Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk (WWE - 8/18/2013)

Second

Certainly worth a nomination, though I think the gap between this and Cena/Bryan has actually grown a little with time. It is still a great match, but it has a real outside shot at cracking my list. I loved how Punk made himself a believable opponent here. It was sort of a master class in that regard. This was also when Brock was churning out big matches.

One of the best WWE matches of the 2010's and an argument could be made for the best of either guy's career. Proof that before Brock went overboard with Suplex City, got lazy, and got grossly out of shape, he was an absolute beast of a wrestler. Punk was great as a fired-up face as well.

This match is even better than I remembered. I came out of Summerslam thinking this was the clear Match of the Night and was shocked that people preferred Cena/Bryan. I need to rewatch that still. I re-watched this and was absolutely floored how good it is. Mortal lock for my Top 100. If Brock Lesnar worked a full time schedule, my Top 100 could conceivably be just Brock Lesnar matches, he is so fucking good. More and More I am starting to think Brock Lesnar is the greatest pro wrestler who ever lived.

Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk - Summerslam 2013 No DQ

If someone wants to declare Brock Lesnar the GOAT, I would not bat an eye. He is like Volk Han to me, the only real knock against him is that he does not have the volume that other wrestlers possess. In terms of a per match basis, it is hard to argue against The Beast. His rare combination of size, power, speed, offense, selling, bumping and most importantly a high pro wrestling IQ make him a once in a lifetime wrestler that I am so glad I have seen multiple times live. He is imposing and without lifting a finger is inherently a mountain for a babyface in this case CM Punk to climb. His power is awe-inspiring as he hurls these men around or he just shoulder tackles the ring steps. How many times did he catch CM Punk and just chuck him across the ring or sling him over the announce table. His speed well the woman in the front row said it all when he was peeling around the corner to blast Punk, "Oh Shit!". I have said before and I will say it again I have seen LeBron James live about 10 times in my life and I am not sure he is the greatest athlete I have ever seen...that's how crazy Brock is. Brock's offense is brutal and engrossing. Watching him three vertical suplexes in a row...I dont think I have ever seen a vertical suplex look so violent and so impressive. His selling is his bread and butter. It is the thing that no one talks about, but it is the lynchpin that makes everything else work. No one is better at making the babyface look they have a chance than Brock Lesnar. He did a great job for CM Punk throughout this match. That was the thread of this match was that CM Punk had come up with a strategy to defeat Brock Lesnar. That strategy is a combination of head shots and an aerial assault.

The strategy only works if Lesnar sells it. Lesnar was committed to getting Punk over as worthy challenger. Up until this point, the babyface shine against Lesnar did NOT exist. Punk was the first to get one against Lesnar. It makes sense, Punk was the smallest Lesnar opponent to date (he is not that small, but compared to Cena and HHH I am saying). The babyface shine exists to excite the crowd AND to invest the crowd in the belief that the babyface can win. America loves an underdog, but the caveat is that underdog has to have a chance. You don't need to establish that Cena and HHH have a chance they are who they are. You do need for Punk. This was not Punk running through his standard moveset. This is Punk with a clear game plan: hit Brock Lesnar in the head and hurl his body at Brock. Brock did Brock things at the beginning, but that existed so that Punk had to EARN his shine. I love that. Punk comes in with flying knees to the head. There is no one who does knocked loopy better than Brock. Watch how he registers it by going down to one knee but he is clearly discombobulated. Then Punk comes flying in with another one. Brock is the best big man bumper in history. Watch how he falls through those ropes. Then Punk comes flying out of the ring to pulverize Brock. Another example is Punk shoves Brock into the ring post to evade destruction and then comes flying off the top rope with a clothesline. Punk is smaller than Brock. He needs to use the top rope, speed and jumping to create enough momentum to hurt Brock and that's what I love about this match is how much sense it makes. Punk does a great job using the head-rocking strikes to set this all up.

The issue with Punk's strategy is that he can get distracted. The crux of this match is NOT Punk vs Brock. It is Punk vs Heyman and that's so crucial to understand this match. Brock is simply Heyman's mercenary, his proxy in battle. Punk's real beef is with Heyman, his supposed friend that betrayed him at Money in the Bank. I think they should do more matches like this to keep the Brock character fresh and to give Heyman a different angle to promote Brock matches. Punk does get distracted by Heyman and it costs him. Brock wrecks him and throws him around like a ragdoll. I love the spot where Brock double stomps the announce table guard and splits it over Punk. It probably didnt hurt Punk at all, but it looked cool. Brock works the bearhug and lower back. I love how scrappy Punk is. Again he sticks to the mantra of constantly hitting Brock in the head and then trying to jump off something high onto Brock, but Brock keeps catching him and throwing him. The drama was just great. I want to put over Brock a lot because in my opinion I don't think he gets enough credit for being a phenomenal wrestler, but Punk is great in this because he does NOT sell too much. He does NOT die. There is a tendency in pro wrestling today to sell what too much in the moment and then blow it off. He keeps a very consistent register. I am in fucking pain but I am fighting through it to win the match. That's selling I can get behind!

Now Punk adds a new dimension to his strategy, survival. After being caught and thrown across the entirety of the ring, Punk realizes he is not in there with a man, he is in there with The Beast. So now he is not too proud to bite the ear, punch him in the balls or use a steel chair. The name of the game is survival. He is using those tactics to still set up the head-rocking shots (tons of knees to the head) and his aerial assault. Those tactics become incorporated out of desperation. The knees to head after the ear biting especially the flying knee from the top rope were incredible! The best part was how Brock sold them. Like I said no one does discombobulation better than Brock. The roundhouse kick to the head that preceded the flying elbow POPPED me and the crowd HUGE! This is one of the few WWE matches of the 2010s where I felt like the crowd was fully invested in the match and the pro wrestlers. That they werent there to have fun or chant "This is Awesome". They were Ooooh and Aaaahing and were invested in Punk winning. They forgot they were supposed to be aware they were watching wrestling and they were just watching pro wrestling and going on this thrill ride.

After the elbow drop, normally Punk would go for the G2S. Now this 100% deviates from the strategy, BUT Punk does need a killshot to slay the Beast. He ultimately decides this is the best route to go even if it makes him every vulnerable to Brock. Brock ends up putting him in the Double Wristlock. Punk counters into an attempted cross armbreaker and then a Triangle. This was a great way to introduce some submission wrestling and give the fans a change of pace. Punk shows he can go on the mat but ultimately succumbs to Lesnar's inhuman power. He did survive the first slam, but the second full on Running Ligerbomb by Lesnar was too much. Thats when Lesnar hit those three vicious vertical suplex slams. At this point, Lesnar's pride has been wounded. The knees/kicks to head, almost tapping to the Triangle was too much for The Beast to bear and so he went to get a chair to annihilate Punk. Punk comes flying into our screen from the top rope onto floor wiping out Brock, chair and all. What a moment! What a hope spot and comeback! Punk slams the chair into Brock and the crowd goes wild. Punk uses the low blow to set up more chair shots. Chair Shot from the Heavens! It fits so well with the rest of the match! Great nearfall! Now Heyman is worried and starts interfering. GO 2 SLEEP! The best part is Heyman breaks it up.

I love it! I love it! I love it! You dont know would Punk have won, would Brock have kicked out, Heyman robbed us of that, but the fact that Heyman interfered means he was worried. His anxiety tells the story that the every fan should believe that Punk would have won the match right then. Terrific booking! They do it all over again. Punk chases Heyman and Brock lies in wait. Brock thinks he has Punk in the F-5, but Punk does the Eddie Guerrero and DDTs him. Again, a head-rocking shot that sets up a nearfall and then the Anaconda Vice. This is Punk's other finish and again Heyman is worried so he interferes. He robs us of that conclusion, but we know from his anxiety that Brock had nowhere to go and was on the verge of tapping. The finish is excellent!

Punk hauls off and PUNCHES HEYMAN RIGHT IN THE FACE! YES! YES! YES! Anaconda Vice on Heyman! So blinded by his rage for Heyman and Brock SMASHES THE CHAIR INTO PUNK! F-5! 1-2-3! FUCKING PERFECT!

Genius match! I have already wrote a ton of words about it so I don't think I can summarize it really. CM Punk's best match ever and in Brock's Top 5. *****

I tend to agree. I have this just under that top tier and it really is about Heyman getting involved. It is a taste thing. I think they executed it well, but it didn't continue to elevate based on the story they were telling (for me). This is picking knits in a HUGE way. I haven't watched it in a couple years though.

It feels like every 2-3 years I find some reason to watch the two big matches from this show. Maybe it is time for that, especially in light of how great Punk has been on this AEW run.

I revisited this match for the first time in maybe 2018 and I remember thinking if this was the last great match Punk ever had, that I’d be ok with that.