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Post by El Mckell on Jan 20, 2018 10:37:22 GMT -5
For my money the 2nd best Punk-Cena match and the 2nd best Raw match ever. Hugely dramatic match. The repeated attempts to hit a five knuckle shuffle is so awesome to me. Feels like an important moment for John to finally vanquish Punk.
PILEDRIVER
*****
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Post by twfi on Jan 22, 2018 2:30:43 GMT -5
I'll second this. I agree with you that it's the second best Cena-Punk match with MITB 11 tops. To decide the #1 contender for the Rock's WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Both men know another which means they've to bust out moves not done including the amazing piledriver by Punk and Cena's rough 'rana. For a brief time WWE released a version with no ad breaks so you get the entire match.
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Post by microstatistics on Jan 31, 2018 13:57:27 GMT -5
Third. Not quite as high on this match as I used to be but it's still one of the better matches of its kind. The urgency and desperation stand out, as do the counters and them busting out new stuff (because of how well they had each other scouted). Pretty dramatic as well.
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Post by fadu on Feb 21, 2018 0:36:23 GMT -5
I'll back it. As a bell to bell match, I like it better than the MITB match. Punk is not nearly as sloppy in this one and there's a true sense of epicness and urgency here. Great use of the piledriver.
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Post by Cap on Apr 13, 2018 7:45:30 GMT -5
I thought this match was really good to great, but I never really saw it as the classic that the MITB was. Mostly that boils down to atmosphere. It might actually be a better bell to bell match in a vacuum, but to me this just never achieved that next level to me. It is one that I would like to revisit through this though because I know a lot of people think really highly of it.
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Post by Kadaveri on Apr 13, 2018 17:42:57 GMT -5
This match is always the one I reference to explain why John Cena's lack of technical smoothness is overall a good thing for him. The story of their matches is that they knew each other's moves inside outside out, so they're doing counters to counters by Night of Champions 2012. To finally beat Punk Cena had to pull out a move totally out of his repertoire, a hurricanrana, to throw Punk off his game just long enough to hit him with an AA and win. Punk sells it perfectly, he has this "wtf just happened" face right after Cena hits the rana. Cena won by bamboozling him off his gameplan.
The finish isn't as good if Cena hits the rana smoothly like Rey Mysterio, it would defeat the whole narrative point.
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Post by KB8 on Apr 17, 2018 18:59:53 GMT -5
Won't vote for this, but it's a solid nomination.
I think I've only watched their MitB match once and that was live, but based on memory this really didn't feel a million miles off it. These two might be able to work your modern day WWE Main Event Epic style together better than anyone. As a match-up, I mean. They work in lots of counters and of course there's a bunch of nearfall kickouts and everything you'd expect, but I think more often than not they managed to hit epic without getting into eye-rolly territory (or TOO far into it, at least). This didn't fully grab me until after the second commercial break, but it had some nice stuff before then. The early headlock/hold-trading was engaging as both these guys are pretty great at adding the neat little touches. I actually think that's an underrated aspect of Cena's game. The first commercial annoyed me because missing a transition will always do that, but Cole and Lawler were pretty good for a change in getting over the story of Punk being a step ahead of Cena. There's a great spot where Cena fires back and hits his first shoulderblock, but then Punk ducks out the way of the second and Cena takes a Dustin Rhodes bump out to the floor (Punk's shit eating grin was also great). After the second and last commercial break it got really great. Punk was countering in interesting ways and it had a recurring theme of Cena trying to hit one of his signature moves, Punk countering it the first time, then Cena having to find an alternate route. It was about Cena's persistence in trying to finally beat Punk in a big match and Punk knowing him too well. They had about three or four cool examples of that and I never thought any were overly contrived. The build was steady and it felt like there was a clear progression from the beginning. They never just flipped a switch and went to the nearfalls. The heat for those 2.999 counts felt genuine and earned, not like some mild applause because they knew they were supposed to react for a nearfall. That there were no This is Awesome chants was a pretty good sign that they were invested in who was winning and not that they were seeing guys do some cool shit. Also: piledriver.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jan 1, 2020 14:47:15 GMT -5
I LOVE THIS MATCH! I loved when it first happened and I loved it again just watching it now for the first time in nearly seven years. Cena having to exorcise the demon of CM Punk before he could beat The Rock at Mania by unlocking every part of his extended comeback only to need to throw a hurricanarana to create the opportunity for the F-U may be the greatest in-ring story that WWE has ever told. Slam dunk for my Top 100 this year.
John Cena vs CM Punk - RAW 2/25/13
Cena comes into this match 0-2-1 against Punk in match since Money In The Bank '11 and I dont think there was anyone Cena had a losing record against since 2005. This is the very reason Cena is putting up his No. 1 Contendership (Royal Rumble Victory) against Punk. If he can't beat Punk, he doesnt deserve to go against The Rock at Mania. The year 2013 was all about Cena exorcising his demons. The two biggest bugbears were The Rock and CM Punk. Cena has to prove himself against Punk (who was not in the Rumble, he was busy losing the title to The Rock) and prove he can beat so he can head into Mania with a clear conscience.
I loved this match in 2013 and remember thinking it was one of the best matches of the year. The match totally holds up and it is the best of their series. They take all the best elements of their previous matches and add on a badass finish. They have the great opening of the Summerslam 2011 match, the excellent counterwrestling of the 2012 match, a great story like the Money In The Bank Match and by adding a really great finish they top them all. Yes the story is different than Money In The Bank, but it is a great sports story. Punk has Cena's number and Cena needs to get the monkey off his back. They really built great chemistry together and it shows in how much tighter the opening of their match is. I love Cena stepping on Punk's calf into order to break out of the headlock, one of my favorite escapes. Cena's wristlock looks great. Cena's hiptoss comes off like a big deal and it is little victories like that that are treated huge in this match. Punk is full heel in this match suffocating Cena at every turn and this creates a hole for Cena to dig himself out of, which is where Cena thrives.
What truly makes this match great and memorable is how Cena wrestles this match like Misawa with this amazing extended comeback. It was almost like Cena had to unlock every part of his comeback. There is so much I remember from this match which is impressive for a match that is almost 7 years old and I have not watched since I watched it live in Feburary 2013. The spot I remember the most is Cena missing that first shouldertackle and going flying out of the ring. When I saw it, I popped all over again because I knew what was coming and that was the excellent extended comeback. Punk dove out on Cena and wiped him out. The rest of the match is just balls to the wall and it is paced so beautifully. What killed the Night of Champions match was the pacing and the over-escalation early, here they did not run out of things to do. Cena would go every step of the way first getting the Shoulder tackles off a hiptoss out of an abdominal stretch. The Protobomb got countered into an Anaconda Vice, but Cena flipped that into a cover to force the break. An underrated aspect of this match is that Cena is just as good at countering. Punk gets his neckbreaker and signals Go 2 Sleep, but Cena teases STF however Punk makes the ropes. From there, he hits his springboard clothesline only for two. The second one Cena turns into an STF. The submission trade here was actually really good. They actually struggled in and out. In WWE, they are usually terrible about that.
Cena ducks a big kick to the head to get the Protobomb showing that Cena can evade just as well as Punk. However, he does You Cant See Me gesture only for Punk to kick him in the head. The next spot shows Cena's grit and his never give up attitude. He eats a knee to the head and on the customary bulldog that follows Cena struggles and stops Punk's momentum and wrestles it into a Protobomb and then a Five Knuckle Shuffle. It should be noted that Punk did not get a lot of his spots in. He never gets the Bulldog. Cena opts for the Powerbomb because Punk has the FU scouted, great spot. They do a great job making Cena earn his top rope leg drop to the back of the head. Punk hits a desperation big kick to the head and then the big knee. This is my one quibble in the whole match which is otherwise perfect, Cena hits a Flash F-U for two! After two big head-rocking blows, I dont like hitting a flash F-U.
The finish is amazing. Punk powders after kicking out. Cena wants to win fair & sqaure. Punk sends him into the post and leaves him for dead. Punk is ok with a countout win. This is great. Cena makes it back at 9. Now we get the Go 2 Sleep! 1-2-NO! HUGE! Unlike the Night of Champions, where they let things peter out and Punk dawdles, Punk immediately goes back to the well which is the wise thing to do. Cena counters into the STF and this is the big STF nearfall before Punk could still struggle now Punk is so spent he can only go for the ropes. Punk throws a wild kick to the knee and then HITS A PILEDRIVER~! This is definitely one of the famous spots of the match and it is totally what the match needed. This is way better than the errant moonsault from Night of Champions. The Piledriver felt so big! Huge nearfall. I love how they saved the Macho Man Elbow for here as it gave Punk one last thing. He misses it. Missed moves are huge and this is the key. Punk was in control and here it is Cena that evades. Cena uses a Hurricanarana perfectly, it discombobulated Punk and he would never expect it and after that discombobulation this allows him to hit the F-U to win! Had he gone for the F-U first theres a chance Punk could have scouted it but the Hurricanarana allowed Cena to mask it. Genius!
This match is the epitome of what I like in my pro wrestling really logical progression that is rooted in the fundamentals of the two wrestlers and their story. Absolutely fantastic and one of the greatest matches of all time. *****
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Post by elliott on Oct 6, 2023 11:42:19 GMT -5
Yeah. Rules. After Punk vs Brock this is in the conversation for best Punk match.
I was thinking about Vader vs Sting while watching this. Like that rivalry, these two guys just feel made for each other & you can just roll them out & they always deliver awesome matches. Great chemistry. It's just easy to watch these guys together.
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