Wrestlemania 28: CM Punk (c) vs Chris Jericho - WWE Championship

[Martin Gabriel]

WWE is DROPPING. THE. BALL on these 2 working a verbal feud. Holy shit. We've only got 3 weeks for vocal epicness and so far, we've only got 1.5 moments of it. 1 being their confrontation last week. 5 being when Jericho was talking about everybody stealing his stuff and CM Punk coming out, showing the back of his shirt and leaving.

For those that are content with what we've got, quit settling. We know these 2 are capable of so much more. This feud (the feud, not the match) has great potential and it would be fucking dumb to leave it for AFTER WrestleMania, a.k.a the residual post-WrestleMania feud.

 

[XXJJ]

WWE dropped the ball when they didn't have Jericho win the Rumble or the title at EC.

Instead he won a "losers battle royal" to earn a title shot. Yeah lets get everybody who lost in the Elimination Chamber and give them another shot to "main event" WM . He still needed Cody's help to win too.

They are getting drowned out by Rock/Cena and HIAC. They have become the third most important feud on Raw. I can see why Punk is bitter that Dwayne is back.

Should be a great match though. I'm hoping Jericho shocks the world and wins. This way they can continue their feud post Mania and get more attention.

 

[The Idiot]

The amount of pride these two men have are off the charts....which leads me to believe this match will go down as an instant classic.

They have taken the back seat to Taker/HHH and Cena/Rock, yet this match is for the WWE title which is suppose to represent "The Best in the Word." The only question I have is if Jericho still has it. We all know what Punk can do...I'm just hoping Chris will be able to match it. Whatever happens...I know they'll give 110% which is all we can ask.

 

[Martin Gabriel]

WWE dropped the ball when they didn't have Jericho win the Rumble or the title at EC.

Instead he won a "losers battle royal" to earn a title shot. Yeah lets get everybody who lost in the Elimination Chamber and give them another shot to "main event" WM . He still needed Cody's help to win too.

They are getting drowned out by Rock/Cena and HIAC. They have become the third most important feud on Raw. I can see why Punk is bitter that Dwayne is back.

Should be a great match though. I'm hoping Jericho shocks the world and wins. This way they can continue their feud post Mania and get more attention.

I thought the "loser battle royal" wasn't necessary at all. I thought they were gonna have Jericho be the automatic number one contender due to not being able to finish the Elimination Chamber.

 

[Notorious718]

WWE is DROPPING. THE. BALL on these 2 working a verbal feud. Holy shit. We've only got 3 weeks for vocal epicness and so far, we've only got 1.5 moments of it. 1 being their confrontation last week. 5 being when Jericho was talking about everybody stealing his stuff and CM Punk coming out, showing the back of his shirt and leaving.

For those that are content with what we've got, quit settling. We know these 2 are capable of so much more. This feud (the feud, not the match) has great potential and it would be fucking dumb to leave it for AFTER WrestleMania, a.k.a the residual post-WrestleMania feud.

I get where you're coming from. The promo where these two actually exchanged words a couple weeks ago was very good and I too was hoping for more back and forth banter between these two since then but let's not get carried away here. After all, we've still got a little less than a month until Wrestlemania. Still enough time to get in a few more promos for an epic war of words. I do agree that Punk and Jericho are capable of so much more promo-wise than what we've gotten but I'm sure we'll get more out of these two yet. These two are fantastic on the mic and WWE would be foolish to not further capitalize on that.

Also, seeing Jericho keep getting one over on Punk for the past couple Raw episodes is furthering my belief that Punk will get retribution and go over Jericho at Wrestlemania. It would solidify Punk as a main event star if his solid WWE title run hasn't already. I just hope WWE doesn't try to swerve us. I usually defend WWE when it comes to them trying to be unpredictable but in this case I'd rather they don't go down that route.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

They had a great promo work on RAW and hope it keeps up.

Looking at how this has all built up the only logical result at WM is if Jericho beats Punk at WM. The fact that Jericho did not win the Rumble or The Elimination Chamber and has yet to have a big win. If Jericho looses this he will just end up looking like a lame duck challenger like what happened to Booker T at WMXIX.

Jericho winning the title, could also help extend the feud since this means Punk will be chasing for the title.

fF Punk is to win then this whole Jericho return would have been pretty useless (no matter how awesome he is) and a waste.

If Jericho won the rumble or even the Chamber then him loosing at WM would be a different story.

 

[Mr. HD]

I think the promo Jericho cut on RAW was most interesting.

Here's how I see it, Jericho came back to prove he was The "true" Best in the World at what he does and that back and forth he had with Punk a few weeks ago was great. He knew Punk put him in his place and the only way Jericho was going to make himself get the upper hand and prove that this is not a joke, was to get personal.

This reminds me of something DDP said when he debuted with that stalker gimmick against The Undertaker. He said the only way to make an impact is to go after the biggest dog in the "yard" so to speak. And I quote:

"Once you find that dog, if you wanna get the very "Best" of him, you make it personal."

This feud has another layer of depth added to it heading into WrestleMania which works for me. It's gone from being The Best in the World to a personal conflict, which makes this match a lot more interesting than what it once was.

Let's be honest, how long could they milk this Best in the World shtick all the way to WrestleMania? They needed a little something extra to give that oomf. I think they've found it. Now both of these guys have a lot more to fight than just being The Best in the World.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

love the turn of events on raw. Given Jericho and Punk's mic and in ring ability, plus Punk's obvious drive and chip on his shoulder to prove he's fuckin awesome, I can see this feud turning out to be the most interesting over the next few weeks. It's my pic to be the best match of the card too.

Punk saying "I'm the best in the world" was personal to Jericho. Now Jericho has returned the favor. Mucho excito para mi.

 

[scottyshowman82]

I was a little on the fence when they started this angle, because sometimes keeping it simple is the best way to go but the way it is turning out is showing that the WWE was smart to go this way. Jericho was flawless in his promo on Smackdown and really tried to demean and embarrass Punk. Jericho was right that Punk has been laid back and sarcastic as late which is fine but I really think things on Raw tomorrow are really going to get real. I'm hoping to see Punk come out in a rage and just pummel Jericho to the ground. That anger and that energy are sure ignite a side Punk perhaps we've never seen before and I'm excited about that.

 

[Larry]

I can agree with most that this will be a great match "technically" speaking, but I can't say I am really looking forward to it. The build has been good, the promo's have been excellent, and even though there are matches of greater magnitude in some respects on the card, they've managed to make sure this didn't get completely overshadowed. It does feel personal, it does have a tinge of realism to it. The realism however is what kills me on this match. If we "get real" about it, in reality what is going to happen is that C.M. Punk will win without question because as we all know, Jericho is going to leaving yet again to go on tour with Fozzy.

So, we basically already know how it will end no matter what. That takes a lot of the hot air out of the balloon for me. Admittedly, I am also a big Jericho fan and it doesn't interest me one bit to watch a match I know for certain he is going to lose. I don't really care if he's putting C.M. Punk over and that makes Punk a legit guy or anything like that, as a fan of a particular wrestler, I want to see that particular wrestler win. When I know that against all hopes it's a lock that he isn't, it's awfully hard for any of the pre-match build up to hold any value or generate any interest. It might sound selfish, and it is, but that's the way it is. As a fan why would I want to see Punk win when I am more of a fan of Jericho, when I would much rather see Jericho with the title, when I would rather see a longer running feud with Punk chasing the title(I think he is much more interesting in the chase than at the top)?

Again, I'm sure it will be a great match for all to behold, but knowing what is going to happen just kills any excitement I have for this one.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

So fucking pumped for this fucking match I'm fucking fucked in the fucking brain, FUCK!!

Everytime I catch a glimpse of my signature too, it doesn't help. Some people don't know what this match is to me. A lot of wrestling fans have dream matches, and this is one of mine. They've faced before, so it isn't so much the meeting of Chris Jericho and CM Punk, it's the circumstances surrounding the match which have me pumped for it. Chris Jericho returns, the only guy probably ever, that could come out a face and turn heel, draw significant heat and build himself up by not saying a single word. CM Punk has been seen as one of the top guys since Money in the Bank, and he has been riding the wave of CM Punk buzz ever since then. He is the WWE Champion and a very realistic and passionate one at that.

CM Punk and Chris Jericho break my top ten all-time favourite wrestlers. It is something special when you can watch CM Punk versus Raven beat the hell out of one another from Death before Dishonor and then a decade later watch CM Punk walk into Wrestlemania against Chris Jericho, for CM Punk's WWE Championship. It is surreal. I've two of my favourites going against one another. Truth be told, this has allowed the magic of being a wrestling fan from when I was a kid emerge for the first time in a long, long time.

Can't wait to see this. This has me excited for Wrestlemania. This is why I've bought the Pay-Per-View. To me, this is Wrestlemania. Don't care who wins, but on the night my mind will choose for me.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I cannot wait for this match. They have done a very good job in the past couple of weeks of really making this personal and about more than just one guy saying "I'm the best in the world!" while the other says "No you're not, I am!". It is one of the potential show stealers. You've got two of the best in the world (legitimately) both in the ring and on the mic, who are facing each other at the biggest show of the year (Wrestlemania) feuding over the most prestigious prize in pro wrestling, the WWE Championship. One could make a comparison to Wrestlemania 3. Everyone was talking about Hogan & Andre (Cena & Rock this year), but in the end it was Steamboat & Savage (Punk & Jericho this year) who stole the show putting on the best in-ring performance of the evening. This match has the potential to completely steal the show and leave everyone talking about it in the following weeks.

Ever since the rumors began that Jericho would be returning to have a Wrestlemania angle with Punk, my interest was there. Here we are. It's pretty safe to say that Punk will go over here. Jericho's likely not going to stick around. If he does win it would be cool if he made the belt light up the way his jacket does. It would make more sense to have Punk get the win here, since he's one of the guys they will be building the future of the company around in the long run. Even if it's for the top belt, it probably won't be last. Cena & Rock deserve that at this point, but it will surely be in the second half of the evening and toward the end of the card. A certain candidate for match of the year and a show stealer if it lives up to the hype.

DAGGER'S PREDICTION
CM Punk will retain the WWE Championship.

 

[Beastmode 24]

This match is going to be the best match on the card. Period. I absolutely cannot wait for this match. The psychology of the last couple of weeks with Jericho attacking Punk's personal life has brought something to the match that i thought was a little lacking. Yeah, the "I'm the best in the world" argument has fueled this match more than anything, but the personal aspect of it is something that I enjoy.

 

[Shocky]

I'd like to thank these two for giving this Wrestlemania what it has lacked, a good face/heel dynamic. Chris Jericho has been amazing the last few weeks with his personal attacks on Punks family. It really shows that evil, stop at nothing side that he has. This is the same guy that punched out HBK's wife.

It started slowly, but it sure has caught a ton of fire lately. Yes, there is something to be said with Punk's cheesy over reaction and inability to make a legit tough guy face when he's pretending to be upset, but that's getting too picky.

This is the match people will look for to get their technical fix. You have a card where we know three matches for sure will be brawls. This should be the masterpiece. It's upsetting that the WWE title match is a potential "show stealer", but on this card that is where it's at.

Everything will depend on timing for these two. Both are more then capable of getting an excellent match out of almost anyone they work with. With a proper amount of time, it's easily match of the night.

Punk retains, hoping these two get at least 20 minutes of in ring time.

 

[Galvatron]

Big turnaround for me because last year's wwe championship match featured the 2 guys I don't like the most in the wwe, and this year's match has my 2 favorite guys in wwe. I have liked the build going up to the match with the exception of Jericho losing the rumble to Sheamus. Its about time Vince gave Punk the wwe championship going into mania, it's at least a year overdue.

My pick to win this match is Punk because Jericho is a true pro and will have no problem putting Punk over. This will be the match of the night unless HHH and Undertaker have a real hell in a cell match and not one of the recent shitty pg hell in a cell matches seen for the last few years.

 

[Assassin Evans]

I can't really see Jericho winning BUT it wouldn't be a total surprise if he did. I'll be happy whoever wins because this is the match that I'm looking forward to seeing the most. When I first heard the rumours about Jericho coming back to feud with Punk I was hoping that the rumours would turn out to be true and thankfully they obviously were! I think that Jericho WILL win the title off Punk soon but I don't think that it will be at Wrestlemania.

 

[klunderbunker]

This is probably the show stealer. This match is a tale of two stories. For a few weeks they started with arguing over who the best in the world was and Jericho saying that Punk ripped off all his ideas. Then they shifted over to Jericho ripping on Punk’s family for the sake of driving him to drink. I think the idea that we’re supposed to go with is that Jericho pressured Punk into giving him the title match and then is using the family stuff to mess with his mind and make him lose the title as a result. I’m not sure how well they’ve done at conveying that idea which isn’t good, but at the end of the day it’s Punk vs. Jericho. Do you really think they’re going to have a bad match? I’ll go with Punk to retain, but him losing and exploring what he might do could be interesting.

 

[SD619]

The build for this match has been quite good. Jericho has been one-upping Punk on the mic for weeks by making personal remarks about his family. Punk showed new intensity last week. Everything points towards one thing: A classic match.

This is a match which will be great irrespective of the victor. In the other matches, who wins is almost as important as the match quality but not here. Punk winning does seem likely but Jericho also would make a good champion.

 

[#hamler]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwh snap! Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk. Two of the single most gifted wrestlers to ever step foot in the WWE ring. They collide at Wrestlemania in what will become the best match…ever. Yeah, I won’t get my hopes up.

Now, these two are phenomenal workers; so much that they've developed hardcore followings from select wrestling fans that will follow them throughout their respective careers. But get this; this feud is based over who is the true Best in the World. With that, I believe many are expecting some wrestling match that you see mainly on the independents - alot of wrestling moves, fast paced action, reversals, with an ending no one seen coming. There's no doubt we will see some great technical wrestling and athleticism, it won't be anything to truly write home about. These two have the weight of the world riding on their shoulders; it wouldn't make much sense if the two supposed best in the world didn't deliver on the grandest stage of them all.

Somehow, I get the feeling this match won't be the most talked about match on the card, it won't even be the best match on the card, I believe many are setting their expectations a tad bit too high. By no means will it be the WORST match of the evening; far from it. Expectations are set entirely too high for this match and whatever Jericho and Punk do, I don't think they'll meet those expectations. We gotten a little taste of what these two could do before and it looked great. But this match has to be at the right time, the right length and the right finish to meet the majority's expectations and that's something I don't see. I expect alot of bitching after this match goes on – ala Edge vs. Jericho at Wrestlemania 26.

Nonetheless, I see Punk retaining here. With Jericho slated to return to his tour with Fozzy, I don’t see him winning the WWE Championship. Those are Dirt Sheet rumors and sometimes those are hard to trust. Even if he does remain on the WWE roster, Punk’s reign needs a win over a huge talent like Jericho. With that, I still believe Punk will defeat Jericho here. CM Punk has managed to hang onto the WWE Championship for a solid while. By defeating a top talent like Jericho, Punk will undoubtedly strengthen his credibility. If the WWE truly wants to push Punk into superstardom, he needs a dominant reign a WWE Champion. There's just no reason for Jericho to win the belt off of Punk just yet. Successfully defending the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania will undoubtedly mean more to Punk’s career than a win for Jericho.

Hamler’s Prediction – CM Punk will retain the WWE Championship.

 

[Krobra]

PRediction: Jericho wins

This match I honestly can't decide who I'd want to win or who should come out as the victor. If CM Punk retains, then he'll only solidify his reign as WWE Champion. If Jericho wins, then he and Punk can continue to have an awesome feud into the summer. While thinking on the match, I have to go with Jericho. CM Punk and Jericho have a lot more in store for us if they continue the feud (aka, Jericho wins). If Punk wins, who does he have to face? Cena? No thanks.

I am giving my vote to Jericho for the win, but I'll be happy regardless of the outcome.

 

[JBK2008]

Rumor has this feud continuing after WrestleMania. However it's in WWE's best interest to have Punk win here. He's been itching to get a shot at Jericho for a while now and he'll be with the company for years to come. Jericho will be gone before years end, if not sooner or a little later.

Jericho faced some of the best in his career and has been a hell of a superstar, but Punk has done his share and proven he's the new King of the World so to speak. This match has the chance to steal the show and it will be a wrestling clinic in my opinion.

Jericho has held nothing back in the verbal department, and we all can't wait to see these two clash!

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I think that this match became WrestleMania worthy the moment Jericho brought Punk's family into the equation. Before that, it was an IWC wet dream but little else. The moment Jericho brought Punk's family in, it became evident that Jericho was just trying to go one-up on Punk in whichever manner possible and for that he was willing to stoop to the lowest of lows. The "stealing my work" schtick did not faze Punk but Jericho insulting Punk's family seems to have gotten to Punk and the normally confident and assured Punk seems angry and irritated. Punk seems vulnerable which is something that always helps the crowd get behind the babyface.

I am still torn as to what the outcome will be. On one hand, the booking suggests that Punk should get his revenge on Jericho for Jericho berating his family. But I do not believe for a second that this feud will culminate here. So, I do feel that Jericho will get the win here in some sneaky manner. Punk will probably make Jericho pass out post match in the Anaconda Vice. Punk will probably win the title back at Extreme Rules in a submission match or something of that sort. The feud has been great so far but has the potential to be even better post WrestleMania. Can you just imagine Jericho's promos after he wins the title? Punk will also get more vengeful, physical and just plain badass post his loss. Sounds good to me.

 

[cannibalham]

Can't wait for this match! definitely gonna steal the show as far as wrestling goes. Jericho has been on of my favourites since his lion heart days in wcw and punk has won me over ever since he created the S.E.S. Hopefully punk retains, jericho doesn't need this win but punk does.

 

[The Eighties]

This is the one I am most anticipating, I think these are two guys with the will and talent to steal the show. A lot of people have said it could be the Savage/Steamboat of this Mania, but I actually feel the dynamic has skewed more towards it being the Flair/Savage of this Mania.

In the end I expect a clean win for CM Punk.

 

[XXJJ]

I thought the crowd was dead for most of this match. It was a good match but not a show stealer.
This feud and match reminds me of Edge/Jericho a couple of years ago. A good match but didn't live up to expectations. IMO this was no way near a classic.