best wrestler in the world, quite far from it actually. Even The Rock can perform a moonsault better than him.

You say that and Cena couldn't even do the german suplex right, And if you ever actually wrestled a match before you would have noticed that Cena still doesn't know how to take a bump right. Oh and I don't think CM Punk does a moonsault very often and that is very difficult move to get right. And the whole "Best in the World" thing is just a gimmick I hope you know wrestling is a work and honestly Kenny Omega is better wrestler than both Punk and Cena personally I think the best wrestler in the world is Kota Ibushi.

But more on-topic why is the WWE soon keen on making everyone in a major feud look good? Once again we saw Super-Cena can someone teach this guy how to sell? The Rock does such a great job at looking weak or beatdown.

 

[cult_of_icecream_bar]

Great match overall and definately a perfect finish.Many didn't like it,but face it,if either punk or cena got pinned cleanly,there would be no momentum in the feud going towards HIAC.And the finish didn't weaken punk either,it rather proved Punk+WWE Title=Cena's Kryptonite.Cena has NEVER won or RETAINED the title in a match involving a guy named CM Punk.6 different occasions,0 titles wins,3 title losses.Who else has the same credentials against Cena?Great ending to a very good PPV.

 

[Mikechase69]

Great match overall and definately a perfect finish.Many didn't like it,but face it,if either punk or cena got pinned cleanly,there would be no momentum in the feud going towards HIAC.And the finish didn't weaken punk either,it rather proved Punk+WWE Title=Cena's Kryptonite.Cena has NEVER won or RETAINED the title in a match involving a guy named CM Punk.6 different occasions,0 titles wins,3 title losses.Who else has the same credentials against Cena?Great ending to a very good PPV.

How? When in pro wrestling did a guy going over clean be such a bad thing. Sure having a guy like Santino beat Cena clean would look bad on him, But its CM Punk the man who has defended the title successfully for 301 days. Who would view that as a bad thing?

The main thing with Punk is the fact that they are building towards a Rock vs Punk match, So why exactly do they need to match look like a coward heel? Because its obvious that its not working hell last night the crowd was mostly Pro Punk and so was the Montreal crowd before he got in the face of their hero Bret Hart.

And those wins you mention would mean more if Punk got those CLEAN than you could build up the match at HIAC better because you could have a If CM Punk wins Cena will never get another shot at the title as long as Punk is champ. The match would mean so much more, and guess what you two ways you could go from there either have Cena finally win or have Brock interfere and cost Cena the match.

Sorry I went somewhat off-topic.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

The match should have ended with Punk winning via Heyman's interference. That would have set up Hell in A Cell (so Heyman can't interfere). That said, I enjoyed the match, really felt Cena would win the belt but I guess, the culmination will be HIAC. No matter what, it has to end there. Either Cena wins the belt, then they have a rematch on the next RAW and call it a day or Punk wins and Cena doesn't get another shot. If they're shooting for Cena vs. Rock II at the Rumble for the belt, then Cena has to win at HIAC....

 

[DJS92491]

I believe the finish was very good, although the result was a little bit predictable. As soon as I saw Cena go way out of his element to attempt an Avalanche German Suplex, I knew that both of their shoulders would be pinned down.

One, because I've never seen Cena do a bridging suplex in my life. (He probably has, but I just haven't seen it.)

Two, because there was absolutely no way in hell a seed planted like Heyman's involvement with Punk would end that swiftly. It's hard to even contemplate the storyline sense that could have made.

I was one of the biggest preachers about CM Punk being able to go over clean against Cena, but that's when Punk was a face. A heel will never win clean over a top face. That's sports entertainment law. The law has been broken before, but it won't be broken if Cena is involved. Any Punk fan that expected any different needs to let go of their bias and face the facts.

I'm very glad that there wasn't a winner or a loser. A heel can go for hours bragging about a face not being able to beat him in his hometown. How he let everyone down. Nobody may want to boo Punk, and that's fine. Just realize that now, Punk is in his element. You don't have to boo him, and cheering him will definitely go over well with Vince if you want him to be convinced that Punk is the one that should be facing The Rock. A reaction is a reaction, being cheered or being booed. Just ask Cena.

Although I'm not sure how much longer Punk's run as champion will last, I'm glad that it'll last at least a little bit longer.

As far as who'll face The Rock? I'll base my predictions like CM Punk: My heart says Punk, but my brain says Cena.

 

[berlinbrawler]

Loved the match, loved the finish, too.

I understand why many feel the finish was a cop out and would rather have seen someone go over. 10-years-ago-me would have felt the same way. My appreciation for the product has somewhat changed since then. The finish did, what it was supposed to do: Outrage people. The Cena kids felt their hero got cheated. The marks felt Punk should have gone over somehow. Everyone is angry. Mission accomplished.

Some of the frustrations probably stem from people who paid 35 bucks for the PPV and expected something more conclusive for their money. I can understand that. In that regard I'm fortunate to live in Europe where all PPVs air on the Sky channel.

I mean, come on, it's only Night of Champions. Sounds important, but it's not. It's one of the minor PPVs. Barely more than a glorified episode RAW. Obviously a feud of that magnitude is not going to end already and on such a minor show, so something screwy would have to happen. Paul Heyman's presence was awesome, because everyone expected him to be that screwy part. That was a nice red herring.

And Heyman interfering and giving Punk the dirty win would have been expected and in my opinion it would make look Punk weaker than did the finish they went with. With the double pin predicament Punk retained the title without any foul play. Just a little luck. Champion's advantage. But he held his own. And given the preceding match to the finish, Punk came out looking very strong indeed.

As for Cena - nothing that hasn't been said a million times before - not a fan of the goody-two-shoes character, but tons of respect for the man and when he wants to, like on that night, he can have incredibly good matches. Kudos.

And YES, double pin situations have been done before. Newsflash: There is no finish that hasn't been done before. After decades of wrestling on TV it's nearly impossible to come up with something original.

Anyhoo, watching this match reminded me of why I became a wrestling fan in the first place. Great story, great drama, great wrestling. One botched moonsault. Whatever. Is this wrestling or ballet?

Loved it.

 

[JustZackster]

This was the only match I got to watch on NoC. I'm fine with that. The match was absolutely great. The feud between the two has gained some tension, which is good in a storyline. Punk also came out wearing pinstripes, genius. I was actually really excited to see when both Cena and Punk kicked out of the other's finishers not once, but twice. It was amazing. Cena did look a little stale taking the crossface. He sat there like it wasn't affecting him. Not really doing well selling the move. After the match, it looks like he just started the match. Punk sells well, but Cena after the match, he looked out of breath, but not beat up, especially after a match like that.
As to the ending, I respect the decision made to do that. It keeps value to the persona of both people, and, like the person above me says, outrages everyone. I wished the match went on longer though. Did you hear the fans chant, "this is awesome"? I don't hear that often, but they were chanting it, and they were right. Too bad 10 seconds later the match ended. It seems the crowd was just letting the superstars know how they felt about the match when it just ends. I still don't see it as a bad thing. It was awesome overall. The ending was cheap, but smart. And this could definitely add more fuel to the feud.