2012
CM Punk
We didn’t know it at the time, but the year 2012 would be the last full act in the WWE portion of CM Punk’s career (at least for the foreseeable future.) And with all due respect to the pipe bomb-dropping, starmaking run of 2011 and the magnificent Jeff Hardy feud and Straight Edge Society heel turn of 2009, it was probably the best all-around year he had as a professional wrestler.
Never one to shy away from reinvention, Punk’s 2012 can be split almost directly in two very different, but equally compelling halves. Punk spent the first half of 2012 discontentedly playing second fiddle on the babyface ledger to John Cena, despite Punk, of course, holding the WWE Championship for the full calendar year. Nonetheless, despite rarely getting top billing, he had one of the best runs of matches of his career. He defended the title in 4-to-5 star matches on a monthly basis against the likes of Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, Mark Henry and Daniel Bryan. But despite the tremendous match quality, the character was losing its edge as a babyface despite mostly staying more over than the rest of the roster.
On the 1000th edition of Raw on July 23, 2012, Punk, defending the title against John Cena and losing by disqualification thanks to Big Show’s interference, turned heel on the Rock, setting up their eventual title program in early 2013. The match quality thereafter didn’t quite equal his production as a babyface earlier in the year (through little fault of Punk’s, as he worked a largely lackluster program with Ryback for much of the fall), but through his newfound pairing with Paul Heyman he rediscovered the vitriol that made us worship at his straight edge altar to begin with and cut some of the best promos of his career.
It wasn’t Punk’s last hurrah, as he still had incredible matches in 2013 with the Undertaker and Brock Lesnar.
But even if he makes an eventual return, 2012 will almost certainly be his last full year as a professional wrestler. And it was one of the best all-around years you will ever see a wrestler have, as it showed every facet of what made CM Punk one of the most beloved and respected professional wrestlers of the last 15 years.
Notable Matches:
CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler – Royal Rumble 2012
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho – WrestleMania XVIII
CM Punk vs. Mark Henry – Monday Night Raw 4/2/12
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho – Extreme Rules 2012
CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan – Over the Limit 2012
CM Punk vs. Jerry Lawler – Monday Night Raw 8/27/12
CM Punk vs. John Cena – Night of Champions 2012
2013
Daniel Bryan
2013 could have presented an opportunity for numerous individuals. The beginning of the year set it up where CM Punk, John Cena or the Rock seemed ready to make a run as our champion to be selected in 2013. Even the Shield had already been established by having a great match right out of the gate at TLC. When the year was complete, there was one clear winner for the championship and our committee gave this candidate a resounding YES! Daniel Bryan was deeply entrenched with Kane at the start of the year still competing as team Hell No. The tag team was fine and provided some good moments of comedy, but the feeling was always on the underbelly that Bryan could be something more. I sat in the stands at WrestleMania 29 and saw a huge crowd give Bryan one of the five best reactions on the whole night. By the summer, WWE seemed ready to pull the trigger. Bryan had some great tv matches sprinkled throughout the year and now found himself in a SummerSlam main event vs. John Cena.
That match was a tremendous in-ring success and performed better on PPV than early projections leaked out. Cena put Bryan over in the center of the ring making him the guy, only Randy Orton immediately was able to cash in his MitB briefcase and form the Authority with Triple H. Numerous possibilities opened up in that moment and this match could have been the catalyst to a passing of the torch moment in WWE history.
Bryan had a ready made feud to carry him through the fall. The fall and winter all the way up to WrestleMania 30 was tumultuous for Bryan fans as WWE continually seemed to be getting cold feet on how far to push him up the card and in their overall presentation. One thing remained certain, Bryan’s vocal fan support. Bryan received tremendous support from the crowd and that along with his in ring talent made him our yearly champion for 2013.
Notable Matches:
Team Hell No and the Undertaker vs. The Shield – Monday Night Raw 4/22/13
Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins – Monday Night Raw 6/10/13
Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton- Monday Night Raw 6/24/13
Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro – Monday Night Raw 7/22/13
Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena – SummerSlam 2013
2014:
Seth Rollins
Nothing seemed to go quite right when it came to wrestling in 2014. CM Punk and then Daniel Bryan abandoned their posts as WWE’s hottest acts, for vastly different reasons. Brock Lesnar made a splash becoming champion, then disappeared. TNA struggled to stay alive, with money problems driving top stars away and SpikeTV cutting them off. ROH put on spectacular shows on their own and in collaboration with New Japan Pro Wrestling, but Michael Elgin’s long-awaited World title reign petered out.
The rules killed our temptation to look overseas for our PTBN champ of 2014 with the explosion of NJPW or give the nod to AJ Styles or a Lucha Underground worker based on their international body of work, so we stuck to our guidelines and went with WWE’s most consistent and versatile performer: Seth Rollins.
Rollins began the year as one third of the Shield, typically seen as the most technically-sound member of the group, but also the one with the dullest character and least long-term upside. Nonetheless, “The Architect” grounded his squad as they engaged in a high octane feud with the Wyatt Family. With that program turning the trio babyface, Rollins spent the spring being able to fully utilize his explosive offense with the crowd behind him.
After dispatching Kane and the New Age Outlaws in a virtual squash match at WrestleMania XXX, the Shield dominated an extended program with a reunited Evolution, further building their standing with the company. Then, following the Payback event, Rollins shocked WWE fandom by turning heel, attacking his compatriots and taking on Triple H as his new mentor. While most expected Dean Ambrose to be the Shield member to go bad, Seth seized the opportunity to become the most hated man in WWE.
Seth Rollins dominated the summer, winning the Money in the Bank Ladder match in June and then hooking up with ex-ally Dean Ambrose for a blood feud that spilled over several months. Rollins would win out over Ambrose in a Lumberjack match at SummerSlam, then came out on top when the two closed October’s Hell in a Cell event, a landmark moment for the young stars. All the while, the Authority’s chosen one refined his still-evolving skills on the microphone, not afraid to be a true heel with no redeeming qualities.
The last two months of 2014 proved Rollins’ mettle, as he carried the Authority through the main event of Survivor Series despite losing the final fall, then worked a solid tables match against WWE’s top star, John Cena, to close out the year. When all’s said and done, Seth Rollins could end up being the biggest star the Shield produced.
Notable Matches
The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family – Elimination Chamber 2014
The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family – Monday Night Raw 3/31/14
The Shield, vs. Evolution – Extreme Rules 2014
The Shield vs. Evolution – Payback 2014
Money in the Bank Ladder match – Money in the Bank 2014
Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose – SummerSlam 2014
Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose – Hell in a Cell 2014
Team Authority vs. Team Cena – Survivor Series 2014
Seth Rollins vs. John Cena – TLC 2014
