CM Punk interrupted Alberto Del Rio’s championship celebration

DIGITAL PICTURES — SCREEN CAPTURES

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – For all his championship victories, Alberto Del Rio can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to the post-title win fiesta. One night after his morally iffy reclamation of the Word Heavyweight Championship, Del Rio took the stage in Grand Rapids to the unmitigated disapproval of the WWE Universe. The crowd hadn’t taken too kindly to Del Rio’s winning strategy – kick the recently concussed Dolph Ziggler in the head, repeat – but he didn’t seem to mind the opinion of a WWE Universe who he felt had disrespected him while he competed in their name.

Punk interrupts | Photos of Del Rio’s missive

But none took less kindly to the champion’s posturing than CM Punk. The ragamuffin hero of the 312 didn’t much appreciate Del Rio’s claims of superiority (commandment one of the Cult of Personality: Thou shalt not name thyself “The best”), and wasted no time – despite Paul Heyman’s unwelcome attempts to stop him – laying down a (non-title) challenge against Del Rio for later in the evening. And thanks to a quick ruling by Vickie Guerrero, the answer was a resounding Si! Si! Si!

CM Punk def. World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio via Count-out

It was shades of Survivor Series 2011 when CM Punk faced off against World Champion Alberto Del Rio on Raw, and while the ending of their bout was technically the same – Punk claimed the win – the circumstances and aftermath could not have been more different.

Photos: Ziggler attacks Del Rio

The two Superstars came out swinging against each other, though Del Rio’s frustration boiled over as the WWE Universe cheered for Punk, leading him to unleash a similar barrage of kicks he had against Dolph Ziggler the previous night. Del Rio targeted Punk’s left arm rather than his head, but the strategy paid dividends until Punk rallied with a last-ditch Go to Sleep that sent Del Rio rolling outside the ring. This, as they say, is where it got interesting.

Video: Punk feels the pain

Ricardo hauled his hermano to his feet at the count of ten (suffering a loss in the process) and carried him to the locker room, but the pair was besieged by a furious Dolph Ziggler, defying doctor’s orders by showing up of his own accord and laying a rabid beatdown on the unsuspecting champion. Punk was left to celebrate his win, but imagine his surprise when Brock Lesnar’s music hit instead of his own. And imagine his surprise when The Anomaly appeared in the flesh, stalking Punk outside the ring before he clipped The Second City Saint’s wings with a ruthless F-5. What’s that old adage again? Here comes the pain.

DIGITAL PICTURES — SCREEN CAPTURES

CHICAGO – With all due respect to Kanye West, that’s how you have a Chi-town homecoming.

Windy City native and recently AWOL Superstar CM Punk made his grand return to the ring at WWE Payback, defeating Chris Jericho in a bout that had a solid chance of not happening at all after he seemingly walked out of WWE the night after WrestleMania. Punk’s absence left everyone with more questions than answers, but while the WWE Universe has certainly thought about him now and then, he showed little impetus of returning to the ring … until Payback unfolded in his hometown of Chicago. Continue reading »

CM Punk walked out on the WWE Universe
 

CM Punk has often said that he can work wonders with the microphone, but a WWE Universe that was expecting a scathing opus in The Second City Saint’s first address since WrestleMania 29 were left with a whimper instead … and a cryptic one at that.

A visibly exhausted Punk had barely begun to speak on his loss to The Undertaker when he stopped mid-sentence, wearily looked around and cut his speech short by giving Paul Heyman an apologetic embrace. With that, the former WWE Champion handed off his sacred microphone and departed the stage, leaving the WWE Universe with more questions than answers as to what would come next. True to form, though, they were speechless in his wake.

The Undertaker def. CM Punk

CM Punk came to WrestleMania to prove  to the world that The Undertaker was not a Demon from Death Valley, that his mythical urn was nothing but a tin jar full of dirt, that The Deadman’s storied Streak was just another record waiting to be broken.

On The Grandest Stage of Them All, Punk faced the same reality as 20 other Superstars before him — the legend of The Phenom is not just “hocus pocus.”

See photos from the epic match

In what was perhaps the most personal of The Deadman’s 21 WrestleMania matches, Undertaker successfully defended his flawless Show of Shows record against a Superstar flagrant enough to publically desecrate the memory of Undertaker’s close friend and former manager, Paul Bearer. Last seen pouring the contents of Bearer’s hallowed urn on top of The Phenom’s fallen body, Punk was black-hearted in his pursuit to get inside The Deadman’s head, but he did not consider what it would be like to deal with the devils that dwell inside. Continue reading »

The WWE Universe was promised an “Old School” Raw, and few things fit that bill more than the toll of The Undertaker’s gong. Raw had barely begun in Buffalo when The Deadman rose again, stalking through fire and flames and summoning a WrestleMania insignia on the TitanTron, apparently signaling his preparation to face an opponent on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

The Phenom’s apparent challenge brought out four potential foes: Randy Orton, Big Show, Sheamus and CM Punk, who deemed it destiny that he end The Deadman’s WrestleMania streak; a renewed “purpose” given him following the loss of his precious WWE Championship and the opportunity to main-event WrestleMania. With tensions mounting between the fearsome foursome, Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero restored order with an executive decision: Orton, Sheamus, Show and Punk would do battle in a Fatal 4-Way to determine who among them would tempt fate and tangle with The Undertaker at WrestleMania. Continue reading »

CM Punk proclaimed himself “God” to the WWE Universe

PHOTOS

Even without the WWE Championship, CM Punk’s crassness knows no bounds. The deposed former champion took to the ring only hours before a potentially career-altering match against John Cena to proclaim his disdain for the WWE Universe. And even for a man who relishes the opportunity to put himself on a pedestal, Punk’s legend seems to have grown to unprecedented heights in his own mind. “Tonight is about what is more important than The Rock. Tonight is about what is more important than WrestleMania,” Punk said. “Tonight is about me.

“I am not just a Superstar,” Punk continued, fire and brimstone erupting from his microphone as his homily reached a fever pitch. “I am an icon that walks among Superstars. … You are in the presence of greatness on two feet. I am not just a human being. I am immortal … a legend. An icon.

“And in this world that you all inhabit, I … I am God.”

John Cena def. CM Punk to decide the No. 1 contender to the WWE Championship

PHOTOS | VIDEO

Perhaps calling himself “God” was excessive self-praise for CM Punk. Perhaps The Straight Edge Superstar was resting too much on his laurels, and perhaps Monday in the American Airlines Center simply wasn’t his night, because John Cena managed to reverse nearly two years of bad luck against the former WWE Champion and pin CM Punk to punch his ticket to the WrestleMania main event in a bout 10-time WWE Champion had appropriately dubbed the “Thunderdome in Dallas.” The Cenation leader and the onetime “Voice of the Voiceless” have a rivalry that stretches back years, and they brought every moment of that mounting tension to a grueling, nearly half-hour-long contest with the biggest opportunity in sports-entertainment hanging in the balance.

Despite his defeat, let it never be said that Punk laid down and died against the 10-time WWE Champion. The Straight Edge Superstar battled his archrival like his life depended on it, using every hold, strike and aerial maneuver in his extensive arsenal to keep Cena at bay. Cena answered in kind time and again, employing an array of his own technical holds to gain the early momentum, but Punk would not be so easily quelled. The Straight Edge Superstar surged back by raining elbows on the back of Cena’s neck and applying a series of submission holds to sap the strength out of him.

The strategy seemed to work when Punk thwarted Cena’s signature shoulder blocks and seemingly regained control for good, but Cena surged back and the two took their fight to the ground, taking each other to the brink by trading their signature submission holds. The back-and-forth nearly sapped the strength from both men but Cena appeared to have the advantage when he plastered Punk with a powerbomb and a top-rope leg drop, but he couldn’t seal Punk up even with whiplash-inducing Attitude Adjustment out of nowhere, nor could Punk with a pair of Go to Sleeps that left the Cenation leader crumpled on the mat.

Punk’s frustration ultimately got the better of him, as The Straight Edge Superstar attempted a series of covers on Cena in a state of disbelief, wasting time that otherwise might have been spent further weakening the Cenation leader. Looking for one final maneuver to put the match away, Punk went up for the flying elbow but Cena dodged the attempt and sent Punk spinning with a hurricanrana. One Attitude Adjustment later to the stunned challenger and CM Punk was on his back, with John Cena headed to WrestleMania once more. And for the first time in a long, long time, CM Punk did not have a single thing to say.

Contender’s Match

LAFAYETTE, La. — We’ll say this much for CM Punk: He does not go down without a fight. Like the proverbial bad penny, The Straight Edge Superstar just keeps coming back when the WWE Universe thinks he’s gone for good. This week, his machinations have ostensibly inserted him back into the WWE Title picture he was removed from just 24 hours earlier when The Rock retained his championship at Elimination Chamber. Punk’s latest scheme, however, was not targeted at The People’s Champion but instead at his old foil John Cena.

Cena, who declared his intention to challenge for the WWE Title at WrestleMania 29 several weeks prior, had barely begun to address the Cajundome crowd when Punk cut the Cenation leader off and attempted to provoke the proverbial bear, recalling Cena’s defeat at Rock’s hands at WrestleMania XXVIII and his numerous losses to Punk himself. Continue reading »

NEW ORLEANS — Despite CM Punk’s best efforts to exploit an unusual set of rules that worked to the his benefit, The Rock would not be denied his goal of trumping The Second City Saint at Elimination Chamber and returning to the main event of WrestleMania as WWE Champion for a match against John Cena. 

Enraged over Punk’s robbery of the physical WWE Title last Monday on Raw, the captain of Team Bring It had to be careful not to lose his temper and get disqualified, thanks to perilous match stipulation added last week in a last-ditch power play architected by Punk adviser Paul Heyman. The added stipulation removed the normal champion’s advantage: Per the orders of WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon, if The Rock were to lose by disqualification or count-out, the WWE Title would go back to Punk. Continue reading »

WWE Champion The Rock and CM Punk engaged in a war of words

After having his WWE Title stolen from him on Raw, The Great One re-emerged on SmackDown, informing his Straight Edge No. 1 contender that his act of thievery will only increase the severity of the beating his challenger will receive on Sunday, one that will “haunt [Punk] the rest of his life.”

Punk then appeared on the TitanTron — with the WWE Title still in his possession. Again insisting that the illustrious gold actually belonged to him, he reminded The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment just how much the odds are stacked against him this Sunday. For if The Rock gets counted out or disqualified, he will lose the championship.

Completely discarding his usual pageantry in a way that truly captured the severity of that new stipulation in the impending title conflict this Sunday, The People’s Champion made it clear to Punk that it was not going to happen.

CM Punk talked Paul Heyman out of resigning from WWE

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Perhaps it’s only fitting that, as Raw rolled into the Music City, the evening began with the metaphorical funeral dirge of one Paul Heyman, who came into Nashville, Tenn., with no less an intention than to announce his resignation. His reputation in shambles and his career in jeopardy following the events of the past two weeks, the former ECW mastermind took to the ring to say his final goodbyes. But more importantly, Heyman gave a heartfelt explanation as to why he would be leaving WWE: He would be leaving for the sake of his friend, CM Punk. Continue reading »