Anyone who frequents this site will be fully aware by now that I am not a fan of The Rocks, especially not a fan of his current run in the WWE, a run which consists of him being given a title shot at one of the biggest events of the year for no apparent reason and to potentially go on to THE biggest event of the year as champion. Ive sounded off on the reasons why this inevitable title change shouldnt happen countless times before and drawn plenty of attention to the lasting effects of such lunacy. But this article is from the part of my brain which has accepted the title change as fact and has thought of a way in which it can happen that will benefit everyone. First of all though let me remind everyone who exactly CM Punk has beaten with the title on the line during his 400+ day reign as WWE champion, just so we are clear as to why such a delicate scenario must play out: John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Ryback, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, R Truth, The Miz and Alberto Del Rio. During that same period, 4 of the above were World Heavyweight Champion, including the current champion; Del Rio. If CM Punk can beat each of these genuine main eventers (with the exception of Truth and Kofi maybe), why are we to believe that the part time (at best) Rock could beat him on his first attempt? Its a ludicrous thought and, as I have highlighted before, sticks a middle finger up at that same list of genuine workers. Supposedly, WWE have realised that same error of judgement and are reportedly holding off on Rocks win for the time being, although the general consensus is that Dwayne WILL be Champion at Mania. What they really need to do is protect Punk as best they possibly can because he will be The Man once again come the night after Mania when The Rock leaves for Hollywood. Hence Punk needs to lose his championship looking like a genuine hero, regardless of him being a heel or face. So lets imagine that at the Royal Rumble, Punk retains against The Rock against all odds. If this is to happen then this will not happen cleanly and I would be amazingly surprised if The Shield dont interfere and Punks association with the group doesnt comes to light for all to see. Its quiet clear that Punk/Heyman are running The Shield and if they werent to interfere then what would be the point of their past involvements on Punks behalf. The opposite of course could be that maybe Rock will defeat all of the above to become WWE Champion and I hope to god that if that is even considered, Punk punchs whoever thought of it squarely in the face!
The event after the Rumble is Elimination Chamber and has been for some years now for one very good reason; its a cheap and easy way to put a belt on someone prior to Mania. This past year, during gimmick PPVs we have noticed that the titled match of the PPV might actually only take place once on the card when previously you might have three (E.g. Hell in a Cell). This has been a good thing in my eyes but the suggestion must be made that maybe there will be no Chamber match for the WWE championship this year. But lets say that it does go ahead and if I were to book this feud, I would suggest that The Rock demands a rematch after his loss at The Rumble but Punk fights the case to the man making the decisions on TV that, seeing as Rocky isnt a full time roster member, he shouldnt get a rematch. Perhaps Mr Boss man quiet agrees but instead of offering Rocky a one-on-one match, he gets entry into the Chamber. Considering by this stage that Punk will have shown his true colours as it relates to The Shield, a nice little storyline going forward towards the PPV could be that Heyman lies, begs and pleads to have The Shield members involved in the match as well. At first perhaps Vince agrees to mull it over, but as the weeks go by he rejects the suggestion and instead runs a kind of tournament pitting The Shield members competing individually against the likes of Ryback, Orton and Sheamus (guys they have ambushed plenty of times) to qualify for the Chamber match. During these matches however, the faces invade the ring and cost The Shield the match. Criss-cross! Just something to keep 6 guys on the roster entertained during the build-up. It also protects the rookies by having them lose due to interference by established main eventers. As it gets closer to the Chamber PPV it becomes quite apparent that Punk will have zero friends inside the steel with him and each of his opponents have the agenda of finishing his title reign. Thats not to say that he would be up against a bunch of faces, making the match very one sided and 1 dimensional. Punk has sickened off enough people on the roster for the heels to want a piece of Mr King Heel. The start of CM Punk's hero death starts to take shape and in the Chamber, no one can interfere on your behalf!
The night of the Elimination Chamber PPV will come and the card will fill out nicely with the WWE Championship Chamber match as the main event. CM Punk versus 5 other men determined to end his incredible run as WWE Champion. By this point Im sure this match will have built enough interest and intrigue that the audience in attendance, no matter how jaded or informed they are, will make as much or as little noise as possible throughout. Hushed as they realise that Punk will start the match in a pod, wondering when he will enter the fray to defend to the last. Growing more boisterous and impatient after every pod opens but Punks. Throughout the process Punk, with his infinite charisma and passion, riles up the audience through the chains and glass, adding more reaction from the audience. In the ring it soon becomes clear that Punk will be the last man out of his pod but until then this is still a championship match and each man will throw all they have at each other. Up until the point that CM Punk, the WWE champion for close to 500 days at this point, finally gets released into battle. With Punk being the fighting Champ he is he launches into a fury, reversing all manoeuvres and striking out at all his opponents whose focus has now shifted to him and him alone. For minutes he defends himself admirably and even at one point has all the other 5 men grounded whilst he screams in the centre of the ring. But as is always the case, the numbers game inevitably catches up with him. It all proves too much for him as the 5 other superstars pool their efforts to overthrown the reign of the king. Each lands hard blow and stiff kick into Punks anatomy and his body simply cannot take such a beating. Eventually CM Punk stumbles into one of his opponents signature manoeuvre, followed by the next man hitting his and so on until The Rock hits a huge Peoples Elbow to finish him off. The 5 men look down at the fallen champion, almost with a pitiful look and then look at each other. One of them must make the pin, one of them eventually does and CM Punk is no longer WWE Champion and by the end of the night, a new one will be crowned. No one is jaded enough to think anyone but Rock will win. This scenario portrays Punk as a fighter until the last and has it take 5 finishing manoeuvres to finally defeat him. Sufficient enough to end such a legendary title reign Im sure you will agree and also doesnt give The Rock a clean victory over Punk, something I believe needs to be done to save Punk and the entire roster from looking weak. If Rock were to pin Punk clean, when would the debt get repaid by Rock? Its unlikely they will face each other again and no doubt the commentators would constantly remind us that Punk lost to a part timer in Rock. It could potentially damage his future going forward into a new year after Mania.
The Chamber is such a clever PPV to have before Mania that so many different occurrences can create a new champion that it wont likely affect anyones momentum going forward, The Rock can win this match purely by outlasting everyone else as well as finding that little bit of luck. For example, if Cena Vs. Rock is pencilled in for Mania, maybe Johnny boy eliminates someone from the Chamber only to turn around, walk into a Rock Bottom to give Rock the Championship. You have Rock going over but not exactly cleanly and you also have a great feed for Cena Vs Rocky leading to WrestleMania. If something like this scenario is being discussed at WWE at the moment and ends up being used, then I can live with the Rock being champion. It protects pretty much everyone involved, gives the audience a dramatic PPV finish and Punk will not need to regain momentum as none was taken from him. His Hero death will mean he is still most definitely the man!