WWE Extreme Rules 2012: 10 Things You Need to Know About CM Punk/Chris Jericho

After a great WrestleMania match and an intense rivalry getting even more intense, WWE Champion CM Punk returns to his hometown of Chicago to defend his title against Chris Jericho this Sunday at Extreme Rules.

These two will go to war in what is billed as a Chicago Street Fight, meaning that these two intense superstars with extreme backgrounds have the potential to make this match incredibly barbaric.

This feud began as a competition to see who could refer to themselves as The Best in The World.

Punk seemed to have won that argument with a victory in a great match at WrestleMania. However, the rivalry began to turn before WrestleMania and has done so even more since the event. Jericho has gotten personal with Punk, stating that his father is an alcoholic, his sister has had issues with drug abuse and that Punk himself was conceived out of wedlock, making him the definition of a "bastard."

The central theme now with this rivalry is questioning the reasons behind Punk's publicized and real-life straightedge lifestyle.

Jericho's goal seems to be to send Punk down the path of alcoholism, which has seen Jericho pour beer and whiskey over the WWE Champion. He has also sent Punk bottles of alcohol and found tape of Punk coming out of a bar with a hood over his head.

The time for mind games and discussion about vices is all done as these two look to beat one another in a Chicago Street Fight at Extreme Rules. However, before Sunday comes, here are 10 things about the matchup that you should know.

Third Straight Year Where Punk Has WrestleMania Rematch

For the third straight Extreme Rules, CM Punk will face the same opponent that he did at WrestleMania.

Two years ago, it was Punk losing to Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania XXVI, only to defeat Mysterio at Extreme Rules and, for the time being, prevent Mysterio from shaving his head.

Last year, Punk tried to make up for a loss to Randy Orton at WrestleMania, but fell to The Viper once more, this time in a Last Man Standing match.

At WrestleMania this year, it was Punk who was finally victorious again. Still, it does not necessarily guarantee another victory for Punk over Jericho. In those five matches mentioned previously, there are more losses by Punk than victories, so a win is far from a guarantee this Sunday.

Event Brings Back Good CM Punk Memories

CM Punk has done rather well at Extreme Rules.

His past two matches at Extreme Rules were discussed in the previous slide.

Back in 2009, however, it was a big night for Punk. After defeating Umaga in a Samoan Strap Match, Punk would cash in Money in the Bank on an exhausted Jeff Hardy, winning the World Heavyweight Championship in the process.

It was due to that event that Extreme Rules stood alone as a pay-per-view name for the very first time.

Punk Returns Home to Chicago

The big part of this story thus far is that CM Punk returns to his stomping grounds of Chicago.

The bond between CM Punk and his Chicago fans is a very interesting one.

Just ask John Cena after his match with Punk at Money in the Bank last summer.

Chicago as a collective crowd are known as one of the better crowds to perform in front of in the entire country.

Chicago, however, is also rather opinionated. They don't care if you are considered to be the favorite or are supposed to be the babyface in a match. If Chicago doesn't like you, they just will not cheer for you.

Cheers will surround CM Punk as he comes to the ring on Sunday, but Chris Jericho may be getting a lot as well. A crowd like Chicago tends to cheer for heels, and that could create an unusual dynamic of fans not being sure who they will cheer louder for.

A Kind of Homecoming for Jericho as Well

Chicago is, after all, an important place in Chris Jericho's career as well.

It was in Chicago during a live RAW episode in 1999 that Y2J was revealed.

The Countdown to the Millennium was officially over, and RAW is Jericho had commenced.

Jericho has taken off from that moment of being an underutilized cruiser weight in WCW and created an incredible list of accomplishments in WWE.

All of that began for Jericho inside a Chicago arena almost 13 years ago. It may be Punk's actual hometown, but Chicago was the place where the legend of Chris Jericho truly began.

WWE Champion Does Not Fare Well at Extreme Rules

Especially since the Extreme Rules pay-per-view has been slated after WrestleMania, it has been harder and harder for WWE Champions to hold onto their titles at Extreme Rules.

Booking has classically seen champions not fall at big events like WrestleMania, but rather wait until a smaller pay-per-view to show a title changing hands.

Extreme Rules often becomes that event where changes are made on a smaller stage.

At two of the last three Extreme Rules pay-per-views, the WWE Champion coming into the event and the one leaving the event has been two different superstars. Last year, The Miz was the WWE Champion, only to lose it to John Cena. In 2009, it was Batista defeating Randy Orton at Extreme Rules. Both matches took place inside a steel cage.

Since Extreme Rules also spawned from the original ECW One Night Stand premise, you can even include Rob Van Dam cashing his Money in the Bank opportunity to face Cena at ECW One Night Stand, winning the WWE Championship that night as well.

Chris Jericho's Future Beyond Extreme Rules?

It's anyone's guess as to what Chris Jericho and his future will turn out to be.

He returned to WWE in January and began to chase after CM Punk and the WWE Championship.

Thus far, he has been unable to get the job done. Speaking of jobs, Jericho has a bunch of them. One of them is to be the lead singer to his band, Fozzy.

Advertisements for Jericho on future shows have him going into early June, but Fozzy is expected to tour in June as well.

Will Jericho win the WWE Championship and lose it prior to early June? There is Over the Limit in late May, which could be the final Jericho pay-per-view—for now.

Punk's WWE Championship Reign Passes Miz's Reign

CM Punk's reign as WWE Champion will reach the mark of 161 days when Sunday rolls around.

That will be exactly one day longer than The Miz and his lone reign with the title.

This can be explained pretty easily. The Miz became WWE Champion on RAW the night following Survivor Series 2010 and dropped the title at Extreme Rules 2011.

The extra day for Punk comes in with the fact that the reign began at Survivor Series 2011. Should it run out on Sunday, that extra day will still put Punk into the role of the longest-reigning WWE Champion since Triple H's 210-day reign from April to November 2008.

There's nothing that The Miz can do to take that honor away from Punk, which is not awesome for Miz.

Jericho Trying to Become 25th Multi-Time WWE Champion

Only 43 men have ever been WWE Champions. Chris Jericho is one of those men.

However, he is one of the one-time champions in history.

His 98-day reign following his night of becoming the first-ever Undisputed Champion in history has seen Jericho hold the title longer than five multi-time champions: Sid, Alberto Del Rio, Batista, Big Show and Mankind.

All five of those men, however, are a part of the exclusive multi-time WWE Champions club that Jericho could reach Sunday.

Jericho would become just the 25th man in history to have climbed the mountain on more than one occasion and become WWE Champion yet again.

It wouldn't make or break Jericho's legacy, but it sure would be a nice feather in his cap and a good milestone to approach for the prestigious title.

Rosemont a Goldmine for WWE Championship Title Changes

It's hard to walk into Rosemont, Illinois as WWE Champion and keep saying that you are WWE Champion.

It may be called Chicago to the average person, but the Allstate Arena, the site for Extreme Rules, is actually in a town named Rosemont.

It is where WWE Championship reigns go to be ended.

The Undertaker first tasted golden victory at WrestleMania 13, defeating Sid to become WWE Champion.

This was also the site of the unusual No Mercy pay-per-view in 2007. Following John Cena's pectoral injury, the title was vacated and awarded to Randy Orton to begin the show. It was then won by Triple H in a match, only to see Orton defeat Triple H at the end of the night.

A fifth title reign began in Rosemont just last year. John Cena was the champion and lost at Money in the Bank. The challenger's name was CM Punk.

Third Chicago Street Fight in History

To my count, this is the third match with the billing of a Chicago Street Fight.

One took place at a WrestleMania, while the other took place on an episode of RAW.

One had six men involved, the other was between two women.

The first one is at WrestleMania 13, where The Legion of Doom and Ahmed Johnson defeated The Nation of Domination in a Chicago Street Fight.

On an episode of RAW, Trish Stratus and Victoria escalated their incredible rivalry by having one in The Windy City.

Victoria, with the help of Stevie Richards, retained her Women's Championship that night.

CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho was scheduled to have the third official Chicago Street Fight in WWE history.

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