CM Punk - 365 Days and Counting

[Troy]

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Thought that this deserved it's own thread, on RAW last week CM Punk brought up the 365th day of his current WWE Championship title reign and Paul Heyman decided to throw a little celebration to commemorate the occasion. He managed to get to the one year mark after retaining the title in a match against Ryback and John Cena at Survivior Series, thanks to a little bit of help from some NXT wrestlers. It all started just over a year ago, again at Survivor Series, when he defeated Alberto Del Rio to win his second WWE title. Since then he has fended off challenges from guys like Daniel Bryan, Kane, Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler, John Cena and Ryback.

He has defeated all comers and continues to climb the list of longest WWE title reigns. This week on RAW he has passed Randy Savage's mark of 371 days and his next goal is John Cena's 380 day title reign. After that they become almost impossible as he will have to hold it for basically another year which is unlikely. If he was to beat that reign it would occur on July 25th 2018. No-one would have predicted that Punk would hold the title for a year when he won the title from Del Rio. I am sure most expected a decent title reign but not one this substantial.

When he started this title reign he was a clear fan favourite, this was soon after his memorable MITB match with Cena where he won the title and then left WWE as champion. Then as his title reign continued he gradually started to turn heel and is now one of the top heels in WWE. He doesn't feel that the fans appreciate just how good he is and they don't appreciate all that he does. Plus he resents the fact that he is WWE champion yet often he hasn't mainevented PPVs because other guys like Cena have taken that spot instead. He has gone to the extremes on either side and it has been impressive to see that range during the one title reign.

How much longer will Punk hold the title for? Who will defeat him for the title? What do you think of his title reign so far?

 

[Chris]

I see him losing it on that episode of Main Event in 2018 or whatever year it was that he'd beat Bruno's record.

Just kidding, Main Event won't be on the air in 2018.

 

[zigglerHEEL]

Been thinking all along that he will drop it at the Rumble to The Rock...but I'm starting to think that might not be the case. The way his current storyline is going, with guys in his pocket or interfering on his behalf, i can't see them just dropping the idea that he and Heyman will do absolutely anything to keep the belt. So as of now, I'm thining this trend contiues with Punk cheatig his way to several more victories until he drops it at Mania in a match full of stipulations, run ins, and more run ins to stop the other run ins...

 

[Troy]

I can see him dropping it to The Rock as well. WWE know that by doing that they will get a ton of publicity, almost more than they have ever gotten aside from wrestlers deaths. The Rock can win the title and walk into WM as champion. An interesting idea I read the other day was having Punk drop the title to Rock at the Rumble and then have him enter the Rumble later that night and win it. That way Punk gets into the mainevent of WM and then he can win the title back by defeating Rock at WM.

I have enjoyed the title reign so far, he has managed to evolve and adapt quite well and seized on the opportunities presented him. I especially liked how they had Punk bring up the fact that he was WWE champion yet wasn't maineventing PPVs. Little touches like that are all that is needed when trying to mix real life into storylines.

 

[Crippler]

I see him dropping it at Mania possible to Sheamus, or they could do a Streak vs. Title match

 

[Rated R Superstar]

I am actually kind of hoping he beats Bruno's reign, but I know that won't happen. I see him dropping it at the Rumble, we all know WWE won't let Rock lose. That would mean HUGE ratings.

 

[Troy]

I wouldn't mind seeing Sheamus take the title from him. After a good run with the World title, a WWE title win over Punk, especially one to end a title reign as big as this, would really cement Sheamus' place as one of the top guys in WWE. With Taker no-one seems to know if he will be healthy for WM, I am leaning towards no as I assume he will save himself for WM30 so he can bow out then.

 

[The Cork]

Early part of this year he was doing just fine, the Jericho feud was good and Punk was moving along nicely as champ, why anyone called for him to go heel I will never know.

I hate the ADD aspect of the IWC, if anyone is babyface for longer than a month they are assumed 'stale' and need a swerve turn. Punk was decent as a cocky babyface, now he's just another weak heel who cuts cheesy cheap heat promos and wins every match dirty.

Hopefully he drops it to Rock at the Rumble because he's bringing the show down at this point. I see him as a Jack Swagger type dude, the guy whos good to put against main eventers but should never be 'THE MAN'.

 

[ThatGuyFromNukemHigh]

Early part of this year he was doing just fine, the Jericho feud was good and Punk was moving along nicely as champ, why anyone called for him to go heel I will never know.

I hate the ADD aspect of the IWC, if anyone is babyface for longer than a month they are assumed 'stale' and need a swerve turn. Punk was decent as a cocky babyface, now he's just another weak heel who cuts cheesy cheap heat promos and wins every match dirty.

Hopefully he drops it to Rock at the Rumble because he's bringing the show down at this point. I see him as a Jack Swagger type dude, the guy whos good to put against main eventers but should never be 'THE MAN'.

Sounds exactly like Ric Flair.

 

[Dale]

To be honest, i'm beyond caring about Punk and his reign now. It just seems to be dragging on and on and I don't feel like anything new is really coming from it. It's just feels so repetitive week after week all for the sake of extending his reign to over a year and beyond.

I'd be perfectly fine with him dropping it at the Rumble to The Rock and facing him again at Mania in a rematch but then he'd win the title again and we'd be back to square one.

 

[Deezy]

Rock being the champion? Doubt it, does he have 3 months to burn?

the champ can't be a no-show and try and sell PPVs at the same time. That just doesn't make sense, facing Rock and beating him would solidify this guy as much as you possibly can.

 

[Mick Donalds]

Hail CM Punk. A solid YEAR of having Wigger Jorts NOT as Champion is a dream I never thought would come true. 9 more days until Punk surpasses Cena's 380 day record hold.

 

[Troy]

Rock being the champion? Doubt it, does he have 3 months to burn?

the champ can't be a no-show and try and sell PPVs at the same time. That just doesn't make sense, facing Rock and beating him would solidify this guy as much as you possibly can.

I think that the only person they would even attempt it with would be The Rock. Him winning the title would get WWE a ridiculous ammount of publicity and I don't think that WWE would be able to resist that. If he wins it at the Rumble there are 10 RAWs between then and WM, I think that they could get away with him missing a couple of shows as they can run a pre-taped promo/segment featuring him instead. As long as he appears on the majority, say seven or eight, that will be enough to keep selling. The biggest issue with him being champion is that he won't be wrestling each week on RAW, if they are lucky he would wrestle at Elimination Chamber to make it three matches but that would be it.

 

[Deezy]

This is why the WWE champion should be somebody, CM Punk isna"t that guy imo.

 

[PHX]

For him to basically have to battle consistently just to be in the company to being WWE champ for over a year in this era is just something really incredible to see. Storyline wise it could have been better when the reign started but match wise he was tearing it up. Didn't like the fact that he wasn't getting to main event most of the time but turning into a storyline and transition into a tweener than heel character was awesome stuff. As far as who he should lose it to I think it should be to someone who can be elevated from it which is why I'm not a fan of Rock taking it off of him.