>>10132209It kinda is like that
For me it's my favorite match, though the in ring action is definitely flawed when you look at it objectively
It really is a 'you had to be there' kinda thing, with Cenawinslol still raging on and every month it's like 'ohh so they're feeding X to Cena this time', real shit and mind you there was no real alternative at the time like AEW or a good NJPW so people were stick watching WWE just waiting for shit to change while it felt like the elephant in the room of Cena being stale was ignored
The pipebomb was the first serious aknowledgement of the stale booking, Super Cena, backstage politicking and, thanks to Punk's style and legit frustration, had a pinch of undeniable reality that at the time was kinda groundbreaking and felt like he was legit going into business for himself, especially when they cut his mic and after all the shit he said about HHH, Steph and Vince
It really helped that his contract was really expiring and they booked the weeks prior to the match perfectly imo, with him first being suspended for the promo, only then to be reinstated and holding Vince up for a better contract and Ice-cream and shit, felt like the most legit WWE program since forever at that point
Cena's personality and gimmick also gained from this, sincere criticism was directed towards him instead of the usual 'im gonna beat u jon cena' shit heel pronos they had against him, and his willingness to still have the match against Punk and him defending his right to speak his mind went well with his goody 2 shoes character while also setting up his eventual downfall in this scenario, and with the stip that if Cena lost he'd be fired it was all looking like it'd just be cenawinslol again, and wrestling is at it's best when everyone wants one outcome while the contrary seems like to obvious (and most Vince) to happen, only for everything to go down the good way, at least from a drama-story perspective
