Behind door number one sits CM Punk and his Anaconda Vise, a crushing submission maneuver that clasps itself around a Superstar’s head and constricts it like a jungle snake, compacting his cranium until he screams in pain and taps in humbling defeat.
Behind door number two lies Daniel Bryan and his “Yes!” Lock, a torturous hold that Bryan adapted from the legendary Gene LeBell. This contorting human torture contraption combines the mixed-martial arts omoplata with a crossface that attacks both the neck and shoulder joints with equal precision, leaving Bryan’s victim squirming for salvation from two angles until they tap while Bryan’s obnoxious screams of “YES!” rattle in their ears and reverberate off of the arena’s walls.
They are two of the most ignominious ways a Superstar can face the final bell in a match, and at WWE Over the Limit this Sunday, there’s a very good chance the WWE Title will be decided with one of them. But which hold wins out? As Punk and Bryan prepare for their long-awaited face off for the ultimate prize, WWE.com takes a look at each submission hold, its strengths and weaknesses, and a few choice testimonials from the Superstars who’ve been locked in its clutches. Ponder which one you’d prefer while you’re at it, too. As a wise man once said, you must choose. But choose wisely. Read the rest of this entry »
This Sunday, April 1, beginning at 7:00 PM EST on pay-per-view, WWE presents the pinnacle of its year when WrestleMania XXVIII brings the world’s greatest gladiators together for the Showcase of the Immortals. Three days later on Wednesday, April 4, the two most powerful factions in the Marvel Universe kick off a war of their own as AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #1 hits stands and the Marvel Comics app.
Up first, WWE Champion CM Punk, who will put his title on the line against Chris Jericho coming up Sunday, spoke up about his impending match, WrestleMania memories, belief in Captain America, plus much more, including his kinship to Tony Stark.To get set for both of these monumental collisions, we got some of WWE’s biggest Superstars and Fightin’ Fanboys to comment on their dates with destiny at WrestleMania as well as what they see coming to pass in AvX.
TAKING THE MIC, 1:32 p.m.
The opening shot of WrestleMania week is fired from the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami, where WWE Champion CM Punk collects his thoughts in front of rows of unoccupied seats prior to a live press conference streamed around the globe on WWE.com, YouTube and Facebook. Just moments before media of all kinds converge upon the event, he stands before one of his signature weapons – a microphone – leading to perhaps some consternation by WWE officials on hand. Notwithstanding the concern of corporate types, Punk assures that there will be no censorship today.
“They know that if they tell me not to do something, I’ll do it,” the champion states, bold yet honest. “They just cross their fingers and hope for the best.”
DIAMOND CUT ABS?, 1:50 p.m.
While The Voice of the Voiceless readies himself to be heard by the legions of WWE Universe members worldwide, his opponent is nowhere in sight. His nemesis is “at home, washing his tights,” as Punk suggests before offering a more substantial retort to an ab-flexing Chris Jericho’s tweet hours earlier.
“[Chris] does DDP Yoga and that’s not even real yoga,” Punk teases. “This isn’t a front on Diamond Dallas Page – nice guy and all that, but whatever. Jericho’s [not here because he's] got a voice coach so he can sing in his rotten band.”
PUNK ROCK MOMENT, 2:05 p.m.
The tattooed teetotaler winds narrow halls behind the scenes at the press conference, passing the likes of Santino Marella, Eve and Kofi Kingston – who Punk had earlier exposed as one of his more consistent conquests on Words with Friends.
The Straight Edge Superstar encounters The Great One and for a moment, it’s unclear as to what the intermingling will yield. It’s either mutual respect between CM Punk and The Rock or just their undivided attention on their respective WrestleMania opponents, but the private conversation is smooth, cordial. As Punk later explains, the topic is “wrestling,” simply stated. Both have a history with John Cena, with The Voice of the Voiceless actually getting the best of the Cenation leader on multiple occasions in 2011. Days after this conversation, the world will learn if The Brahma Bull can, too, do what Punk has been able to do: defeat Cena.
CURTAIN CALLING, 3:06 p.m.
The entire WWE Universe is watching online when WWE Champion CM Punk cuts through the curtain to hit the stage for the WrestleMania press conference. He vows not to bore anyone in the heart of Miami and it’s no lie as the crowd applauds Punk’s frank message that he’s “going to kick Chris Jericho’s ass.”
Next, the titleholder incites an impromptu bidding war for him to remove his “Colt of Personality” shirt and mocks Michael Cole’s excessive makeup layering. Punk’s delivery is quick and punchy, as if he was standing in the center of the ring and tormenting his “clown-shoed” enemy, WWE EVP John Laurinaitis, or a tight-buttoned executive telling him what he “shalt or shalt not say.” His silver tongue seems even more brilliant in the bright daylight of the outdoor gathering.
LIFTED, 4:55 p.m.
The Voice of the Voiceless escapes droves of interviewers, photographers and producers in the post-presser media blitz. Punk goes from the shutter-snapping and hot southern Florida sun to a hushed, low-lit elevator descent. Leaned against the mirrored lift wall stands a much different man than the one who stood in front of the WrestleMania XXVII logo a year ago in Atlanta.
“The stakes are higher,” Punk remarks about this particular Show of Shows. “Last year, I had one foot out the door. I was counting the days. Now, I’m the face of the company, so to speak.
He continues, “I don’t even think I had banners [with my face on them around the city] last year. That was another slap in the face. That’s why I was leaving. I actually have a few banners now. What a difference a year makes.”
WEEK IN REVIEW, 5:41 p.m.
The kickoff day of WrestleMania week includes a major press event in Miami, but that’s just the beginning for The Straight Edge Superstar. Back at the epicenter of the WrestleMania bustle – the hotel occupied by WWE – the champion surveys a day-by-day schedule for all Superstars over the next several days. Perhaps picking out the best times to squeeze in some workouts and comic book thumbing, CM Punk studies the standing “bible” of WWE events for a busy week.
His review of appearances, signings and various elbow-rubbings with the WWE Universe spins a tale that this final leg on the Road to WrestleMania is more than vigorous. At the far right, stands a fifth and final cardboard poster representing the biggest day of the year when the time for talk gives way to a head-to-head clash with Chris Jericho.
Staring at a visible countdown of sorts, it is very apparent that The Grandest Stage of Them All lies just around the bend.
Related Links:
Digitals > Other > WWE.com: Dueling Diaries > Day 1
Source: wwe.com
Nobody wants to be second best, least of all CM Punk and Chris Jericho. But out of the seven billion people on planet earth today, two boast what only one can claim, which is why, at WrestleMania, the staunchest of rivals contend for the right to be undisputedly recognized as the “best” in this world.
Put aside the illuminated jackets and tees with red six-pointed stars, take away the pipebomb tirades and wordy diatribes, and you have two extraordinarily talented athletes. Entertainers. Wrestlers. To either Punk or Jericho, there is no greater purpose than to compete and achieve, which is why the symbolic prize carried by The Straight Edge Superstar is so coveted. Whoever leaves Miami’s Sun Life Stadium with the WWE Championship will subsequently earn the throne so passionately debated over the past several months.
At WrestleMania XXVIII, the world will be watching to see its champion delivered, a competitor who will earn his seat at the zenith of the WWE Universe. But first, Punk and Jericho must navigate the days leading up to the most important showdown of their respective careers – and WWE.com is there to capture it all.
The WrestleMania Dueling Diary gives you the best seat in the house as WWE.com shadows both Punk and Jericho, the squared circle’s finest, en route to their main event duel at The Show of Shows.
For five days, WWE.com’s Dueling Diary trail rivals with distinct yet parallel paths that were inevitably going to intersect. First, review the separate yet similar pasts of both Superstars as they converge onto Miami for perhaps the greatest bout in their respective careers.
Once in a decade a WWE Superstar comes along and changes the game. CM Punk’s secret is that he isn’t a character, he is who he is—and he’s badass. See for yourself, below, and compare during WrestleMania XXVIII this month.
Few lifestyles seem more at odds than pro wrestling and straight edge punk. The success of WWE relies on its ability to tell over-the-top stories involving larger-than-life Superstars to millions watching on TV or in packed arenas. Excess is the key to the WWE image: enormous egos, huge physiques, gigantic spectacles. The straight edge movement is more defined by substance than style, outspoken but less brash (unless the target is Chris Brown). Straight edge finds its home at all-ages basement punk shows free of alcohol and drugs. Serving as a bridge between these two divergent worlds, we find WWE champion CM Punk.
Since arriving in the WWE in 2005, Punk has introduced a whole legion of WWE fans to straight edge and punk rock while also converting some young punks to fans of combat sport. He also has eccentric ink, from a large Pepsi logo to a slice of deep-dish pizza. If you disapprove of his tattoos, Punk doesn’t care: “These are all things that make me who I am. So, yeah, you’re damn right I ink them on my body and I want them to be with me for the rest of my life.” Many would try to conform to one lifestyle or the other—not Punk. He has always found himself out of step with the world, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
WWE champ and Chicago resident CM Punk battles management — but not fans who respect his privacy
WWE Champion CM Punk sounds off on life, family, friends, co-workers and his film aspirations.
Vince McMahon: “(We) have a lot more one-on-one conversations. I wont say he takes the time to talk to me now, because he always did, but I think he views me differently now. He used to view me as maybe talking to a boy. Now he thinks he’s talking to a man after I stood up and did everything I did over the summer. I always thought I was a main event player. The difference is now he knows I’m a main event player.”
The Rock: “I don’t think I have a relationship with The Rock. Over the past few weeks, it’s been better. Probably because I’ve been outspoken (about him) in the media. Of course, everything gets sensationalized and twisted. I don’t hate The Rock or fault him for coming back. I just think heaping credit on The Rock for ratings, buyrates – that’s where I get offended. It’s a team effort 365 days a year. Me and the entire locker room bust our (butts) and all our super stoked. Give credit where credit is due. Wrestlemania had a huge buyrate last year, not because of one guy. The numbers out there prove he hasn’t done much else, like the Survivor Series buyrate.”
John Cena: “I think the general consensus is that me and Cena don’t get along. While I definitely agree that we don’t see eye to eye, we coexist and get along just fine. I don’t get why people love to hate John Cena. But as long as he gets a reaction that’s positive or negative, he’s doing his job.”
Chris Brown: “I’ve gotten nothing but pats on the back: ‘Good job.’ I said what I said, the video is out there. He obviously erased his tweets and hopes this disappears. It is what it is. I meant what I said. It’s not a publicity stunt. I don’t want to work with him at Wrestlemania. Some day karma will get a hold of Chris Brown, and me along with 99 percent of the world will sit back and say I told you so.”
Beth Phoenix: “I have no problem being friends with anybody. If me and Beth have friendship issues, it’s not me.”
Wrestling websites: “I think you have to (read them). Anybody who dismisses it — that’s (crap). You have to have your fingers on the pulse of everything. You have to read it.”
CM Punk DVD: “I think they wanted to do a ‘Road to Wrestlemania’ DVD. I was like ‘Who gives a (crap).’ The pay per view after Wrestlemania is in Chicago. That was a no brainer to me – coming home. The last day of filming will probably be the pay per view. I’ll get my sisters in there and (Colt) Cabana.”
Movie career: “(WWE) offered me a movie when I first told them I wasn’t re-signing. I immediately turned it down. They probably figured I would jump at a movie because I’m not a movie star. That’s not to say that if the right thing doesn’t come along, I won’t do it. That’s not my priority. … I think WWE films signed on three new movies. I’m sure one of them is probably slated to be a CM Punk vehicle. I haven’t heard anything yet. Nothing is set in stone. Take that for what it’s worth. I think I would love to do a movie if it’s the right project. I’m not going to be in ‘The Marine 3′ just because they offered it to me. If it’s something good, I’ll do it. I’d love to do it – as long as it doesn’t interfere with my wrestling schedule.”
Friends: “I’m an excellent judge of character. I can tell people who want something from me or if they’re actually buddies. Kofi (Kingston is a friend). Guys like Evan Bourne, Daniel Bryan I’ve known for a decade wrestling on the indies.”
Family: “I don’t believe you have to be blood to be family, so I have a lot of family members. I have two sisters and a brother by blood. I talk to my sisters but haven’t talked to my brother in like 10 years. … I think I have always had to outsource for support or anything I want to do. The people who were willing to accept me with open arms weren’t blood related to me. To me, that’s what family is. Family supports you. So like my Mom, my Dad, my brother – the only thing my brother ever did to me was steal a (crap) load of money from me.”
Luis Gomez About Last Night
5:45 p.m. CDT, March 26, 2012When he blasted WWE’s higher-ups on live TV, CM Punk had GQ, ESPN and “The Jimmy Kimmel Show” banging on his door. TMZ and CNN interviewed him about his recent Twitter feud with pop star Chris Brown. But on this particular March afternoon on the Blue Line — the train he takes to and from O’Hare International Airport every week with the diamond-encrusted WWE Championship belt in his suitcase — Punk appears to have gone unrecognized by those sitting around him.
That’s just how he likes it.
“I’m so cranky,” admits Punk, holding onto a pole by the “L” train’s doors to keep his balance. Punk (real name: Phil Brooks) is on the third day of a diet that requires him to skip food entirely in favor of juices because “I’m bored out of my mind and I’m trying to get in wrestling shape. I can’t work out harder than I do. I’ve been a (pescetarian) for three months.”
The pro wrestler is by no means out of shape. But when you compare his heavily tattooed body to the superhero physiques of The Rock or John Cena, you can see why WWE’s muscle-obsessed CEO, Vince McMahon, may have overlooked Punk for so long, and why 13-time WWE champion Triple H called him a “skinny fat kid.”
“I think that’s (Triple H’s) perception of me,” says Punk, who will defend his title against Chris Jericho on Sunday at Wrestlemania XXVIII in Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens. “It shows the perception people have is completely archaic and outdated. I assume it’s a bodybuilding thing. I’m not skinny, and I’m not fat. I’ve never used a drug in my life.”
Punk famously has the words “Drug” and “Free” tattooed on his knuckles and “Straight Edge” inked on his stomach (he says he’s never used steroids, painkillers or recreational drugs or drunk alcohol, due to his Straight Edge lifestyle). And on this afternoon, what was supposed to be a day off from his hectic schedule, he is wearing a “Drug Free” T-shirt underneath a baggy black hooded sweatshirt, along with a Cubs cap that appears to be on its last legs.
“I can be pretty incognito,” Punk says of getting recognized on the train. “I’ll have my hood up and hands in my pocket. … It doesn’t stop a lot of people. They’ll talk to me for a while, and I’ll stare at them for a while (with headphones on), and I’ll say, ‘I didn’t hear a word you just said.’”
The Lockport native is, in wrestling parlance, a baby face (good guy) and soaks up the fan adoration every time he walks to the ring with his theme song, Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality,” playing over the loudspeakers. But Punk can come off as an unapologetic, walking “do not disturb” sign when he isn’t working.
He’s been known to vent about fans who don’t respect his privacy — specifically the ones who tap him on the shoulder when he’s checking in at the airport or the ones who take off his headphones to get his attention — and has laid into autograph hounds with binders full of photos who he feels are trying to make money off of him. He’s more than willing to communicate with his fans and critics on Twitter, but anyone who tweets him risks a sarcastic or insulting response, including making fun of spelling and grammar. When one follower tweeted, “I’m going to Chicago for the 1st time for St Pattys Day. What places should I visit?” Punk simply replied, “Indiana.” When another tweeted, “noone cares where ur going or what your doing,” Punk fired back, “You mean ‘you’re’. Unfollow me. Or kill yourself.”
Zack Ryder in an interview with SkySports mentioned Punk here’s what he had to say:
“Chris Jericho was one of my favourites growing up and now CM Punk says he’s the best in the world. Jericho says he’s the best in the world, so we’re going to find out at WrestleMania who’s the WWE Champion and who’s the best in the world.
CM Punk right now has taken the WWE by storm. He’s the man right now and he’s definitely the deserving champion. Chris Jericho came back and wants to take that catchphrase back ‘Best In The World’ and we’re going to find out at WrestleMania who that is.”
Kevin Nash in an interview with The UK Sun mentioned Punk here’s what he had to say:
“I’d still like to do something with CM Punk in the future. I think we’ve got a chapter that’s still open. Originally it was going to be me and Punk, but it turned out to be me and Hunter. I knew that I wasn’t allowed to go off the script in those promos. I think he had a little more leeway than I did.”
No place like home: WWE Champion and Lockport native CM Punk has begun filming for his upcoming WWE DVD and expects the cameras to continue rolling through the Extreme Rules pay per view at the Allstate Arena April 29. “I think (WWE) wanted to do a ‘Road to Wrestlemania’ DVD,” Punk told me Thursday. “I was like ‘Who gives a s*** (about the road to Wrestlemania)?’ The pay per view after Wrestlemania is in Chicago. That was a no brainer to me – coming home. The last day of filming will probably be the pay per view. I’ll get my sisters in there and (Colt) Cabana.”
Source: chicagotribune.com
Thanks to nominations from the WWE Universe on Twitter, WWE and its Superstars have been named as finalists in four award categories in the 2012 Shorty Awards.
The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media, recognizing the people and organizations producing real-time short form content across Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, Foursquare, and the rest of the social Web.
John Cena, Kelly Kelly and CM Punk are three of the six finalists for the Shorty Award for Best Athlete in Social Media. Cena won the award category’s “Vox Populi” Award as its top nomination-getter. Cena also won the “Must Follow Athlete in Social Media” award in the 2011 Mashable Awards.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one of six finalists for Best Actor in Social Media. The Rock won the “Must Follow Actor in Social Media” award in the 2011 Mashable Awards.
Zack Ryder is one of six finalists for the Shorty Award for Best Web Show in Social Media, for his Web series “Z: True Long Island Story.”
WWE is one of six finalists for the Shorty Award for Best TV Show in Social Media (for both WWE Raw and SmackDown).
Winners are not decided by popular vote, but chosen by The Real Time Academy, a panel of judges from the worlds of media, journalism and entertainment. Winners will be announced at the Shorty Awards ceremony in New York City March 26.
Past winners of Shorty Awards include talk show host Conan O’Brien, Newark (N.J.) mayor Cory Booker, Sesame Street’s Grover, financial expert Suze Orman, musician Ted Leo, actor Neil Patrick Harris and NASA.
Source: WWE.com
