9: The Undertaker vs CM Punk
Left to right: The Undertaker, CM Punk
While The Rock is my one of my favorite WWE Superstars, and I’m happy to see him as the champ, I was still disappointed to see CM Punk’s reign end the way it did. Punk is the single best thing in the industry today, and after everything he’s done, he deserved to close WrestleMania 29 in a championship match. But the bigger money would be there for Rock vs. Cena II, which meant that Punk had to lose the title. Despite losing his belt, Punk has one hell of a consolation prize in being one of the select few to challenge The Phenom at The Showcase of the Immortals.
The Straightedge Superstar and the Dead Man have faced off before, but under very different circumstances. This is the first time the Phenom has gone up against Punk after the young iconoclast’s rise to fame back in 2011. It’s been rumored that ‘Taker handpicked Punk for his opponent, and it’s not hard to see why.
The death of William Moody aka Paul Bearer did give an extra layer to this rivalry that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. Punk took the angle and ran with it, and he’s played a truly despicable villainous foil to The Undertaker. Stealing Paul Bearer’s urn and disrespecting the man’s legacy was bad enough, and they’ve drawn quite a lot of controversy, but Punk had even more up his sleeve. On the last Raw before ‘Mania, Punk actually emptied the urn’s contents (which are supposed to be Paul Bearer’s ashes) on top of the Phenom himself in the ultimate show of disrespect.
All of his actions have given Punk a psychological edge over the Demon of Death Valley, but they’ve also angered him more than we’ve ever seen before. The Dead Man has promised to “end” Punk in storyline. Considering Punk has been pulled from all events after Wrestlemania 29, he’ll probably be beaten so badly that we won’t see him for a while.
As much as I love Punk’s material and his work in the ring, I can’t see him triumphing here. Not even the Best In The World will be able the break The Streak.
Winner: The Undertaker
