10 WrestleMania Main Events The Royal Rumble Almost Promised Us
5. John Cena Vs. CM Punk (WrestleMania XXIX)
Simply put, John Cena vs CM Punk is a saga that deserved at least one instalment on the grand stage of WrestleMania. And if it hadn’t been for the Rock’s championship aspirations at the turn of 2013, we’d likely have seen Cena vs. Punk headline WrestleMania XXIX. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite meant to be.
When Cena emerged the victor in the 2013 Royal Rumble, CM Punk was celebrating his 434rd day as WWE Champion—but the writing was already on the wall. Immediately following Cena’s win, Punk defended his title against the Rock - and at this point, the outcome seemed a foregone conclusion.
A reversed finish at least kept things interesting at the close of the show, but when all was said and done it was the Rock who usurped Punk and went on to face Cena in the main event of WrestleMania for a second consecutive year.
In fairness, you can see why the company would want to milk Cena vs. Rock for all it was worth (that year’s WrestleMania became the highest grossing live event in WWE history, banking a handy $72 million), but for the history and the antithesis that these two characters represented, Cena vs. Punk was a rivalry undoubtedly worthy of a moment in the WrestleMania spotlight.