When Will We See Punk vs. Bryan For Real?

[bk555]

Daniel Bryan and CM Punk are without a shadow of a doubt two of the greatest in ring wrestlers right now. They have already put on two of the best non-PPV matches i have ever seen and they have some history that WWE has already showed a little bit.

I know think that we have to see Bryan vs Punk in a real feud with a payoff, ppv matches etc. But the question is when? Does it happen in 2012? Does it happen next year at Wrestlemania 29? When will see Bryan vs Punk

 

[GoShtate]

As of right now nobody is buying Bryan vs Punk at a WM. I would, but the casual fans won't. I think it has to happen soon. Maybe Summerslam? Although Bryan could continue to draw this heat that he is at the moment and take the jump to CM Punks level. Then we have something.

 

[Nickster12909]

would be perfect, although I think that DB first has learn a new way of winning via pinfall as all he currently has is the labell lock

 

[MCMG]

This match would certainly boost a ppv's buyrate yet I don't think its big enough to sell a ppv by itself. It would be in tandem with another big main event or on an event like the Royal Rumble or MITB. If it was at a Wrestlemania i would think its potential would be wasted. It would be overshadowed and may not be remembered.

although I think that DB first has learn a new way of winning via pinfall as all he currently has is the labell lock

Agree completely. Winning every match in the same way is stupid and boring. Some wrestlers get new finishers when they don't even need to and Bryan as yet to unveil a new move.

 

[DeathClutch]

WRESTLEMANIA 30

They've gave us two good tv matches both with no definitive winner, so now it's time move on and build towards them maybe starting something up later in the year or possibly next year if WWE are unable to secure Steve Austin for 29. Punk/Bryan I'd have them on opposing sides at Survivor Series with Bryan getting the pin on Punk then at the Royal Rumble have Punk eliminate Bryan starting their feud in full swing leading into WrestleMania 29/30.

 

[Colamania]

I still see Bryan/Punk as a credible WrestleMania main event one day. Maybe WM29, although I personally think WM30. Not quite sure why, I can just see it happening then. Special number and all that.

Also, a quick point I'd like to refute:

would be perfect, although I think that DB first has learn a new way of winning via pinfall as all he currently has is the labell lock

Wrestlers do NOT need an "impact" finishing move to be a good competitor. Just ask Bret Hart or Chris Benoit. Two of the greatest in-ring competitors we've ever seen, they won almost every match they ever wrestled via submission. Hell, even when Bret came back at WM26, he was broken, battered, and could barely run from one side of the ring to the other, let alone pull off any intricate technical maneuvers, and he STILL beat Vince with the Sharpshooter. Benoit's most famous victory of his career, WrestleMania 20, was with the Crossface. Was that a worse match or a less important victory because Triple H tapped out rather than being pinned? I think not. Bryan's just fine with the Lebell Lock. His matches using it to win have been great - you know what they say about something not being broken.

 

[Gman35]

This match would certainly boost a ppv's buyrate yet I don't think its big enough to sell a ppv by itself. It would be in tandem with another big main event or on an event like the Royal Rumble or MITB. If it was at a Wrestlemania i would think its potential would be wasted. It would be overshadowed and may not be remembered.


Agree completely. Winning every match in the same way is stupid and boring. Some wrestlers get new finishers when they don't even need to and Bryan as yet to unveil a new move.

I don't see how this match would boost the buyrate, only because, WWE has watered them down. Not to mention, there are alot of people who haven't seen these two other than WWE, so it is really hard to say that. I agree with you though, so don't get me wrong. These guys need to have a few ppv matches, but in reality, they both can't be champions, and make it title vs. title, only then it would be obvious on the match ending, as WWE will not unify the titles. It would simply end in a countout, dq, or just like smackdown ended this week

 

[Zangash]

Well, the first thing is both men need to lose their titles.

Then Bryan needs to take his heel persona and elevate himself to solidified ME status (Which I personally think he's doing a pretty good job of).

Then we need to hope and pray the bookers don't decide to have the two become bff's and form an alliance, although they could have the GM force them to compete at some point like they with with Orton's Legacy.

 

[Elchicano15]

I would love to see this match take place at next year's WM. But with talks of Austin vs Punk next year I'm not sure. Personally, I don't care to see Austin vs Punk. I remember his send off back in 2009. Austin coming back would be like HBK coming out of retirement as well. They both had decent send offs, why spoil it? Besides Austin would be pushing 50 come next year. If that match does happen good for the majority of fans that want to see it, we can always save Bryan vs Punk for WM XXX.

 

[BiGEViL]

I don't know when or how, but I personally think they are getting ready for a champion vs champion unification title story line. Lots of references have been made about Jericho being the first undisputed, unified champ in WWE/F. They are bringing this bit of history up, to qualify Jericho (in the uninformed fan's eyes) as a legit threat to Punk's title and also to perhaps get the ball rolling on a new unified champ story line. This is pure speculation, but I believe Sheamus will walk out with the strap at @ WM28. How long will he hold it? No clue, but I think he will get the belt. I also believe, that Sheamus doesn't have the staying power to be a long term, viable investment for WWE as champ. In other words, DB will regain the title at some point and maybe set up for a champ vs champ at next years WM. WWE is gonna have their hands full, trying to outdo the main event of this year's WM. So they will need something BIG for next year. A title unification could be the answer. Who wouldn't want to see the titles unified and the impending aftermath? Just my two cents.

 

[mrfantastic111]

Wrestlers do NOT need an "impact" finishing move to be a good competitor. Just ask Bret Hart or Chris Benoit. Two of the greatest in-ring competitors we've ever seen, they won almost every match they ever wrestled via submission.

Was that a worse match or a less important victory because Triple H tapped out rather than being pinned? I think not. Bryan's just fine with the Lebell Lock. His matches using it to win have been great - you know what they say about something not being broken.

I love it when a WWE performer in this day and age uses a submission finisher. I mean, entertainment or not, this is a WRESTLING program, what happened to submissions? Guys like Rock, Austin and Michaels made quick 'out of nowhere' impact finishers really popular, and so nowadays you have every wrestler left-right and centre using these kinds of moves, even if they look weak. Personally I don't think that moves like the Zig Zag etc look impactful enough to be main event level finishing moves, and I think that submission moves are much more believable and look far more brutal/painful.

Plus, as Colamania said, how does winning via submission degrade the finish of a match? If anything, I think that at WM20, 22, 23, 24 etc having a submission finish in the main event helped tell a great story in all of those matches.

In some cases having an impact finisher is good because there are cases where wrestlers are booked to lose but creative may not want the wrestler to look too weak by making them 'surrender' the match in a submission. For example, the WWE wouldn't want the Undertaker in Deadman gimmick to lose via submission because it ruins the illusion that he is an all-powerful entity that will not surrender. An impact finish would be more suitable for such a situation because impact finishes are more common and by most it is just seen as a shameless way that most wrestlers lose after enduring extreme pain in combat. There is no obvious 'surrender'.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

I'd love to see Punk/Bryan, and I think WWE is building to that. It's a slow build, but it's working. You could have these guys feud with each other, while at the same time they are feuding with other people. You dont always have to have a match with someone to be in a feud. Punk and Bryan can talk trash about each other in interviews or in promos.

We're seeing first hand how a feud can go over a year with Rock/Cena, even with Rock not always there.

Let this take a year to build, slowly each of them pisses the other off and they are constantly trying to 1-up each other in everything they do. After awhile slowly take the focus off of them. Come back a few months later and surprise us with Bryan taking a cheap shot on Punk. The feud is back on.

These guys have a ton of respect for each other and are good friends. In the end WWE needs to showcase that. After the match is over, and the feud is all said and done, Punk and Bryan need to show respect and that there is no love loss. It was all just business. Undertaker showed respect to Shawn Michaels when he retired him, he also showed some respect to Jeff Hardy at one point. Hell, Triple H and Takers feud is all about respect.

Punk/Bryan can sell a PPV and it can headline one too...IF WWE does it right, which would mean that they take the restrictions off and just let these guys do it their way. By the time, IF this does happen, Triple H should talk Vince into letting them handle it.

 

[Why Always Me]

I don't know when or how, but I personally think they are getting ready for a champion vs champion unification title story line. Lots of references have been made about Jericho being the first undisputed, unified champ in WWE/F. They are bringing this bit of history up, to qualify Jericho (in the uninformed fan's eyes) as a legit threat to Punk's title and also to perhaps get the ball rolling on a new unified champ story line. This is pure speculation, but I believe Sheamus will walk out with the strap at @ WM28. How long will he hold it? No clue, but I think he will get the belt. I also believe, that Sheamus doesn't have the staying power to be a long term, viable investment for WWE as champ. In other words, DB will regain the title at some point and maybe set up for a champ vs champ at next years WM. WWE is gonna have their hands full, trying to outdo the main event of this year's WM. So they will need something BIG for next year. A title unification could be the answer. Who wouldn't want to see the titles unified and the impending aftermath? Just my two cents.

That would be awesome, at WM have Bryan retain and Punk retain in some dubious way, then at the PPV the month after (not sure what it's called) have Punk v Bryan v Jericho for the unified title.

I don't think it needs to be done at a Wrestlemania or Summerslam as those events sell themselves, do it at a lesser PPV to give that PPV a selling point.

 

[Hurricanrana Radio]

You can't have this as a unifying match. You can hold back on this match for now until the two of these guys need somewhere to go. Perfect Iron Man match possibility here. Maybe this could happen after the draft because it's likely they will move one of these guys. Orton will probably move back to Raw after doing his time over on Smackdown and WWE will need a go to guy for the brand and maybe Punk draws the short straw. This match will happen but I hope they tease it for awhile longer before we get it for real!

 

[scottyshowman82]

Daniel Bryan and CM Punk are without a shadow of a doubt two of the greatest in ring wrestlers right now. They have already put on two of the best non-PPV matches i have ever seen and they have some history that WWE has already showed a little bit.

I know think that we have to see Bryan vs Punk in a real feud with a payoff, ppv matches etc. But the question is when? Does it happen in 2012? Does it happen next year at Wrestlemania 29? When will see Bryan vs Punk

I'd love to see it. What these two guys did on Smackdown this week was great for wrestling as a whole. I would love to see a title vs title feud. It seems plans are already set up leading into Mania. The best chance of seeing these two guys hook up in a major program will have to come after Mania, one would have to lose a title and one moves to another brand. I think they are definately not done yet and we'll see them hook up again in a big way in the future.

 

[thebarber]

tis match/feud will happen down the track. There is zero need to rush this. I dont have a problem if later this year they acknowledge further there past friendship, and have Punk somehow regain one of the titles and Bryan be the jealous friend, then backstabs him leading to one of the big 4, say Survivor Series or Rumble and have Bryan win whatever title off Punk that he is holding at the time. Sets up for a huge rematch, and these guys could easily shit in a 60 minute iron man match.

 

[IHW]

I would love a nice long feud capping off with an 60 minute iron man match. They could easily throw in a Submission match too. I think we could see this as soon as April. Any time after the draft, it could and should happen.

 

[RawIsJericho]

Wrestlers do NOT need an "impact" finishing move to be a good competitor. Just ask Bret Hart or Chris Benoit. Two of the greatest in-ring competitors we've ever seen, they won almost every match they ever wrestled via submission. Hell, even when Bret came back at WM26, he was broken, battered, and could barely run from one side of the ring to the other, let alone pull off any intricate technical maneuvers, and he STILL beat Vince with the Sharpshooter. Benoit's most famous victory of his career, WrestleMania 20, was with the Crossface. Was that a worse match or a less important victory because Triple H tapped out rather than being pinned? I think not. Bryan's just fine with the Lebell Lock. His matches using it to win have been great - you know what they say about something not being broken.

Benoit had the Flying Headbutt as an impact move, but Bret in particular came from a different time in wrestling. Bringing up Bret making Vince tap doesn't seem very applicable either. I love submission finishers as much as the next guy, the problem is that WWE nowadays seems so scared of making people tap lest they lose some credibility, this is particularly bad for the heels because it's hard enough for heels to get clean wins nowadays as it is, let alone getting a clean submission win. Thus Jericho needed to get the Codebreaker because they wouldn't have people tap to the WoJ. It's not about making the victory less important, if anything a tap out win looks even better to me, but for the most part you know if DB, Jericho, Del Rio etc are fighting someone credible, there's little chance that when they lock there submissions in that they will make someone tap.

 

[AustinHartLesnarHBKTaz80]

bryan / punk would lead to a great series of matches, no question about it. but before they get into a heated rivalry, bryan needs to IMPROVE his mic work, develop more charisma, and refine his character more because i think his character right now is very INCONGRUENT. it doesnt fit. i just don't buy it. i don't get emotionally involved with his character at all.

he doesn't draw good heat in my opinion. he's actually a very annoying character, and not in a good 'heel heat' way (like a jake roberts or hollywood hogan way), but a 'fuck this guy has the mic again?!' (michael cole) way, and that's never good.

he still looks very GREEN on the mic, like he's still in learning mode. he tries too damn hard while he's speaking and its very obvious when he tries to speak very S-L-O-W-L-Y into the mic and tries to get e-v-e-r-y word out, by dragging out his speeches. OUCH. i cringe every time he speaks. it's not very good, honestly. he needs to really work on it.

and the fact that he gets the only good reaction from his speeches when he yells "i am the world heavyweight champion!" is pretty uncreative. anyone can say that and garner a reaction. come on DB, step it up man.

he doesn't appear to OWN his character yet and i don't buy his heel act one bit.

his jumping around nonsensically and yelling 'YES! YES! YES!" is his LAME attempt at charisma and, man does it blow----big time.

he needs more time on camera to feel more comfortable expressing himself. i really believe they rushed him into this spotlight, let alone a main event slot at wrestlemania??!! are u kidding me?!! he's very good wrestling wise in the ring, but his mic skills, charisma, entertainment value are definitely NOT up to par.

sorry, this turned into a DB critique but just speaking whats on my mind. i would love a cm punk / daniel bryan series but first, have DB improve on the mic and develop a more entertaining character, heel or face.

because if he were to fued with punk NOW, punk would bury him alive on the mic every single time, no doubt.

 

[RawIsJericho]

I think you raise a very good point there. There's obviously no question that Punk and DB would put on some fantastic matches, but currently DB's character really isn't all that and neither is his mic work. I've seen him cut decent promos though, but he doesn't seem to have really found his niche character wise. If they are to have a proper feud rather than a couple of matches on RAW/Smackdown, then they're going to have to cut promos and throwing someone at Punk who isn't ready on the mic is a bit of a death sentence because Punk can tear down the best of them.

 

[Jahsuan2]

i would love to see this match, Vince is not gonna pass up a chance to make money and steal fans, this match will happen but mark my words, you WILL HAVE TO PAY, maybe as early as summer slam, but Vince sees this as money thats why they have had matches that have never ended with an actual victor

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think the most realistic chance for this to come about would be late this year and going into next year or starting next year at some point in time. Right now, there isn't really an actual feud between these two and these couple of fantastic champion vs. champion matches they've had are making me wonder if this is an example of WWE testing the waters a little bit to possibly gauge interest in a real program between these two at some point later down the line.

In both matches, both men looked like stars and were kept looking strong. Considering that they both have high profile matches at WM for their respective titles, it's exactly the way to go and they've both shown, I think, that they're very evenly matched in terms of physical capabilities, general size and are capable of beating the other. If the idea was to leave us wanting more and to see a real feud between these two at a later date, mission accomplished in my view.

There's talk that there'll be another match between these two on Raw as part of the escalating feud between Big Johnny and Teddy Long over the GM positions of Raw & SD!. If there is indeed another one, I think this should be the last one because you certainly don't want to get fans burned out on this program. I think it holds so much future potential. With nothing being resolved between Bryan & Punk in the first two, I can see them setting up a third match to see who is "the best" champion or whatnot that ultimately has a similar ending to the first two.

While I doubt that this next scenario is all that likely, it's one that I have thought a little bit about. It's not often that we have many champ vs. champ matches, so I'm wondering if this might be the beginning of possibly setting up a feud between the two champs that will lead to a title unification. Last I read, WWE was reviving the Bragging Rights ppv this year and there has to be some real reason for doing that. The situation between Teddy Long & Big Johnny is starting to look like something that could possibly be ultimately resolved at Bragging Rights and having two guys the caliber of Bryan & Punk going at each other at a Bragging Rights ppv in order to become a unified, and thusly the only, World Champion in WWE does have a certain appeal to it. I doubt it'll happen, but it's a fun possibility.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I can certainly see Punk and Bryan having a legit feud at some point this year. It obviously will not be until after Wrestlemania, but it is coming. They have shown us in multiple matches that they can put on a great show and I personally would want to see them in a championship feud. If they are this good on a free tv match, imagine how amazing they could be in a PPV match! People might complain that these champion VS champion matches are being given away for free, but I think instead they should sit back and enjoy the show. It's a preview of a potential feud this summer.

I honestly think that the best time to have this feud would depend on if the titles are going to be unified. I still hope that does not happen, but if it does then Punk and Bryan could face each other in an Iron Man Match at Night of Champions. Another route would be for one of them (probably Bryan) to get traded to Raw in the draft and have the two feud this summer. It could be as good as Orton & Christian in 2011. Regardless of how they get there, it will probably happen and it will lead to awesome show-stealing matches featuring two of the best in the world. Wrestlemania 29 would be too long of a wait, especially if they have too many free matches on Raw/Smackdown. I won't complain if they do go that route, as I will gladly watch as many of their matches together as they provide, but I think the feud should happen sooner. In a couple of months once the Wrestlemania angles are wrapped up would be a perfect time to consider starting the feud.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

They haven't been that impressive in the three matches they've had so far, not sure how they could improve in a full out feud going forward.

Hopefully Bryan vs Punk results in Orton going back to Raw, and Punk is going back to Smackdown. Leave the "wrasslers" on Smackdown, and the entertainers on Raw.

 

[BigThunder]

I've loved the matches they've had, I do hope they build to a Punk/Bryan feud later this year. However the feud I most want to see is face-Christian/Bryan. That could be a classic.