CM Punk definitively staked his claim to be the 2013 Wrestler of the Year with his work during the first quarter of the calendar. It was a defining few weeks leading to WrestleMania for him. He basically had a month to make the feud with The Deadman interesting. Sure, it was about The Streak being challenged by the longest reigning WWE Champion of the last 25 years, but it was more about Punk creating a personal issue. On all accounts, he succeeded. Punk just doesnt look like a star.but he is was the on-going tale of Punks main-event career. The atmosphere at Met Life Stadium was incredible. From the moment that the extremely well-produced hype video promoting the match was shown, the crowd was abuzz. The added touch of having Living Color play Punk to the ring with an awesome live rendition of Cult of Personality served to turn up the amplitude of an already electric setting. To the personalities involved and the New Jersey attendees, Punk vs. Taker was the main-event of the night. It felt like the match that everyone there came to see. Punk came out dressed in old school Taker colors (purple and gray) and spent much of the match playing mind games. He even copied Takers signature Old School tight walk along the top rope. He also had Paul Heyman frequently lift the Phenoms urn into the air, mockingly drawing power from it as Taker had done so often in the past with the recently deceased Paul Bearer. The same urn nearly aided in his bid to give Taker the elusive WrestleMania loss, as he clobbered him with it during an attempted Last Ride powerbomb for the second of two incredibly effective, drama-enhancing near falls of the match. CM Punk had a very old school, methodical approach to pro wrestling that separated him from his contemporaries. He had gone on record - and backed up his words through his actions - as being a wrestler who wanted to tell elaborate stories devoid of shortcuts. Referring to out-of-the-ring shenanigans, such as the announce table, as the furniture, he made a clear effort to stay away from using props during his high profile matches. That was part of what made his top rope to announce table leap, for instance, all the more fascinating. Taker vs. Punk stole the show.
"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition.
Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.
