WWE: Why CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan Is a Memorable Feud

Mark Madden once said (actually, he said a lot of things in his career) in Ric Flair's biography “To Be the Man,” that the two best in-ring performers he ever faced were Ricky Steamboat and Ricky Morton because they did not over-sell for him in their matches.

That’s pretty high praise, since Flair faced over a 1,000 wrestlers in his career. And matches like those with Steamboat, Morton, The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels are remembered for how they created realism in the ring or “believability.”

Finding that kind of aura today is tough. Christian can deliver that kind of a match. So can Kurt Angle and AJ Styles. But there are few others. That is why when we talk about the best in-ring performers today, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are the tops at their craft. Hands down.

The two performers who have a history that runs far past any encounters in the WWE could be the “Flair vs. Sting” of this generation—two wrestlers who know each other’s moves so well that they defy logic and can go back to a spot years ago, and make it look like ballet. That is what Punk/Bryan is.

Forget the battles with A.J. Lee. Forget the third-party interference of Kane. Forget the drama that the WWE has instituted with count outs and illegal pins. Look at the poetry of the two men in the ring. The dynamic that is forged cannot be defined by words when it is at its best.

I remember being about 10 years old and watching Jack Brisco and Dory Funk Jr. in a match in Florida. The two ring veterans used mat skills and technique to beat each other. That is the same thing as Punk/Bryan. And while we can say Christian or Jericho could possibly do the same thing in the ring, it is not the same result.

This is better. This is something the WWE Universe needs. This is something that, in everything that has gone wrong in the WWE this year, could be the one defining feud (Feud of the Year) that keeps on giving.

And it could help elevate the two superstars past the lofty perches they have already been placed on. Call it a win-win-win for the wrestlers and then the fans.

And that can only mean money at the gate and butts in the seats for the WWE.

If this matchup does everything it should in a Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage kind of way, where the buildup back then was almost as good as the match (which never lasted very long) then this is the best way for the company to show it sees a good thing, thinks it has legs and use it to bring back “wrestling” like it was.

If for no other reason, this will be the spring board to better matches, a better brand and hopefully more consistency. We need this after the company bailed on Cena/Punk, which had more time left in the hourglass.

This is the reason the WWE has to prove it has the stones to take something that is good and make it better.

Yes, we need this match, this feud and this rivalry. It allows us to see that there are still some things in this brand and business that we cannot soon forget.