CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan
Over The Limit 2012 - May 2012
I highly doubt I'll ever go back and watch the full Over The Limit PPV from 2012, but Daniel Bryan's retirement announcement definitely inspired me to watch this heralded classic from yesteryear. While I'd watched this match years ago via YouTube, the beauty of the WWE Network is that you can actually go back and catch a match like this on a much bigger screen, with much better sound, no ads, and no distractions.
Given ample time (over 25 minutes) to show their stuff, this match takes place close to a year after CM Punk made headlines with his famous pipebomb promo. He comes into this match as the reigning WWE World Champion, while his opponent, Daniel Bryan, was seeking another run with a top championship after unceremoniously dropping his World Heavyweight Championship to Sheamus in 18 seconds at WrestleMania 28. The feud with Punk also featured some storyline involvement from AJ Lee and Kane, but, thankfully, neither make an appearance here.
Instead, what we get in this match is an out-and-out wrestling bout. If ever there was a WWE-produced pro-wrestling match where it genuinely seemed like two guys trying to defeat each other, this might be it. Bryan and Punk trade stiff shots left and right, apply more submissions than one could reasonably see in a year's worth of watching RAW, and counter each other's best offensive weapons in clever, inventive ways. The crowd is hot as well, with sizable portions of the North Carolina crowd cheering for Daniel Bryan, still a heel at this time. Meanwhile, CM Punk, who definitely comes in as the clear babyface, does an excellent job of subtly adding some heel elements to his character here - pouting a bit when he can't score a pinfall and keeping a figure four applied nearly to the 5-second count when Bryan has the ropes. Neither guy cheats, so neither guy is truly villainous, but their willingness to hit each other with vicious knees and kicks make it clear that this is serious business, not the "fun and games" that a John Cena or Hulk Hogan or even Rock might bring to a title match.
Placed on a WrestleMania card, this goes down as one of the greatest Mania matches ever...but there is something missing that keeps it from the perfect 5-out-of-5 score. That intangible element isn't the crowd (which is pretty hot) and it may not even be that this match occurred in an almost disgusting midcard position on a show headlined by the aforementioned Cena taking on "People Power" Era GM John Laurenaitis (the breather match separating the two was Ryback vs. Camacho, BTW). No, what prevents this match from attaining that nearly impossible, flawless rating is the somewhat unfortunate, not quite satisfactory ending. Having hit each other with so many amazing maneuvers, to have the end of the match come in a way where the loser essentially beat himself (and not his opponent) is a bit of a downer. Throwing Kane or AJ Lee into the mix would've sunk things lower, but for a match this intense and awesome, it deflates things a bit when the ending feels a bit like a cop-out, an unnecessary attempt to keep both guys strong when, after the performance they put on in the previous 25 minutes, there was no need to worry about how fans would perceive either combatant.
Highly recommended. (4.5/5)
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