Sunday, October 28, 2012

CM Punk vs. Ryback: Is Chris Jericho right?

Making the Internet rounds the last couple of days is the fact that Chris Jericho, in a recent interview, stated that he believes that Ryback should defeat CM Punk for the WWE Championship tonight at Hell In A Cell.  In Jericho's view, Punk defeating Ryback doesn't do much for Punk, but Ryback defeating Punk will make Ryback into an instant new star.

I, like most people, believe that CM Punk should absolutely, 100% retain the title tonight.  Yes, they painted themselves in a corner.  They either need to end Punk's nearly year-long title reign or they need to end Ryback's undefeated streak.  And because of the Cell stipulation, there really is no way around one of those things happening.  Ultimately, continuing Punk's reign seems like the more important road to take.

But is there a circumstance that Chris Jericho might be right?  We all agree that WWE needs to bring some new stars into the fold, and this is most certainly a situation where that can happen (and since it's a face challenger, it won't seem fluky like Sheamus' first reign).  In my view, there is only one way that they can put the title on Ryback and have it work, and that's if they're willing to go full throttle.  That means that Ryback destroys Punk tonight.  He then destroys Punk in the rematch.  And then -- and here's the kicker -- he cleanly defeats the Rock at Royal Rumble.  He can lose the title to John Cena or whoever at WrestleMania, but he absolutely must defeat the Rock at the Royal Rumble.  Having Ryback end Punk's year-long title reign, only to hold the title for a couple of months to lose to the Rock doesn't do anybody any good.  Nor does ending Punk's reign, just to have Punk end the undefeated streak a month later (just to lose to Rock a couple months after that).

Basically, whatever road they choose to take, they need to go the distance with it.  Either put the title on Ryback and have him go through the Rock, or have Punk win and continue with the path they decided upon months ago.

For what it's worth, I'm pushing for Punk.

2 comments:

Kyle Litke said...

I think Punk should win, however, they need some kind of shenanigans, and not just a low blow or chairshot or interference from a manager. Some have suggested Lesnar and while that may be wishful thinking, I'm not sure how else to keep the title on Punk AND protect Ryback, who absolutely should be protected. WWE badly needs new main eventers that aren't chickenshit heels or fluke faces, and while we don't know if Ryback will be that, having him job cleanly or even mostly clean in his first big match against his first real non Miz opponent would kill him. I want Punk to retain but I want it to be due to something like Ryback kicking out of a GTS, about to destroy Punk, then Lesnar smashes his way into the cell and destroys Ryback. Realistic? Perhaps not, but realistically they either need to have Punk lose the title or have him retain in a way that protects Ryback. With it being in a cell, DQ and countout are out.

Matt Basilo said...

I think Brock Lesnar is the PERFECT option here. It would make sense given the Paul Heyman connection, and he's such a threatening individual that he can cost Ryback the match and Ryback wouldn't suffer. And hell, if Undertaker is out of Mania this year (as rumors suggest), Ryback vs. Lesnar might be something that interests people. I'm not sure how many dates they have Lesnar for, but it feels like he's been used so rarely that they can sacrifice a date here.