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-------------------------- Phew! What a relief! On Sunday night at the Hell in a Cell Pay Per View, I was worried that the WWE was seriously going to hot-shot the WWE Title to Ryback and run with him as the champion for a while. After all, recent RAW ratings have been consistently under 3.0 and pushing mid-2.0's without John Cena as a healthy wrestler. It made me wonder if the WWE was ready to scapegoat CM Punk for bad ratings and give up on that grand opportunity of CM Punk vs. Rock at Royal Rumble 2013. Thankfully, "sports entertainment" took over and a corrupt referee cost Ryback the match to let CM Punk retain the WWE Title. Then, we have Survivor Series 2012. Provided that CM Punk vs. John Cena at Night of Champions 2012 went to a DRAW and Ryback was screwed at Hell in a Cell by a corrupt referee, I was thinking that the WWE would hit the "Easy Button" and do a 3 way match in CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Ryback at Survivor Series. Observing prior WWE Creative Team booking patterns, a 3 way match between those 3 seemed like the next logical move. However, it appears that John Cena will be feuding with Dolph Zigger instead (shall be a great feud and match!), while CM Punk is feuding with Mick Foley for a 5 on 5 Survivor Series match which should entertain. Oh, thank God. You can't lose the WWE Title in a Survivor Series match setting unless the WWE Creative Team opts to make the WWE Title or all of the titles active for the match. Hopefully not. Assuming the WWE Title won't magically be on the line, all we have to endure is 1 more Pay Per View, Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (TLC) during December 16 (I figure that's where we'll see the 3 way between John Cena, Ryback, and CM Punk, maybe a 4 Way with Dolph Ziggler added) for CM Punk to escape as champion. Then, it's the golden ticket with Rock vs. CM Punk at the Royal Rumble show to begin 2013. In my humble opinion, Rock vs. CM Punk could be off-the-charts HUGE. It's up there as a top drawing match-up that only John Cena vs. Rock could match and I believe CM Punk vs. Rock will help boost Royal Rumble 2013 in numbers. If you give me the 30 Man Royal Rumble Match plus CM Punk vs. the Rock, I'm BUYING that Pay Per View to enjoy it on the big HD television I recently purchased. Friends are coming over and they will if it's the prospect of watching the classic Rumble and an actual decent Main Event the perfectly bridges the GAP between the Attitude Era and the PG-Era. But better yet, it's a CLEAR heel (CM Punk) vs. babyface (the Rock) match, unlike John Cena (face) vs. the Rock (face) from Wrestlemania 28. It's all up to the WWE Creative Staff at this point. For one, NO hot-shotting the WWE Title off and on CM Punk from here on out. Let Punk remain champion so that when the Rock actually does beat him at Royal Rumble, the WWE Title has a high amount of credibility and CM Punk can look good after his loss against the Rock. But secondly, NO SCRIPTING INTERVIEWS! Let both the Rock and CM Punk dictate what they say to each other and let their natural abilities get themselves over. You have to let CM Punk tear into the Rock as a heel because it will inspire the Rock to hit Punk back with snappy comebacks. John Cena was hot and cold, depending on the week, and it often didn't prompt a good Rock response. I want the pre-Money in the Bank 2011 CM Punk to tear the Rock into shreds. I want him to tell the fans at home what bullshit it is that the Rock was granted a WWE Title shot without earning it. Tear the Rock up for being a distant pro wrestler and play up the reported "locker room dislike" that insider sources were reporting during 2010-2011 for the Rock's high paycheck and part time role. Funny thing is that CM Punk is recorded, several times, ripping the Rock. And of course, Tooth Fairy jokes are a must. Attack, attack, attack... And the Rock has perfect retorts for CM Punk. Tattoos, baby! Grant, the Rock has completely ruined his whole entire left side of his body, but at least he can brag about his right side... He once ripped the Undertaker for having "Mickey Mouse tattoos", so thus imagine how easy he can crank out the softballs when ripping on a guy with Pepsi and Cobra from G.I. Joe on his arms. The Rock could easily rip apart "Straight Edge", as the Rock could play up a little Ric Flair angle by being a ladies' man and enjoying the party. Whoooooo! And of course, easily ripping apart Paul Heyman for ECW and Heyman's awesome Danny Devito look... It is the PERFECT polar opposites feud. Both guys are from different eras and broken from different types of pro wrestler molds. I always felt like John Cena and the Rock were too similar in character as faces and thus made me struggle to believe that any animosity existed between the two. But you know that if CM Punk is allowed to attack the Rock via promos (or "pipebombs"), the intensity for this feud could be magical. Both guys are quite opinionated on Twitter and could use the outside media to shoot on each other. I bet that both guys could work the fans quite well in this feud in portraying legitimate hatred. For you CM Punk fans, you HAVE to accept that John Cena vs. the Rock II will be headlining Wrestlemania 29. It was actually set in stone after last year's Wrestlemania and with the WWE Title involved, that match will draw HUGE. Certainly, it may be disappointing to many CM Punk fans when the Rock lays the smacketh down on CM Punk to win the WWE Title, but the ride to get to Royal Rumble 2013 could be incredibly fun. The match could be great, too... With the Rock being a part-time performer, it will be up to CM Punk to carry the match and it could be a great opportunity for CM Punk to earn the WWE Management's respect by delivering a MATCH OF THE YEAR candidate. Punk has done enough with his WWE tenure to earn respect in my opinion, but you know from past experience that several members of WWE management are hesitant over pushing CM Punk. It took Paul Heyman to give CM Punk a chance in ECW for Punk to put him on the full-time WWE roster while Vince McMahon has always seemed hesitant about Punk as a main eventer. For instance, Punk undercut on his 2nd title by the Undertaker, undercut on the "Summer of Punk" stuff from 2011, and not even being allowed to main event as WWE Champion regularly through now. However, if CM Punk vs. the Rock not only draws more fans for a higher buyrate but prompts higher rates of Replay purchases and DVD/Blu Ray sales, the respect will finally be there. The sales of the awesome CM Punk - Best in the World Blu Ray/DVD should be enough to command respect. Wow, that was easily the best produced documentary that the WWE has ever put together with just a few exceptions caused by snarky and hypocritical remarks made by Triple H, Jim Ross, and Michael PS Hayes (some of which were lying through their teeth!). Reviewing the DVD in its entirety, I STRONGLY recommend it and I give it a grade of an "A". I'd go A+, but I figure CM Punk's best matches are yet to come to complete the video. Maybe Volume 2 will give us more and an added on story since Money in the Bank 2011 (with Punk commenting on the poor booking of the Punk character since). Wrestlemania 29 seems to be lining up with the following matches once the Rock predictably defeats CM Punk at Royal Rumble 2013: - Rock (c) vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship - Undertaker OR Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar - If Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar rematch happens, I fully expect something like an Undertaker vs. Big Show match-up provided Big Show's current push. But where does that leave CM Punk? That's where good booking is needed. For Survivor Series 2012, Punk is up against Kane, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Ryback, and Kofi Kingston. Take your pick. Punk could give Daniel Bryan a deserved "Wrestlemania moment" after last year's absurdly quick match against Sheamus. The WWE could keep building and building Ryback up and maybe, just maybe, CM Punk could use his star to put Ryback over huge. As much as you receive in a push, you've got to give back to the business. I don't see a rematch from Wrestlemania 27 with Randy Orton happening, as I expect Orton to walk out of Wrestlemania 29 with the Smackdown Heavyweight Title (bookers seem to want him off RAW brand). Wrestlemania match-ups with Kane and Kofi, not happening. So who should CM Punk wrestle? Well, consider this... WWE is paying $5 Million to Brock Lesnar for a year and that will equate to maybe 3 Pay Per View matches (and WWE is making money back). The Rock is getting paid in the millions for his WWE appearances and Wrestlemania participation, I assume... Wrestlemania 28 had an absurd payday that easily paid for the Rock's appearances and then some. Profit, profit, profit... So why not throw a wad of money at "Stone Cold" Steve Austin? That's right. Give us CM Punk vs. Steve Austin, WWE. It is the perfect addition for the New York based Wrestlemania 29. CM Punk has been taking his shots at Austin lately on television and Austin has taken his shots back on Twitter. What will it take? I bet that Steve Austin would easily take a $500,000 payday to wrestle in a once and a lifetime comeback match in front of a HUGE New York crowd. OK, $1 Million if he insists... OK, the match ends in Steve Austin's favor to sweeten the pot. Uh oh Internet Wrestling Community (IWC), am I suggesting that your boy, CM Punk, should lose to BOTH the Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in the same year? Of course I am and it will draw MILLIONS ($$$). Most fans are too caught up in the loss column. It's all about how the wrestler looks in a "losing effort". IF CM Punk puts on an 4-5 Star effort for each match, who will care about whether Punk loses or not against 2 former Attitude-Era stars? Most will remember the matches being awesome and their awesomeness will grant replay value and DVD reissuing of the match over and over again. That, and Punk doing great business with the former Attitude Era stars will give him that respect that he rightfully deserves... Steve Austin never had a proper send-off with the WWE. His personal and professional life fell apart during 2002 while his health (injured neck) deteriorated. Several walkouts and letting a few contracts expire later, the relationship between Austin and the WWE has been quite sad for the last 10 years. The few appearances were fun but it never felt like that nostalgic moment that Hulk Hogan had at Wrestlemania 18 and the years thereafter with the WWE. The Attitude Era fizzled as Steve Austin became more and more disinterested with the WWE. Making a comeback against a guy who has taken shots at him in CM Punk, much like Steve Austin did to Bret Hart in 1996 to bait Bret's WWE return, makes way too much sense. The WWE is itching to get the Attitude Era fans to watch again. What better way to entice them to watch than having the two top stars of that era, Rock and Steve Austin, face up against a guy who would fit well with the Attitude Era: CM Punk. Now, if I were booking Wrestlemania 29, I would break the bank to get several stars out of retirement to book the following show: - Rock vs. John Cena II - Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar - Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels - CM Punk vs. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin If you thought that Wrestlemania 28 did crazy business, that card would DESTROY records! It's good to have FREE advice and consulting every once and a while, WWE. You're welcome! I'm Mr. Tito and I approve this message... Comments and Tweets are welcome. FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER: @titowrestling
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