ironworks
10-19-2012, 09:54 PM
Feed Source: Bleacher Report
An immediate disclaimer: this article is based on a rumor.
With that out of the way, this is one of the juiciest and most thought-provoking I have heard in quite a long time. If Wrestlezone is to be believed, we may be heading for a stage at WrestleMania that will have the biggest implications in decades for two men.
CM Punk vs. The Undertaker.
Some immediate detractors will say that this is not a new match, having already watched The Undertaker go after and subsequently capture CM Punk's World Heavyweight Championship at the first Hell in A Cell pay per view in 2009.
Their point is moot. This is WrestleMania, where the Undertaker is now 20-0. CM Punk is no longer in a precursor to his Straight Edge Society days; he is simply the best.
The natural reaction every year has been "It's The Undertaker and it's WrestleMania. No way is he going to lose." The only time I truly felt his record could be in jeopardy, like others on B/R and the Internet have said, was at WrestleMania 21 against Randy Orton, who had recently severed ties with Evolution. Nobody else on the Undertaker's WrestleMania list has posed any sort of threat.
Unless, of course, this plan comes to fruition.
Yesterday, I talked about the possibility of Ryback winning the WWE Championship at Hell in A Cell. While it would be quite a shocker, I honestly don't think this is going to happen. Punk is going to continue as WWE Champion, taking more verbal shots at The Rock (who recently posted a photo of himself working out in a CM Punk shirt, by the way).
Punk might form a team for Survivor Series and then have one more title defense before the incredible encounter between him and The Rock at the Royal Rumble.
By that point, something will happen to keep Punk as champion once again, whether it is beating The Rock in the middle of the ring or having a returning Brock Lesnar cost The Rock the match, setting up Brock vs. The Rock at WrestleMania as well. This will add to what is going to be an incredible lineup already, but make no mistake: The Rock and Brock Lesnar will not be the star attraction of the night.
Something else will happen at the Royal Rumble, before or after Punk retains the WWE Championship. In the Rumble itself, at some point, the countdown will begin from 10 seconds and when it hits zero, one gong will go off. The Undertaker will make his grand entrance and, after proving at WrestleMania 28 that he has more than enough fight in him, win the match.
The Internet, which includes people who think his streak is untouchable, will incredibly start complaining about the fact that a veteran who "doesn't need" a title shot now has one...which is even more ironic because some of those people were probably cheering for The Rock, but I digress.
This will create conversation, discussion and anticipation for what is going to be the biggest weekend in the history of professional wrestling.
When this match happens, there will be captivated people watching it the same way they watched it before the Internet, before the veil was lifted.
The safety of The Undertaker's streak is now in question, because whether you want to admit it or not, there is absolutely nobody other than CM Punk who could end the streak. Everyone else is either too new or have been around too long. Punk is in the prime of his career and earning accolades with every extra day he holds the title.
If this match happens, Punk will win, and I'll tell you why.
Put yourself in the mind of The Undertaker. He does not need to wrestle another day in his life, and he will be in the Hall of Fame; hell, they could hold a separate induction ceremony outside of WrestleMania weekend just for him and it would feel as special as every other ceremony combined.
Nobody personifies everything that the WWE was, is and will be like the Dead Man. He emphatically silenced every critic he had when he and Triple H gave us yet another classic match earlier this year.
He has given us more moments to remember in his career than other men have given their entire lives, and The Undertaker remembers them just as much as we do.
No moment would be more memorable than when Punk beats The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29.
Imagine orchestrating that moment in time yourself. Somewhere around 85,000 people watching in attendance. Millions more around the world on pay per view. In the middle of the ring on April 7, 2013, as the clock approaches 11:00 PM Eastern time, a tremor registers in the planet as everyone reacts to Punk beating The Undertaker.
When the match is over, with Punk as shocked as anyone else, The Undertaker looks him in the eye and becomes the first wrestler to tell Punk to his face that he is indeed best in the world.
This is no "passing of the torch." This is putting the torch out and proclaiming someone else to be the guy who lights a new one.
What would mean more to you? An undefeated record at WrestleMania? Or one moment that will never be matched in the history of professional wrestling?
If you asked CM Punk, and after watching his documentary, my gut tells me he would say it's the moments that count. Mick Foley said the same thing to Punk a few weeks ago, and alluded to the same fact years ago when they had a confrontation at a Ring of Honor show.
CM Punk could be WWE Champion for long enough to break Bruno Sammartino's record and, with all due respect to Sammartino, I wouldn't care about it.
I would still remember that one time when he beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania more than anything else.
An immediate disclaimer: this article is based on a rumor.
With that out of the way, this is one of the juiciest and most thought-provoking I have heard in quite a long time. If Wrestlezone is to be believed, we may be heading for a stage at WrestleMania that will have the biggest implications in decades for two men.
CM Punk vs. The Undertaker.
Some immediate detractors will say that this is not a new match, having already watched The Undertaker go after and subsequently capture CM Punk's World Heavyweight Championship at the first Hell in A Cell pay per view in 2009.
Their point is moot. This is WrestleMania, where the Undertaker is now 20-0. CM Punk is no longer in a precursor to his Straight Edge Society days; he is simply the best.
The natural reaction every year has been "It's The Undertaker and it's WrestleMania. No way is he going to lose." The only time I truly felt his record could be in jeopardy, like others on B/R and the Internet have said, was at WrestleMania 21 against Randy Orton, who had recently severed ties with Evolution. Nobody else on the Undertaker's WrestleMania list has posed any sort of threat.
Unless, of course, this plan comes to fruition.
Yesterday, I talked about the possibility of Ryback winning the WWE Championship at Hell in A Cell. While it would be quite a shocker, I honestly don't think this is going to happen. Punk is going to continue as WWE Champion, taking more verbal shots at The Rock (who recently posted a photo of himself working out in a CM Punk shirt, by the way).
Punk might form a team for Survivor Series and then have one more title defense before the incredible encounter between him and The Rock at the Royal Rumble.
By that point, something will happen to keep Punk as champion once again, whether it is beating The Rock in the middle of the ring or having a returning Brock Lesnar cost The Rock the match, setting up Brock vs. The Rock at WrestleMania as well. This will add to what is going to be an incredible lineup already, but make no mistake: The Rock and Brock Lesnar will not be the star attraction of the night.
Something else will happen at the Royal Rumble, before or after Punk retains the WWE Championship. In the Rumble itself, at some point, the countdown will begin from 10 seconds and when it hits zero, one gong will go off. The Undertaker will make his grand entrance and, after proving at WrestleMania 28 that he has more than enough fight in him, win the match.
The Internet, which includes people who think his streak is untouchable, will incredibly start complaining about the fact that a veteran who "doesn't need" a title shot now has one...which is even more ironic because some of those people were probably cheering for The Rock, but I digress.
This will create conversation, discussion and anticipation for what is going to be the biggest weekend in the history of professional wrestling.
When this match happens, there will be captivated people watching it the same way they watched it before the Internet, before the veil was lifted.
The safety of The Undertaker's streak is now in question, because whether you want to admit it or not, there is absolutely nobody other than CM Punk who could end the streak. Everyone else is either too new or have been around too long. Punk is in the prime of his career and earning accolades with every extra day he holds the title.
If this match happens, Punk will win, and I'll tell you why.
Put yourself in the mind of The Undertaker. He does not need to wrestle another day in his life, and he will be in the Hall of Fame; hell, they could hold a separate induction ceremony outside of WrestleMania weekend just for him and it would feel as special as every other ceremony combined.
Nobody personifies everything that the WWE was, is and will be like the Dead Man. He emphatically silenced every critic he had when he and Triple H gave us yet another classic match earlier this year.
He has given us more moments to remember in his career than other men have given their entire lives, and The Undertaker remembers them just as much as we do.
No moment would be more memorable than when Punk beats The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29.
Imagine orchestrating that moment in time yourself. Somewhere around 85,000 people watching in attendance. Millions more around the world on pay per view. In the middle of the ring on April 7, 2013, as the clock approaches 11:00 PM Eastern time, a tremor registers in the planet as everyone reacts to Punk beating The Undertaker.
When the match is over, with Punk as shocked as anyone else, The Undertaker looks him in the eye and becomes the first wrestler to tell Punk to his face that he is indeed best in the world.
This is no "passing of the torch." This is putting the torch out and proclaiming someone else to be the guy who lights a new one.
What would mean more to you? An undefeated record at WrestleMania? Or one moment that will never be matched in the history of professional wrestling?
If you asked CM Punk, and after watching his documentary, my gut tells me he would say it's the moments that count. Mick Foley said the same thing to Punk a few weeks ago, and alluded to the same fact years ago when they had a confrontation at a Ring of Honor show.
CM Punk could be WWE Champion for long enough to break Bruno Sammartino's record and, with all due respect to Sammartino, I wouldn't care about it.
I would still remember that one time when he beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania more than anything else.