Why Cena/Punk Was So Important

So last night's Raw...Cena VS Punk, winner goes on to face The Rock at Wrestlemania.  Okay, cool match, but nothing that great, right?  Everyone knew the end result, right?  It's been in the cards for months that, like it or not, Rock and Cena were going to have a Wrestlemania rematch, this was just the final way to push CM Punk out of the picture.  So what we were going to be left with was a good match, but nothing all that meaningful...right?

Oh, so very wrong.  Last night's main event was spectacular.  It was one of those rare occasions where everything comes together perfectly and you get a pay-per-view caliber match on free television.  In this case, it's one that's already been described as a match that could have main-evented Wrestlemania...and, again, it was given away on free television.  But the thing about this match-of-the-year/instant classic/whatever other superlative you'd like to use is that it does a lot more than just wow the crowd; it does a whole lot for both wrestlers involved.

Let's start with CM Punk.  The last two years have seen his stock rise in massive ways.  Anyone watching on June 27, 2011 still remembers the power of Punk's words.  When he took a seat on the stage and vented that night, it was something...incredible.  It was a very real, very raw glimpse behind the curtain of WWE.  For the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC), it was something to cheer for.  For the spoiler-free crowd, it was a true shock to the system.  And, from that moment, CM Punk established himself as one of the most important figures in WWE today.  His importance would only grow from there.  He became "the voice of the voiceless," and, as a face, gained massive popularity.  He was WWE Champion, and the people loved it.  And then came Raw 1000.

Raw 1000 saw the return of some major (And not-so-major) past WWE stars (My personal favorite: Lita).  But the important thing to come out of these returning stars was, of course, The Rock.  His announcement that he would be challenging for the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble was a big deal, and pretty much sealed the thought that he would head to Wrestlemania and defend a title for the first time in nearly a decade.  But he also set up something else: After Big Show caused a Cena win via DQ (Thus keeping the title in Punk's hands), Rock came out to make the save...and then Punk hit one of the biggest heel turns in a long time.  When Punk hit the GTS on Rock, he immediately established himself as the company's top heel.

Punk is one of the most important wrestling figures in a very, very long time.  The fact that he held the title for 434 consecutive days in an era where the title changes hands at least every three months is simply incredible.  But, honestly, what he did last night may be even more impressive than that, at least to the IWC.  Because what he did last night was take John Cena to a whole new level.  CM Punk proved just how good he is by getting a superlative-laden match that will obviously be discussed as potential match-of-the-year out of a man who is still viewed by many as a guy that can't wrestle all that well.  CM Punk showed last night that he is capable of some truly incredible things and deserves to be at the top of the card for as long as he wants to be.

And then there's John Cena.  Everyone knows about Cena.  You either love him or you hate him, there seems to be no middle ground with him.  And yeah, most of his fans are women and children, a fact that he has recognized, accepted and even embraced.  But he proved last night that he can, in fact, work, and he can work at a high level.  He put on an incredible match, and that's important, because he's going to need to do it again at Wrestlemania.  Let's be honest, there's pretty much zero chance that Cena does not beat Rock to win the title at Mania.  The "passing of the torch" moment has to come this year, and that torch is going to be white-hot.  The Rock is ridiculously popular, both in and out of WWE.  The person to beat him is taking on a huge role, and Cena is the only person in WWE who can do that right now.  He has to take that torch and run with it.  And he showed last night that that might not be a terrible thing to have happen.

Yes, last night we saw a match with major implications for the future.  And if that's the kind of stuff we're going to see, then the future is going to be bright.

Top 20 Singles: Week of February 25, 2013

1. Suit & Tie-Justin Timberlake (Feat. Jay-Z)  (1 Week @ #1)
2. Carry On-Fun.  
3. When I Was Your Man-Bruno Mars
4. Radioactive-Imagine Dragons
5. Stubborn Love-The Lumineers
6. Between The Raindrops-Lifehouse (Feat. Natasha Bedingfield)
7. Eye On It-tobyMac (Feat. Britt Nicole)
8. Lover Of The Light-Mumford & Sons  
9. Mountain Sound-Of Monsters & Men
10. Restore-Chris August
11. I Knew You Were Trouble-Taylor Swift
12. Hero-Family Of The Year
13. Holding On To You-Twenty|One|Pilots
14. Surprise, Surprise-Billy Talent
15. Bruises-Train (feat. Ashley Monroe)
16. 22-Taylor Swift    
17. Tip It On Back-Dierks Bentley
18. Mama's Broken Heart-Miranda Lambert
19. Before I Die-Papa Roach
20. Rebel Beat-Goo Goo Dolls


Biggest Mover:  Between The Raindrops (Up 2)
Highest Debut:  Mountain Sound (#9) 

Top 10 Singles: Week of February 18, 2013

1. Carry On-Fun  (1 Week @ #1)
2. Suit & Tie-Justin Timberlake (Feat. Jay-Z)
3. When I Was Your Man-Bruno Mars
4. Radioactive-Imagine Dragons
5. Stubborn Love-The Lumineers
6. Eye On It-tobyMac (Feat. Britt Nicole)
 7. Tip It On Back-Dierks Bentley
8. Between The Raindrops-Lifehouse (Feat. Natasha Bedingfield)
9. Lessons In Love-Neon Trees
10. Lover Of The Light-Mumford & Sons  

The Introduction

Welcome to the first of what will hopefully be many posts as I get back into blogging.  I hope you find my musings enjoyable, and I hope that the process will be enjoyable for me as well.

So, I guess the question is: Why?  Why go back into blogging?  Do I expect a bunch of people to suddenly latch on to my thoughts?  Certainly not.  The main reason is that I've just had so much on my mind lately, so many thoughts and opinions floating around in my head lately, and I just felt the need to get them out there.  We live in a world right now where we need to get our thoughts out in 140 characters or less.  But what I've found, time and time again, is that 140 characters cannot do a thought justice.  Even on a space like Facebook, we're given a relatively small space to truly express a thought.  And, I can speak from experience, that lack of space can get a person into trouble.  You can't really do your opinion justice in a small space like that.  Some opinions require much more room to explain and really dive into.  And that's why I'm returning to blogging.

Now, what will I actually blog about?  Well, I can say off the bat that it's going to be a little bit of everything. I want to get back into a weekly music chart, so that will be here.  I'll probably blog about wrestling and fantasy sports.  And, of course, I'll blog about the more important things as well...why do I believe what I believe?  What's my theology?  Why am I a political conservative?  I will be all over the place.

I hope that anyone who does read this finds something that they find interesting.  I'm not looking to entertain, and I doubt anyone will care about every one of my posts, but if you find something you're interested in, then I appreciate the time you take to read.

And that's about it.  Time to get started!