CM Punk & Seth Rollins Take on Antonio Cesaro & Kassius Ohno in NXT Dark Match

On paper, what seems like the best match to have taken place within WWE in 2012 happened last night as a dark match main event after an NXT taping.

CM Punk and Seth Rollins teamed up to take on Antonio Cesaro and Kassius Ohno.

Punk and Rollins would defeat Cesaro and Ohno, leading to the four men celebrating in the ring together after the match.

Never mind the fact that the current WWE champion teamed up with one of the hottest prospects in all of WWE, who is no doubt a future World Champion himself. The Kings of Wrestling also re-teamed in a match that seemed so epic it gave this writer goose bumps.

I have yet to see the match, but according to a tweet by William Regal, it was one that carried massive implications. His three-part tweet goes like this:

“Very proud to be apart of @WWENXT tonight. I’m hoping the dark match is at least put on YouTube (hint,hint) as it was as important a match as the first time Marty Jones faced Mark Rocco in the history of evolving out business for those who know. Thank you @CMPunk @AntonioCesaro @KassiusOhno and Seth Rollins. Good lads.”

Coming from Regal, who’s one of the most respected (forget his “janitor” storyline from last Friday’s SmackDown), talented, and under-utilized WWE Superstars of all-time, there’s merit to his words.

In case you’re wondering, the mention of Marty Jones and Mark Rocco is a reference to the historic matches between the two English professional wrestlers on the British television series “World Of Sport,” which lasted from 1965 to 1985.

For anyone interested, you can check out the matches between Jones and Rocco here and here. I would recommend checking out each three-part series, as they provide a look at classic wrestling from across the “pond.”

The rivalry and subsequent matches between Jones and Rocco are regarded as being essentials in classic British professional wrestling. For a performer like William Regal, it’s easy to assume that both Rocco and Jones were part-catalysts in his decision to pursue a career inside the squared circle. Thus, his comparison of the impact that the Punk/Rollins vs. Cesaro/Ohno matchup has is something that holds significant meaning.

But let’s get back on track. What does this dark match mean in WWE?

In my opinion, it certainly means that WWE has at least entertained the idea of involving these superstars together on the main stage. Putting CM Punk and Seth Rollins together seems like a bit of foreshadowing by the company regarding what we can expect in the future. 

Rollins is similar to CM Punk in quite a few different ways, and I could see him taking a similar path to that of the WWE Champion in becoming one of the company’s top talents.

At the very least, this also shows that the WWE brass has been curious about the idea of pairing Cesaro and Ohno together in the company to form a spin-off of their Kings Of Wrestling days.

It’s readily apparent that the company has been trying to reignite the tag team division, so prepping the former Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero for a potential tag run is something that could only help to strengthen the division as a whole.

To have two superstars who have a history of successfully tagging with one another—they have been highly regarded as being one of the best tag teams in all of professional wrestling during their tenure together – is something that shouldn’t be overlooked, especially if the company truly is trying to kick-start the division again.

I understand that Cesaro currently holds the United States Championship, but this is a great step that WWE has taken in putting that NXT match together for numerous reasons. Most importantly, this was a pairing of four of the most talented superstars on the company’s roster in a dream match that most thought we may never see.  

All of these superstars cut their teeth in Ring Of Honor, but CM Punk and Seth Rollins (Tyler Black) came from different eras in the independent wrestling promotion’s timeline. Although CM Punk’s last match with Ring Of Honor took place on August 13, 2005, Rollins didn’t debut with the promotion until September 2007.

It can be said that Rollins has always been destined for greatness, as his debut with Ring Of Honor made for one of the most memorable, yet controversial, moments in the company’s history. Rollins, who debuted as Tyler Black alongside fellow independent stars Jimmy Jacobs and Necro Butcher, would form “The Age Of The Fall,” attacking the Briscoe Brothers and hanging Jay Briscoe from the rafters during a portion of the “Man Up” pay-per-view in 2007.

As a lifeless Jay Briscoe was hanging limp above the ring—blood pouring from his head, staining Jacobs’ white jacket a disturbing shade of crimson—Jimmy Jacobs would cut a promo to officially welcome this macabre, demented stable to the Ring Of Honor world.

In what turned out to be an extremely controversial segment, Ring Of Honor made the decision to remove the footage from the pay-per-view, although it would later be posted on the company’s official website. You can see it here.

This paved the way for Black’s rise to the top of the company over the course of just three years, which included being the ROH World Champion, as well as a two-time ROH World Tag Team Champion with Jacobs.

Call it what you want, but this is a huge step in the right direction for the company. The fact that it was an NXT dark match shouldn't deter anyone's thoughts; what matters most in this particular situation is that this was a match put together under the WWE banner.

If these are the match-ups that we can expect, the future sure looks bright for both the fans and World Wrestling Entertainment.