WWE Night of Champions 2012: Draw Doesn't Benefit CM Punk or John Cena

The WWE got everything right during the Night of Champions main event, except the result. Ending CM Punk and John Cena's five-star match with a draw was inexcusable, and it doesn't benefit either competitor moving forward.

Punk still has his WWE championship belt, but he would have retained it with a victory too. Giving it to him with a tie was a cop-out, and it deprived the TD Garden crowd of a necessary result.

It was Cena's home crowd, but any other conclusion would have made more sense. The former champion didn't have to win the title back, but at least let him lose it outright. I expected Punk to win once the match got started.

I fully expect him to enter the Royal Rumble with that title around his belt, but that could have been accomplished in other ways.

Punk's alliance with Paul Heyman seemed to provide a viable storyline entering Sunday night. Any potential Cena win was going to be spoiled by one of Heyman's cronies. That would have made sense, and that would have given this specific plot another avenue to pursue.

Giving Cena the title back was also a distinct possibility. He's one of the greatest champions in wrestling history, and he's not beyond another shot at 35 years old. When you add the home-crowd factor into it, this idea would have made sense as well.

Neither happened. Instead, the referees decided that each athletes' shoulders were down when the count hit three. That created this anticlimactic draw scenario and still has me scratching my head.

Punk would have benefited from winning the match outright. His heel reputation would have increased by beating Cena on pay-per-view. You could say that this indirectly increases it as well, but a victory would have accomplished the same thing.

Cena definitely doesn't benefit. He didn't win the title back, and now he must wait.

Maybe the WWE will use this to set up a rematch in the near future. That would justify the outcome, but it wouldn't bring back the botched PPV finale.

Overall, Night of Champions was an excellent event, but the finale's result could have been much better. Not only did it make me shrug my shoulders, but it didn't benefit either wrestler.