10 Brilliant Wrestling Matches With Seriously Disappointing Endings
5. The Rock Vs. CM Punk - Royal Rumble 2013
With CM Punk at the peak of his powers and The Rock forever at the peak of his, their showdown at Royal Rumble 2013 was something to get excited about. Not exactly a dream match, but certainly an event of some note, two wildly different superstars putting on a bout for Punk’s world title.
The match itself probably exceeded expectations for the most part. Rocky had returned at the previous year’s WrestleMania, but was looser here than he was in his main event bout with Cena. He allows his opponent to run most of the match, and Punk puts over the clash of styles well, his heelish grinding submissions against Rock’s explosiveness.
The ending, then, lets things down somewhat. First there’s the fake finish - the lights go off, The Shield lay waste to Rocky, Punk is DQed before The Rock insists on seeing this one out. Then, he puts Punk away not with the Rock Bottom but with the People’s Elbow.
Frankly, we’d moved on from the People’s Elbow. It may be electrifying, but it’s also very, very silly, and no way to end Punk’s amazing title run.