100 Greatest WWE Matches Of All Time (Ranked)
56. CM Punk vs. John Cena (Raw, 25 February 2013)
The Undertaker had returned on a house show the prior weekend, so many sitting down to watch the 25 February 2013 edition of Raw figured he'd show up to get the ball rolling on build towards a WrestleMania 29 match vs. CM Punk and cause a screwy finish. Nope. 'The Deadman' stayed away, which let old rivals Punk and John Cena produce one of the best matches on free WWE television in history.
They were on top of their game here, no doubt. Cena had a real chip on his shoulder in this era too - the guy wanted to fire back at pesky "YOU CAN'T WRESTLE" chants by proving he very much could, so he was keen to bust out some fresh moves or do things that fans might not have been expecting from one of his matches. Punk surely loved that challenge himself, and he'd always had chemistry opposite 'Big Match John'.
Some of the near falls on offer in this match rival anything from the WWE archives. We're talking The Rock vs. Steve Austin from 'Mania X-Seven levels of brilliance. Fans in attendance for the flagship were totally fooled by some of them, and it was obvious that everyone inside the building was loving the trickery.
Sometimes, it's nice to go along for the ride.
You owe it to yourself to see this if it's online anywhere via WWE's YouTube channels or via Netflix. WWE, Cena and Punk provided pay-per-view quality on regular telly, then everybody moved on to WrestleMania. The fact 'Taker didn't interfere was a blessing; Cena and Punk didn’t need the help.