The night after WrestleMania XXVII, John Cena called out The Rock and challenged him to a match at the following year's WrestleMania, which he accepted. Shortly afterward, Cena declared that he would be defending the WWE Championship against The Rock in that match, even though The Miz was the champion at the time.
Eventually, Cena was successful in his quest to wrest the WWE Championship from The Miz, and now we have a situation in which the WWE Championship is disputed-- Cena is the official champion, but he never defeated CM Punk for that title, and the physical belt itself is in Punk's possession.
Judging from the conclusion of last Monday's RAW, Cena and Punk will probably meet in the main event of SummerSlam to decide the true champion.
But in any event... Cena has declared that at WrestleMania, he will defend the WWE Championship against The Rock.
Daniel Bryan won the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match, and declared that he will cash it in for a World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania.
Now, obviously these scenarios are contingent upon Cena going into WrestleMania as the WWE Champion, and Bryan retaining possession of the briefcase.
But if both of them do, this leaves a conundrum:
The winner of the Royal Rumble is guaranteed a shot at the world heavyweight championship of his choosing at WrestleMania.
I know the Rumble's in January, this is July and therefore it's a little premature to think about this. But if The Rock and Daniel Bryan are challenging for the world titles at WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble winner could find himself without an open match to contend for a title!
Do you think we're headed for a Royal Rumble controversy come January?
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Rock vs. Cena really doesn't need to be for the title.
CM Punk instead needs to be in a title match at WM imo. So, he could either defend against D-Bryan on SD or win the Rumble and go for the RAW belt OR defend the RAW belt (successfully!) against ... Austin? Triple H?
Also, the Elimination Chambers provide either a title defense or a No. 1 contender for WM.
If Cena is to defend a belt against Rock, he either has to successfully defend it in the Chamber or win it there to take to WM. Or The Rock has to do the same (probability: nil).
Cena/Rock don't need no stinkin' titles. It should be next year's version of Hulk/Rock, leaving the title to be prominent in another match at that show.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by Tribal ProphetThey could always go the lazy route and have the winner of the Rumble just added to another match, making it a three-way.
That's what I fully expect to happen if Daniel Bryan is in the World title match at WM ...
Heck, I'm not gonna be surprised if Mark Henry has the strap by then either.
The Rock could alleviate this problem by coming out as #30 and winning the Rumble. A repeat of 1992 where a title is on the line in the Rumble would work as well.
Originally posted by MayhemHeck, I'm not gonna be surprised if Mark Henry has the strap by then either.
I would have no problem with Bryan making Henry tap to kick off his main event ascension, but I don't think they're going to protect Mark Henry for that long a time period.
I see two possibilites for the Rock match. Either it is Rock Vs Cena as a dream match with no title involved, or it is a 3 way for the title with Punk. As much as I hate Triple Threats, the booking is setting it up perfectly. Cena has issues with Rock and Punk. Punk has issues with Cena and resents Rock for getting a Mania main event. Rock will eventually get fed up with Punk's constant "Dwayne" taunting.
If they go with just Rock/Cena, then Punk HAS to be in the WWE title match.
I'm still skeptical of Bryan getting a high profile Mania match. The Rumble could be the mechanism for getting him out of the title picture.
Or, the winner of the Rumble has his big in-ring showdown with both champions, sizes them up, then says "At Wrestlemania, I choose to face.....the UNDERTAKER, since I want to be The One!"
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I don't really take the Daniel Bryan thing seriously right now.
And Cena/Rock doesn't have to be for the title, certainly not if The Rock isn't sticking around and could win the match. I'd rather they don't make a match one year in the making a three-way, because that just adds another dimension to the story that isn't necessary.
That said, the Royal Rumble wasn't always for a title shot. Winning the Rumble was, and still is, an achievement in and of itself.
They could also do a WrestleMania X scenario where a title is defended twice. I'd rather that than a three-way. The only time a three/four-way has ever worked (in my opinion) in a WrestleMania title match was Benoit/HBK/HHH because they all had legitimate issues with each other and a clear story that had been built for months.
Cena/Rock/Punk could have that type of story, but I have to think Punk has better stories down the road (HHH, Undertaker, a long-shot possibility of Stone Cold coming back, another title match).
Originally posted by Big BadOr, the winner of the Rumble has his big in-ring showdown with both champions, sizes them up, then says "At Wrestlemania, I choose to face.....the UNDERTAKER, since I want to be The One!"
This is about where I was going to go, only have the WWE make the call beforehand. Bryan has declared he's cashing in against the World Champion at Mania, and if Cena's WWE Champion by Mania he wants to defend against The Rock, so there may not really be a place for the Rumble winner this year. So instead, give the Rumble winner the shot - the last shot? - at breaking Undertaker's streak. Over the past few years, that's been the real main event match anyway.
Originally posted by SKLOKAZOIDI don't really take the Daniel Bryan thing seriously right now.
I'm on board with this idea. I think this turns into a Kennedy situation and Bryan loses the briefcase to a heel at some point in the next few months, who then cashes in the briefcase before WM. I don't see Bryan making it to WM with the briefcase.
If they wanted to spark Austin/Punk, the champ could target Silent Rage as a corporate poster boy when his pals can't get on the roster. WWE.com had backstage footage of early reject Matt palling around with Punk when the group worked backstage on a show.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Punk/Austin is still very possible. Both guys want to work with each other and Austin is healthy enough. But that situation really needs Punk as the heel and I can't see the fans booing him. Of course they could have it be face vs face with Punk being the straight edge punk scene representation while Austin represented the redneck classic rock crowd. Of course in Miami both might get booed...
More logical would be a Punk Vs HHH match with HHH spending the next few months slowly showing his true colors as having taken over the company from Vince.
But then we get back to the original issue. HHH Vs Punk, Austin Vs. Punk, and Rock Vs Cena are all matches that don't need a title belt involved. But then who do you have in the title matches that wouldn't bore the crowd to tears compared to "Dream" matches?
Originally posted by Big BadOr, the winner of the Rumble has his big in-ring showdown with both champions, sizes them up, then says "At Wrestlemania, I choose to face.....the UNDERTAKER, since I want to be The One!"
Not that they wouldn't do it, but this would be quite silly. There's no precedent for needing to win anything to challenge 'Taker. You just challenge him. And aside from that, internally Undertaker is considered retired, and nothing is currently being planned around him.
I'd rather see Danielson move his shot up than have it get lost in the shuffle. In any event, you've got to imagine it would be the third most prominent bout on that card behind Rock/Cena and whatever Punk is involved in. They may put the Rumble winner in the mix just to add some punch to it, probably due to the belief Bryan challenging won't, by itself, be enough to build a title match around.
(edited by Hogan's My Dad on 28.7.11 1203) Quiet, Or Papa Spank!
Originally posted by ScottyflamingoBut then we get back to the original issue. HHH Vs Punk, Austin Vs. Punk, and Rock Vs Cena are all matches that don't need a title belt involved. But then who do you have in the title matches that wouldn't bore the crowd to tears compared to "Dream" matches?
I think Orton/Punk/Danielson/Miz/Jericho/Del Rio all fit the bill.
I don't think Punk/Austin is going to happen, though it'd be amazing if it did. Punk/HHH with the long build would be worthy of both guys but that seems more like the direction for right now than then. HHH/Undertaker 2 has been teased. So that makes him an obvious choice for a title match. (Although current Punk is the first worthwhile new-star-streak-ender-huge-win conversation-haver since, well, pretty much ever, but we can table that for another time.)
Orton is Orton, accepted main event guy.
A dramatic D.Bryan title match will get over just because his work is so good, and for the same audience-makeup reasons Benoit's did at WM20. He could have a classic match with anyone on the list, and there's nothing wrong with the Smackdown title match being the 4th biggest match on the show as that's the case most years.
There's zero indication Jericho will be back but he'd obviously be great.
Miz and Del Rio were already in title matches this year. Miz in a title match at two straight Wrestlemanias would be a big thing for him. Miz/Danielson would play off their history. Del Rio would need some building between now and then but there's a lot of time and he's had favored nation status in WWE since he showed up.
Originally posted by JustinShapiro I think Orton/Punk/Danielson/Miz/Jericho/Del Rio all fit the bill.
Orton bores me to tears, but hi IS over. I think Punk is gonna do SOMETHING big. Maybe not Austin, but one of the ideas mentioned in this thread.
Danielson will need a huge build to get the fans to care. It took the megapush of winning the rumble to get Benoit accepted as a legit contender and he'd been there a lot longer than Bryan has. If he ends up in a title match it'll have to be against a big name and I agree that Jericho would be great here.
Miz is probably their hottest full time worker next to Cena/Punk/Orton, and he'll probably turn face by then.
And we STILL haven't touched on the Undertaker match which has become a title match in its own right. A month ago I'd have said a HHH rematch was the odds on favorite, but now I think the Punk situation could change that. Speaking of, if there is ANYONE that should have the streak breaking rub (and I'm not saying it should be broken), it would be Punk.