On 27th June 2011, a promo happened that promised to change the landscape of sports entertainment forever. CM Punk was the man who delivered that promo and on that fateful night in Las Vegas, people finally began to take notice. A few weeks later at the Money in the Bank PPV, Punk apparently leaves the company with the WWE Championship around his waist - by this point the whole world began to take notice. Fast forward to 2013; having lost and regained the WWE title and going on to conquer the likes of John Cena, Chris Jericho and Vince's new powerhouse poster-boy Ryback, Punk is now flourishing in the longest WWE Championship reign of the last 25 years. In spite of all of this, it still feels as though creative are not willing to give him the ball and letting him run the distance with it. The Royal Rumble may potentially put an end to that. Come January 27th, Punk will face one of his biggest challenges to date in the form of "the jabroni beating, pie eating, trail blazing, eyebrow raising, heart stopping, elbow dropping, people's champ The Rock". Whatever you think about The Rock, or Dwayne Johnson as he is often now known, he sells tickets and can make a great PPV a potential blockbuster. If CM Punk wants to show the world that he is the best, this would be opportune moment against the biggest mainstream star to ever come out of WWE. Let's take a moment to talk about old Dwayne; he is a 7 time World Champion, a 3rd generation superstar, he has conquered the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H and more recently John Cena. He is highly regarded as a legendary superstar from the Attitude Era and boasts a multi million dollar box office gross in his hugely successful movie career. It's safe to say that the Brahma Bull has done it all, and he does not need another title run.
For CM Punk, the implications of beating the Rock to retain his WWE Championship are huge. Firstly, it shows that he can do what John Cena failed to do; that alone speaks volumes in my book. The idea that Punk is bringing prestige back to the title is very important to me as a fan; keeping the belt on Punk shows the WWE can utilise The Rock's star power to enhance the title reign, giving Punk more credibility as the top star in the company, which will undoubtedly keep fans interested after the Rock disappears following WrestleMania. I'm sure that we can all see how it will pan out should Rocky win at the Rumble; he carries the belt into Mania, into Rock vs. Cena II and the WWE title goes back to John Cena, Dwayne goes back to making movies and the soul crushing status quo is restored. However, should Punk retain, the possibilities are endless; triple threat title match at Wrestlemania, anyone? Too derivative? How about Punk takes on the Undertaker in a Streak vs. Streak match at Wrestlemania 29? If punk then loses to Taker, Undertaker retires as the Champion and the next few months can be dedicated to a tournament to determine a new champion, maybe utilising a fresh face such as Dolph Ziggler to win the title and create a greater top tier roster depth? The question here may not be whether Punk needs to win at the Royal Rumble, but whether WWE needs and wants him to win. I personally believe that everyone benefits from Punk retaining and keeping the Championship belt at the forefront of WWE programming.