WWE Champion CM Punk def. Ryback in a Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match

It was a long time coming, but WWE Champion CM Punk finally faced feeding time in the Tampa Bay Times Forum, battling Ryback one-on-one in a Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match for Punk’s WWE Title that was originally slated to go down at WWE TLC in December. Punk’s unexpected trip under the knife delayed the contest for a full month, but with The Straight Edge Superstar cleared by WWE medical officials, the champion’s brief reprieve from his ravenous challenger was finally at an end.

And make no mistake, Ryback was nothing if not very, very hungry when he finally stepped into the ring against Punk. Ryback literally came out swinging against the champion, tenderizing Punk with body shots and vicious blows from the steel steps, but Punk took advantage of the unique stipulation to fortify his counterattacks. Punk battered Ryback with chair strikes to soften him up for his signature kicks, but Ryback had a similar strategy. He matched Punk shot-for-shot with his own chair and, at one point, delivered a bone-crunching suplex to Punk that drove the champion, back-first, onto a prone ladder.

Punk rallied from the brutal assault to set up a ladder in the center of the ring, but Ryback seemed to irrevocably take control of the bout when he slammed Punk atop the ladder and then dropped him through a table, leaving the champion incapacitated and the title within reach. But right when the beast scaled the ladder, the arena lights cut out. When the lights returned, they revealed The Shield, who stormed the ring. The trio unleashed a beating on Ryback, executing the triple powerbomb and allowing Punk to scale the ladder unscathed. Against all odds, the WWE Champion survives, extending his historic reign by yet another day. Next stop: the Royal Rumble.

The Rock confronted WWE Champion CM Punk

Finally, it’s come down to this: WWE Champion CM Punk and The Rock, in the ring one-on-one. And while the first 2013 encounter between the two (and their first faceoff since Raw 1,000 back in July) was only a verbal one, the atmosphere was still pulsating with electricity and animosity as their WWE Title bout at the Royal Rumble drew ever nearer.

Before The Rock could address the people, however, CM Punk took the opportunity to drop another “pipe bomb.” In his own words, the term has been misinterpreted since that fateful 2011 night in Las Vegas. “Pipe bomb” has taken on the meaning of a tell-all missive, but to the champion, it is simply the truth. And the truth is, despite his efforts, Punk found that life in WWE had not changed much, and claimed that talented Superstars such as himself were still subject to the whims of an audience he believed to be fickle and ill-informed. In that vein, Punk snarled that he did not succeed because of “the people” who suddenly rallied to his side: He succeeded despite the “system” that had been established to keep him and his ilk down, and the fans who supported it in the first place.

“I have beaten you,” Punk said to the Universe, the establishment, to anyone and everyone his words could reach. “I have stomped you out under my oppressive boot and I’m gonna do the same to The Rock because I don’t care if he’s back. You do not get to win.”

At that point, The Rock had enough. The Brahma Bull’s music hit and for the first time since July, The Great One stalked down to the ring and wasted little time in addressing the champion’s comments. “Twenty days,” The Rock said, addressing the number of days Punk has until the fateful WWE Title Match between the two at the Royal Rumble. “Twenty days. Time’s up.”

What followed was a proverbial clash of the titans on the microphone, as Punk’s bilious rhetoric clashed with Rock’s patented braggadocio. After a tense back-and-forth, The Rock laid his own personal truth bare. His own “pipe bomb,” if you will. “The Rock is back to entertain them, The Rock is back to stop you, and after 10 long years, The Rock is back to win that,” he said.

Punk countered with a response that had no shortage of malice, but The Great One would not be deterred. “Twenty days,” Rock warned again. “Time’s up.” And before Punk could reply, The Brahma Bull struck with a Rock Bottom, leaving the WWE Champion in a heap on the canvas and sending an unmistakable message to The Straight Edge Superstar.

Welcome to 2013, WWE Universe. It’s gonna be quite the year. Twenty days.

Mr. McMahon addressed CM Punk’s WWE Title Match with Ryback
 

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If CM Punk’s 2013 resolution is to hang on to his WWE Title for a little while longer, the odds of The Voice of the Voiceless retaining his mantle just got a little bit slimmer. Sitting pretty — but injured — at 407 days as champion, The Straight Edge Superstar descended upon our nation’s capital to refute his doubters. This time, though, Punk brought his personal physician along to illustrate the severity of his injury. Despite the champion’s assertion he would be ready to compete against Ryback, the doctor would have none of it. Upon further review, he declared The Voice of the Voiceless would be unable to defend his title on the Jan. 7 Raw. And while the champion was visibly irked by this development, there was one individual who took even greater issue with the doctor’s decision: Mr. McMahon.

With 2012’s final hours ticking away, The Chairman gave his last decree of the calendar year: The champion would undergo a final evaluation by WWE officials to determine whether he was ready to compete. And if Punk was truly unable to go, Ryback’s replacement opponent would be … Paul Heyman. Happy (?) New Year, CM Punk.

Ryback informed WWE Champion CM Punk that they will battle for the WWE Title on the first Raw of 2013

The always outspoken CM Punk journeyed to SuperSmackDown LIVE to chastise the WWE Universe for voting for John Cena as the Slammy’s Superstar of the Year instead of him.

After mocking them relentlessly, he also criticized Cena for presenting “his” Slammy to WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair. Punk claimed Flair’s 16 World Championships over a span of a “95-year” career was simply not as impressive as holding the WWE Title and not losing it for nearly 400 days.

The crowd exploded as the irate WWE Champion was interrupted by Ryback. As Paul Heyman urgently insisted Punk was not medically cleared to compete, Ryback informed them both that when Punk is medically cleared on the first Raw of the New Year on Jan. 7, he will become WWE Champion!

Ric Flair returned, presented Superstar of the Year to John Cena and fought WWE Champion CM Punk

Seriously, who else could it have been? Who else could have awarded the supreme Slammy for a tumultuous 2012 than the limousine-ridin’, jet-flyin’, kiss-stealin’, wheelin’, dealin’ son of a gun himself, Ric Flair? Flair returned to WWE after a lengthy hiatus and looked like he never missed a beat. And like everything he’s ever done, “The Nature Boy’s” return to WWE did not come to pass without a maelstrom of controversy after the two-time WWE Hall of Famer was awarded the Slammy by its voted recipient, John Cena. But before Flair could take the trophy in his perfectly manicured hands, WWE Champion CM Punk hobbled out to the stage to drop a “pipe bomb” on Flair, unleashing a tirade against “Naitch” and insistinghe, not Flair or Cena, was the true Superstar of the Year.

So how does Ric Flair respond to such a thing? Why, he challenged Punk to a fight. The Second City Saint obliged, too, shattering one of his crutches over Flair’s back before The Dirtiest Player in the Game countered by poking Punk in the eye and wrenching Paul Heyman into the Figure-Four Leglock. With Punk and Heyman dispatched, Flair took to the mic to address the Philadelphia crowd … until the crackling static of The Shield’s theme spelled doom for Flair. “Come on down, boys,” he said, clearly ready for more.

WWE Champion CM Punk addressed his knee injury

386 days and counting, and WWE Champion CM Punk is still all about realness.

Specifically, the realness of his knee injury and subsequent surgery, which Punk and his pal Paul Heyman addressed onstage at the Prudential Center. “This injury is 100 percent real,” The Second City Saint insisted, bemused at the idea he would fake an injury to avoid giving Ryback another title opportunity. Punk wasn’t ready to concede anything of the sort to Ryback, instead insisting the injury was the result of the heavy workload that came along with defending the WWE Title for 386 days and, despite the setback, he would be at WWE TLC.

Paul Heyman echoed his champion’s statement, slamming the authenticity of other, lesser champions who would refuse to defend his title as often as Punk did. He also had particularly venomous words for The Rock, who he claimed lost his edge and would instead summon a stunt double (“some poor schmuck” as Heyman so loquaciously put it) to go through the table in his stead. The injury was a testament to Punk’s fortitude and his continued status as the WWE Champion and The Best in the World.

As for the “vocal minority” who insisted Punk should be stripped of the title, The Voice of the Voiceless cried foul on that, too. Rattling off a laundry list of his vanquished foes as evidence, Punk claimed he earned the right to keep his title and would continue to do so, should he end up facing The Rock at the Royal Rumble. “He will fail,” the champion vowed before taking his leave, Heyman in tow and his title safe, at least until day 387.

The Miz challenged WWE Champion CM Punk to take a lie detector test on “Miz TV”

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And so we enter day 379 of CM Punk’s WWE Championship reign, and to emphasize his point of the week, The Second City Saint went to the books to highlight the WWE Universe’s egregious disrespect of his accomplishments. Specifically, Punk and Paul Heyman pried open the new WWE Encyclopedia and brought Punk’s latest accomplishment as champion to light: As of midnight, Punk will surpass John Cena as the longest-reigning WWE Champion of the past 25 years.

“Now you’re gonna have to agree with me when I say to you that CM Punk is not only your champion, not only The Best in the World, but there is no argument that CM Punk shouldn’t be front and center on WWE’s version of Mt. Rushmore,” Heyman sneered before Punk took the mic for himself.

Despite surpassing the WWE’s resident Superman on the championship chart, Punk claimed he was still unfairly persecuted and unjustly denied the proper reverence as WWE Champion, including an apparently measly entry in the encyclopedia itself. The latest injustice perpetrated upon him — being forced to defend his title against Ryback in a Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match — was just a testament to how high the deck has been stacked against him by the likes of the WWE Universe. They were the ones, Punk spewed, who turned their back on him at the drop of a hat and continue to vilify him at every turn, causing WWE management to place Punk in insurmountable situations that endangered his reigns.

“The truth,” Punk said, “is if it wasn’t for me, none of you would be here today … if it wasn’t for me, you people would have nothing to look forward to on these dismal, three-hour Monday Night Raws.”

But just as Punk was daring the assembled crowd to leave the arena if they couldn’t accept his truths, he found his tirade cut off by the most awesome of gatecrashers.

Mic in hand and resplendent in his suit, The Miz emerged from backstage and gave the Greensboro faithful an alternative: “Sit down and enjoy yourselves.” And then, he went on the attack.

“Everyone knows that Brad Maddox was in your back pocket at Hell in a Cell. Everyone knows The Shield bailed you out at Survivor Series. And last week, if The Shield didn’t bail you out again, Ryback would’ve fed himself some Punk.”

Having challenged Punk’s credibility but unwilling to scuff his top-dollar kicks, The Miz presented Punk with a unique challenge: to defend his reputation not in the ring, but on “Miz TV” courtesy of a lie detector test (co-signed by the county sheriff’s department) that would determine whether Punk truly had any association with The Shield or rogue referee Maddox. The Voice of the Voiceless balked at the idea at first, but as always, Miz wasn’t about to allow anyone get the last word in over him.

“That is exactly what I want,” Miz roared. “You with a live mic … me with a live mic. Bring your best pipe bomb! I am giving you exactly what you want: a chance to clear your name, to cement your legacy … or maybe you’d rather walk around with an asterisk next to every single one of your accomplishments, including your 379 day title reign.”

Needless to say, that did the trick. Sufficiently goaded, Punk agreed to take the test, with one final catch: after he passes and proves himself to be The Best in the World, Miz, along with the world, would have to admit it.
WWE Champion CM Punk took a lie detector test on “Miz TV”

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If the truth will not set you free, perhaps The Shield will.

In any case, that seemed to be the prevailing lesson of CM Punk’s highly hyped lie detector test, conducted under the bright lights of “Miz TV” in a highly controversial Q-and-A that would see Punk’s mentor Paul Heyman placed into a match with Ryback should Punk prove a liar. The Second City Saint looked appropriately surly as The Awesome One strapped Punk to the polygraph and conducted a few “test” questions to establish a base for the test.

The interrogation began innocuously enough: “Is your name CM Punk?” (It is.) “Have you held the WWE Title for 379 days?” (He has.)

“Did Rey Mysterio shave your head bald at Over the Limit 2010?”

Things degenerated quickly from there (though, for the record: Yes, Mysterio shaved Punk bald at Over the Limit 2010), with Miz challenging his inner Lt. Daniel Kaffee and moving from the innocent to the provocative in a matter of minutes. Punk’s responses to the million-dollar question — is he involved with The Shield and/or Brad Maddox? — apparently weren’t up to snuff, as Miz’s administrator decreed The Voice of the Voiceless might be lying.

But before any kind of resolution could unfold, The Shield made their presence known yet again. Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns mobbed the ring and dismantled the “Miz TV” set, attacking the host in the process and once again bailing Punk from his predicament. With The Miz at their mercy, The Shield looked to once again close Raw out standing tall over a fallen foe … but then who should come to the rescue but the Tag Team Champions Team Hell No. Kane & Daniel Bryan wasted no time in joining the fracas, but things looked to be going sour all the same … until Ryback’s music hit.

Wasting no time, the beast rushed in and attacked the triumvirate alongside the Tag Team Champions. The threesome managed to turn the tide against The Shield, driving Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns away and leaving Punk to gloat over the beaten and battered Miz.

As it turns out, though, Ryback wasn’t done.

While Punk stood over his smarmy tormentor, the human wrecking machine stormed back into the ring and had his way with the WWE Champion, leaving Punk Shell Shocked and producing a ladder and a chair from beneath the ring. Ryback battered Punk with both before bringing a table into play and pummeling Punk through it, closing a tumultuous Raw.

“Miz TV”: come for the jokes, stay for the unmitigated destruction.

I added some HQ screencaps from Punk’s appearance on The Talking Dead, you can check them out in the gallery.