WWE TLC 2011: Why the WWE Title Match Proves the Company's Trust in CM Punk

This Sunday, WWE invades Baltimore, Maryland for the annual December pay-per-view offering, TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs. As per usual, the top championships in the company will be on the line and major Superstars such as Triple H, Big Show and Randy Orton will populate the card.

One star that will not have a match on that card, as of now, is John Cena. The "face of the WWE" will miss in-ring action on a WWE pay-per-view event for the first time since October of 2008. With his absence, several slots have opened up for Superstars who previously would not find themselves in high-profile matches. Zack Ryder, Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett are perfect examples.

The Superstar that benefits the most from Cena's absence is a man that has had, arguably, the most impressive 2011 of any: CM Punk. For the first time since his debut with the company in 2006, CM Punk enters TLC as the unquestioned top Superstar on the card.

While Triple H will make only his third in-ring appearance since September and Kevin Nash will appear in his first match of any substance in years, Punk arrives in Baltimore as the most popular Superstar in the company and the WWE Champion. With the star power in the company focused mainly in the undercard, Punk is the bona-fide main event attraction he and his fans have known he could be for years.

The fact that Punk's face was all over the promotional material in addition to him being the focus of the past few weeks of Monday Night Raw broadcasts proves that WWE finally has trust in the "Second City Saint" to carry a pay-per-view on his shoulders.

The Miz and Alberto Del Rio are two of the companie's top heels. They both found success in the form of WWE Championship runs but their individual pushes have stalled of late and neither has the momentum they had earlier in 2011. CM Punk has been trusted to get the match over. He has managed to do so to this point. He has brought legitimacy to a match involving two heels sorely in need of a strong, believable babyface to keep fan interest.

The fans have long bought CM Punk as a valid main-event performer. At any point in his career in WWE, he has been among the most popular or most hated Superstars in the company. And it is no secret that Punk has always believed in himself. Now the number-one company in professional wrestling has shown it, too, believes in him. The WWE Championship TLC match is the first of major things to come for Punk in 2012 and beyond.