Photo Courtesy of nmalbaugh.blogspot.com
Back in the summer of 2012, during the Monday Night Raw 1000th episode celebration, former WWE champion The Rock made the announcement that he would return in the beginning of 2013 and challenge whomever the WWE Champion is at the time for his championship. The Rock stated that his goal and his journey to once again become the WWE Champion was now on the road to reality.
Fast Forward 6 months later, here we are in January of the 2013 and the main event for the Royal Rumble is set, The Rock vs CM Punk for the title. The Rock is going into this match being the overall favorite with much of the momentum going in his favor. The Rock dazzled the world when he made his comeback last Monday giving CM Punk the Rock Bottom heard around the world. This past Monday on the Raw 20th anniversary show, The Rock graced the world with his velvet tongue laying the Smackdown to his adversaries. With this man, whom is basically built like a mountain, with the Hollywood fame and legendary glory, winning the WWE Championship would only be fitting. But fitting is not on the agenda, logic is on the agenda. And in the interest of logic, this is why CM Punk will walk in and out of Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and Wrestlemania 29 as the WWE Champion.
The Rock winning the WWE Championship is the quintessential example of the car and a half-length street parking spot directly in front of your home, it’s perfect. It’s the perfect scenario, the perfect story, the perfect storm, the perfect fit. But because this fit is as well placed as it is, you have to question whether or not what we expect to see, is what we will see.
Let’s piece together the picture and ask the ugly questions. And before I ask, I must preface this with me stating that I am a fan of ‘”the Great One”. Always have been and always will be. His contribution to transforming this sport that I love so dearly will be eternally etched into the addles of time. However, I must ask, what would be the overall benefit of The Rock winning the WWE Championship?
The only positive element that I see of The Rock winning the title is nostalgia. And with the nostalgia moment would be a wwe.com cover page moment. But after that, The Rock being WWE champion would not make any significant movement on the show cards at all. Putting the title on The Rock would work against him since he is only in the WWE for a short amount of time. Having to justify The Rock taking the title from the one man that has fought night in and night out, with injury on top of injury, basically enduring the WWE version of being “benched” and went 9 consecutive months of not being the headline main event of the PPV, as champion would be insulting.
John Cena does not even deserve to have that honor either. The WWE would make a tremendous mistake taking the title that Punk has held on to for (right now) 422 days, at of all events, The Royal Rumble? When Punk loses the WWE Championship it will be something monumental and it deserves a much better event than the first pay per view of the year. When Punk loses the WWE Championship, it needs to be against a superstar who has longevity in front of them, not their best days behind them. This is why CM Punk will not lose the WWE Championship to neither John Cena nor The Rock.
The light and focus will definitely be illuminated on the WWE Championship between now and the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania 29 and The Royal Rumble is the beginning of the road to glory. The WWE Championship focus will be on three men, CM Punk, John Cena and The Rock. Between these three, we should get some of the best television we will ever see, and by the best television, I mean the best in the world.
Maurice D. Proffit is a Writer for Rant Sports
