WrestleMania 28 Results: CM Punk's Victory Makes Him New Face of WWE

WrestleMania represented a final opportunity for the WWE to pull the plug on CM Punk. They could have given the title to Chris Jericho, an established veteran with a solid track record, but letting Punk earn a clean victory proves they are happy with him as their top star.

John Cena has carried that unofficial title for years with Randy Orton often considered his main competition. An extended WWE Championship reign paired with a WrestleMania win, however, should be considered a changing of the guard.

Punk has blurred the line between storyline and reality, which makes for a more entertaining brand of wrestling. The audience has fallen in love with him, as evidenced by the countless number of his shirts in the crowd at every show.

He started to build momentum last summer with several promos that members of the WWE Universe will never forget and has parlayed it into opportunities not only for himself, but fellow overlooked superstars like Daniel Bryan and Zack Ryder as well.

It was a wake-up call to the creative team. If this guy, who was toiling away in different mid-card feuds for quite some time, can gain support so quickly, there has to be more superstars who can have similar success.

Even though Cena and Orton will remain major components of their respective shows, Punk has taken over the lead dog role. His feud with Jericho has been gold and, based on the events from Raw, will be continuing for at least another month.

Now that The Rock, Undertaker, Triple H and Shawn Michaels are out of the picture, the onus will be on Punk more than ever to shine. It's not uncommon for a lull to occur after WrestleMania, so he needs to make sure it doesn't happen this year.

Monday night was a strong start, but he needs to start bringing the heat on a weekly basis so fans don't start fading away. The WrestleMania result shows Vince McMahon has faith he can do exactly that.

CM Punk wants to prove he's the best in the world. He got a great look at what it will take to reach that level during The Rock's goodbye speech on Raw. He held the audience in the palm of his hand throughout, something few stars could ever do.

The performance will force Punk to raise his game once again. Luckily for the WWE Universe, he's going to do everything within his power to show he deserves his new role as the face of the company.

In other words, buckle your seat belt because the CM Punk Era has officially begun.