WWE Raw Gallery: 25 Years Of Iconic Monday Nights

5. 2013 - One On One With The Great One

The Rock CM Punk
WWE.com

Dateline: 7th January, 2013

CM Punk never received the main event respect he craved so desperately from Vince McMahon, but for one night, he outperformed WWE's most successful mainstream crossover star ever.

Delivering an underrated and forgotten sequel to his Las Vegas 'Pipe Bomb' before being cut off for a commercial break, the longest-reigning WWE Champion in modern history was already bitter about his overlooked position before The Rock hit the ring for their Royal Rumble hard sell.

Punk sneered down the barrel of 'The Great One's usual vitriol, palming away a tired 'Cookie Puss' nickname to draw his ire with the sheer conviction of his delivery. Carefully remaining heel but espousing the oppression that briefly made him the world's hottest babyface, Punk's closing spiel ("You can't leave a mark on the champ's face. Come Royal Rumble, understand, when you step in the ring, your arms are just too short to box with God") was immaculate.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett