WWE Classic of the Week: The Rock vs. CM Punk from Royal Rumble 2013

The Rock and CM Punk were polar opposites leading into the 2013 Royal Rumble.

Punk, the WWE champion, was in the middle of a title reign that was among the longest of all time. He was the standard bearer in Vince McMahon's company, the Superstar responsible for many of the prior year's finest matches.

Despite his status as the top heel in the industry, he had the respect of the fans.

The Rock, on the other hand, was making yet another return from Hollywood and instantly found himself the recipient of a WWE Championship opportunity. The general fanbase was appreciative of The Great One's return and desperately wanted to see him unseat the Second City Saint.

The diehard portion of the audience, however, saw The Rock as yet another part-time competitor who was coming in and getting opportunities at the expense of those men and women who spent the whole year chasing greatness.

It created a unique scenario for the much-anticipated pay-per-view title bout in January 2013.

Would The Rock be able to bring Punk's historic title reign to an end, stopping it at 434 days, or would Punk do what John Cena could not and defeat wrestling's most electrifying star in his biggest championship defense to date?

Find out with this WWE Classic of the Week.

But first, their story.

Background

The Rock returned to WWE in 2011 to begin a three-year story with John Cena that would result in two consecutive WrestleMania main events.

The first of those matches would occur in April 2012 at WrestleMania XXVIII. In one of the biggest main events to ever grace a WWE ring, The Rock defeated Cena. It was a huge moment, a history-making moment that not only established the Great One as the better man that night but also put him in championship contention whenever he chose to return.

CM Punk, on the other hand, defeated Chris Jericho to retain the WWE Championship that evening and would proceed to feud with the likes of Daniel Bryan, Kane, Big Show and the aforementioned Cena.

In the process, he turned from being one of the most popular stars in the industry to its top heel.

New manager Paul Heyman had been instrumental in helping Punk retain his title, especially when it came to recruiting crooked referee Brad Maddox and The Shield to assist the Best in the World in his rivalry with Ryback:

Despite suffering a knee injury that required surgery in late 2012, Punk was at his best as the road to the Royal Rumble began.

The January 7 episode of Raw not only featured Punk retaining his WWE title in a brutal Tables, Ladders and Chairs match against Ryback, it saw him and The Rock come face to face for their first promo hyping their upcoming title bout:

The Rock cut a fairly solid interview, but it was a single, solitary line from Punk that helped establish the promo as one of the finest of his reign as champion.

"Your arms are just too short to box with God," he told The Rock. From that moment on, regardless of one's feelings on the Hollywood box office attraction's return to the squared circle, there was certain excitement and anticipation that surrounded the bout.

And rightfully so.

The Match

The Analysis

The match between The Rock and CM Punk was a solid one. As was the case at WrestleMania, when The Rock battled John Cena in the main event, the industry icon appeared sluggish and slower than most would have hoped for.

As the match stretched on, though, it picked up considerably.

The finish, which featured the lights in the arena dimming, The Shield appearing at ringside and putting The Rock through a table, and Punk retaining via count-out, caught many off guard.

Then, Vince McMahon appeared, threatened to strip Punk of the title and only agreed to restart the bout at the insistence of the challenger.

Seconds later, The Rock dropped the People's Elbow and captured the title.

It felt like an incredibly convoluted and clunky finish for a match whose outcome was never in doubt. Everyone knew The Rock was headed to WrestleMania for a second match with Cena, so why go through all the trouble to come up with such an overbooked finish?

Ideally, The Rock would have pinned Punk cleanly and taken the title. That was not the case and thus the moment failed to have the impact that it should have, especially considering it brought about the end of Punk's year-plus-long reign.

Still, it was a very good match thanks in large part to the champion's determination to deliver the absolute best match possible.

The Aftermath

Punk would get his contractually obligated rematch the following month at Elimination Chamber.

Again, he would lose.

The Rock would carry the WWE title into WrestleMania XXIX, where he would defend against John Cena in their epic rematch. Suffering an injury in the middle of the match, The Rock saw his performance worsen significantly from the main event a year earlier.

Cena would win the match, regain the title and The Rock would have wrestled his final match for the time being.

Punk recovered from his two straight pay-per-view loses by battling The Undertaker in a Match of the Year candidate at WrestleMania. Sure, he lost, but his match with The Deadman was easily the highlight of an otherwise dismal show.