CM Punk: Best in the World

Wow is there a lot going on in the world of professional wrestling right now, mainly within WWE and their title picture.   I’m rather interested to see how this story plays out between now and, well, Wrestlemania—if WWE is indeed booking that far in advance. 

This is my idea for how to keep everything interesting, though it will probably not happen.   Still, I feel it’s worth mentioning.  

First off, I think we can all expect right now a ladder match at Summerslam ala Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon to crown the one true WWE Champion.   While many people expect to see CM Punk vs. John Cena straight up, why not throw Rey Mysterio into the mix?   For one thing, Mysterio has nothing else going on.  For another, Alberto Del Rio is always lingering in the background with the briefcase to cash in and Rey seems a likely opponent for him in that regard.   So for Summerslam, I would book a three way ladder match and have CM Punk win it simply because Rey Mysterio and John Cena would sort of cancel each other out.   This could even lead to a pay-per-view match between Rey and Cena down the line.   Then we still have time (and much needed build up to further the intensity) of another singles match between CM Punk and John Cena.   How does that come about you ask?  I’d say something like this…

Distract John Cena with Rey Mysterio and whoever else, while also having CM Punk retaining his title over babyfaces that are deemed number one contender to establish his cred as a champion.   Now at the Royal Rumble, we will finally have John Cena face CM Punk one on one.   Can WWE wait that long to pull the trigger on this feud?  I certainly hope so because the outcome could be amazing.   It isn’t that many PPVs away if WWE could just… wait.

At the Royal Rumble, everyone will expect Cena to win the belt back then go on to face The Rock for the title in the main event of Wrestlemania.   However, I think that the Cena-Rock match is big enough without the title on the line.   In fact, The Rock can use the very fact that Cena said he’d go into the match as champion and isn’t against him.   It’d be brilliant.  

Having John Cena face CM Punk at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Title would also keep John Cena out of the Royal Rumble match itself.   I think that if by January 1^st, John Cena is not WWE Champion he shouldn’t be granted any opportunities (Unless this scenario plays out) simply because then instead of combining two matches at Wrestlemania, we could have two (or even three) main events.

While we all know that John Cena vs. The Rock will happen, what else can WWE do to make Wrestlemania seem huge?   My take?  A surprise Royal Rumble entrant who not only wins the Rumble match, but goes on to challenge CM Punk at Wrestlemania.   Who should that man be?   Stone Cold Steve Austin would be a dream, but HHH is more likely seeming.  

On top of all of this, Daniel Bryan has vowed to cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase at Wrestlemania so he can be in the main event.   Sorry, Mr. Former American Dragon, but I don’t think anyone is going to be in the last spot except for Cena and Rock.   In any event, how should this feud play out?  One way is to simply have Chris Jericho return at the Royal Rumble and win the match.   Jericho, a fellow Canadian and friend, announces he will face Christian at Wrestlemania… until Bryan reveals it will be a triple threat.    I fully realize that two men cannot win the Royal Rumble match (again), so if this were to occur, we could just have HHH name CM Punk’s opponent as Stone Cold to a huge pop on RAW.   Who knows.  Let the WWE writers handle that.   But if done carefully enough, we could be looking at a Wrestlemania that features John Cena vs. The Rock, CM Punk vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin and Christian vs. Chris Jericho vs. Bryan Danielson.    It’s a modest start for a venture WWE probably hasn’t planned that far into yet.    Now let them also work some sort of ROH stable in with CM Punk, featuring the likes of Colt Cabana, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli.   Hmm…

WWE Wrestlemania 28 Main Event // Kurt Angle

                The biggest post-Wrestlemania news involving WWE is that there has been a Wrestlemania main event set for one year in advance.   Yes, in a little less than a year now, at Wrestlemania 28, John Cena will go one on one with The Rock.   While many have criticized the notion (and I don’t disagree with their logic), I think this could potentially be a great thing.    Having the time to really build something up like this… The amount of anticipation could make this really huge.   Plus, as of right now, neither man has a championship and if that stays true come next year, then this could make Wrestlemania that much even more interesting and must-see. 

                Right now, based on WWE hitting the proverbial reset button on their feud board due to their year ending and then starting anew, I could see the following scenarios if Wrestlemania 28 were not so far away.   First off, I’d put Edge (who would lose the World Title) in a match against WWE Champion The Miz.   While this may seem like something that’s been done before, the clause would be that if Edge were to lose he’d have to retire.    Sure, “The Streak” always plays on the idea of retirement, but it’s a good one, so why not use it?

                Then, I would put a returning Chris Jericho (as a face) to win the Royal Rumble and face the World Champion Alberto Del Rio.   Why?   Why not?   Y2J vs. ADR would be money both in the ring and on the mic.   The last time Chris Jericho came back, he wanted to rid the WWE of all the badness, so this should be right up his sleeve.   Also, Jericho has feuded with JBL before, so… I’m just putting it out there.

                Right now it seems like the only viable option for an Undertaker opponent would be HHH in a rematch from Wrestlemania 27.   However, if HHH can fight the Undertaker a second time (Though no one really mentioned the first time during this feud) then why can’t Randy Orton?   Think about it.   Everyone says no one other than HHH has that big match feel with the Undertaker and “The Streak”, but I think that Randy Orton could definitely pull it off.    The first time that Orton faced ‘Taker I felt he should have ended “The Streak”.  Needless to say that this time around they might not be able to right a wrong but they can do something just as cool.   While Randy Orton won’t officially beat the Undertaker (he’s going to 20-0, let’s all just admit that now) the Undertaker could still decide it has been a good run and hang it up after Wrestlemania 28.    Randy Orton won’t be able to say he broke “The Streak”, but he can still say he had the last match with the Undertaker the way that Shawn Michaels did with Ric Flair and HHH did with Mick Foley.   (sigh)

                Right there, you have four matches I’d be really excited to see happen (Even if the players were slightly altered)   Get to work on it, WWE, you have the time!

                In less relevant wrestling news, TNA Wrestler Kurt Angle posted thoughts to his Twitter about wrestlers using other wrestlers’ moves.   While I won’t go into all of the sad details of this (Or his recent DUI, as reported by TMZ.com), I must say that I am very worried for Kurt Angle.    Back when Chris Benoit killed his wife, son and then himself, Chris Jericho said on one of those MSNBC type interviews that if you had put Benoit in a room with twenty people he’d be the one Jericho thought was least capable of something like that.   That idea has always haunted me because I never knew who Chris Jericho felt would be the most likely and what their current status is.    I don’t want to say this to offend anyone or to make anyone do anything too drastic (Come on, I’m just a guy with a blog), but does anyone else see the eerie parallels between Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle?   In this (not so) newfound stage of disillusionment Kurt Angle seems to be a short time away from doing something drastic.     I really feel like people need to take these things more seriously than they do and look for warning signs.   What sent Chris Benoit over the edge?   Was it too many chairshots (and blows in general) to the head?  Kurt Angle could very easily have suffered from the same.   Was it because he got all crazy looking, with his hair, beard and overall just the look in his eyes?  Kurt Angle has been going to that place as well, if you look at him closely enough.   Was it because his wife left him for someone else?   Karen Angle did end up with Jeff Jarrett, who is sort of a wrestling booker…  I’m just saying, the stories seem to have too many coincidences for someone not to take this the least bit seriously.