Whether that’s to shoot another WWE movie and then return, refreshed, or as an injury absence, or just the fact that he needs a break and will return, the win preserved Cena’s credibility after several losses following his WrestleMania loss to the Rock, and perhaps some time off would cure some of the Cena burnout that WWE crowds seem to be suffering from.

As for Lesnar, the match was structured to preserve his monstrous-heel image and shouldn’t hurt him too much. What’s next for Lesnar? I’m expecting him to target either Punk to regain the WWE title, with a SummerSlam climax to the coming feud, or to mix it up with Randy Orton for a couple months before moving Lesnar toward a title belt. But that’s just my take.

That said, the match tonight was an excellently-told street fight that lived up to the high match standards Jericho and Punk have set. The feud could easily end here, but still feels fresh enough that if it continues for another month before Jericho begins touring with Fozzy, it would remain interesting.

Punk is showing a resiliency and flexibility as champion that only those who have watched his career for a while might have suspected him capable of. His title run isn’t showing signs of rust yet.

Bryan even won one of the falls to make it close, forcing a tapout to the Yes-Lock by Sheamus. With twenty-three minutes instead of eighteen seconds to work with, the duo showed they understand ring psychology as well as showmanship, and Bryan has established himself as worthy of the same sort of respect Dolph Ziggler has been receiving for quite a while now. Both men know how to put on a while, win or lose, no matter how silly the storyline push is that they are given.

Fun match.

With Laurenitis in charge of both shows, it’s hard to cite a valid reason for keeping the concept alive. Unless something returns WWE to the old “split roster” status quo, which I’m not sure anyone is hungry for at this point, it may be that the WWE Draft is an idea best set aside for a season. So strap on your Speedglas and prepare for a bumpy ride!

Folks with long memories will recall that, a few years ago, Jericho waged a long feud with Shawn Michaels that helped define the swan song of the Heartbreak Kid’s latter career. Just when you thought the feud had played out, the master of ring psychology found a way to turn the volume up past eleven.

So someone tell WWE’s musical types to get their Benedetto ready and try to follow along; while it’s uncertain how long Jericho’s contract goes before he returns to Fozzy, one thing remains clear.

We’ve only scratched the surface of their Punk-Jericho feud.

First, he makes a great heel. Second, he represents a legitimate physical threat to anyone in his way. And third, he might just be villainous enough to get most folks cheering for John Cena again. That is, after they get over the pure joy of Lesnar’s return.

In handling his return, WWE has cast Lesnar as the voice of those fans who should “Cena sucks!” That’s a perfect casting, and the only thing missing, really, are ceiling fans with lights and a belt to feud over.

My prediction is that once Lesnar has confronted Cena a few times, his attention will quickly turn to C.M. Punk, with a title match at SummerSlam, perhaps with Cena involved, to set the tone for the build up to next year’s WrestleMania.

With his UFC championship background backing him up as a legit butt-kicker, Lesnar, once billed as “the next big thing,” has proven that promise long ago. Now, his return could help draw audiences back to a WWE ring in a more legit, less Hollywood way that did the return of The Rock.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena’s “once in a lifetime” match went over thirty minutes and ended just eighteen second shy of matching the length of Hunter-Taker. (Ironically, eighteen seconds is how long Sheamus-Bryan lasted.)

The match seesawed back and forth and offered plenty of momentum shifts and near-falls. And just when it seemed like Cena would take home the victory, The Rock pulled off the upset in front of his hometown crowd … something Vinnie Mac rarely allows … to push the match into classic status.

While some folks will prefer the ring storytelling of Taker-Hunter, and others like me appreciate the Jericho-Punk match, Cena-Rock did anything and everything except disappoint fans. Great, satisfying main event with a surprise ending considering Rock is off to Hollywood for another year, only to reappear on occasion, while Cena now has taken two WrestleMania losses in a row and somehow needs to rebuild his character into a contender on the week-to-week WWE stage in the fallout of this highest of high-profile losses.

Technically, The Rock is 39 and won’t be 40 for another month… but he’s also not a regular roster member.

My personal “most anticipated match of WrestleMania” ended up starting weaker than the Taker-Triple H match, with a very TV match feel. Fortunately, ring veteran Chris Jericho (age 41) and Punk made a solid match out of the messy start, with a final five minutes that was nothing short of electrifying.

It’s as though someone hooked up a Rheem heat pump and fired up both men about fifteen minutes into the match, to help them take things to the next level and create a memorable ending. While the match will ultimately be overshadowed by the once-again-amazing ring work of Taker-Hunter, and the overhyped-for-a-year main even of Rock-Cena, the fact that Punk won, and won clean, gives this issue between Punk and Jericho a satisfying, WrestleMania-worthy finish.

And yes, I do wish they’d been given about ten more minutes to really amp up and extend that hot finish.

That means Johnny Ace is now the permanent GM of both WWE shows until such time as they toss that storyline overboard with the return of Vince, Triple H, Stephanie, or whoever, when they re-set the deck later this year.

The big news out of the PPV is that Miz scored the pinfall that gave Team Johnny the victory, marking his first TV/PPV win in quite a while, breaking a 20-match losing streak that extends all the way back to 2011.

Hopefully this will give the Miz a chance to reboot his character and reset himself as one of the top challengers for Punk’s belt.

However, it’s not exactly a graduation gift, is it? Taker is slowing down, but is this match his last? Not likely. If WWE continues to allow him to take a year off between WrestleMania appearances, he could easily reach 25-0 before they actually need to call a stop to it all.

Undertaker is one of the best company men ever to work for WWE, and his work this year was less plodding than last; even the first ten minutes were more riveting than last year’s. But is this really the End of the Taker’s Era?

I doubt it.

But it might be a year before he sets foot in a ring again. Just in time for WrestleMania 29.

But to have the match come to an end in only eighteen seconds?

Sure, it’s probably an effective way to give the “cowardly champ” an end to his title reign with a humiliating comeuppance, but as a WrestleMania match, it was highly unsatisfying and a cheap way to open the most important PPV of the year.

Think of what this Sheamus squash of Bryan does, not just to Daniel Bryan, but to those who faced him en route to WrestleMania. Big Show, Mark Henry, even Randy Orton, are all diminished by that single Brogue Kick. Sure, it elevates Sheamus through the roof; but it makes a mockery of everyone who faced Bryan and failed to make such short work of him.

I mean, we must remember, Daniel Bryan had a three-PPV lead-up to WrestleMania in which he retained his title, including surviving a five-man Elimination Chamber match. So how does having Bryan fall so easily to Sheamus make those who failed to beat him before this look? Like third-rate talent.

I wish Sheamus all the best, and I certainly was ready to see him take the strap off Bryan. I just think, at a WrestleMania event — the defining PPV on the WWE calendar — fans deserved to see more of a contest between these two talented workers.

The more legit, but probably less exciting, is the presence of Dave Batista in Miami on “WWE business.” Of course, he could merely be there to take part in WWE fan activities. That happens a lot this time of year. While a return would be interesting, he was hardly ever a top draw in WWE.

The more stellar rumor is a possibility, though it would require a lot of fence-mending with the McMahon family. Apparently, former WWE and UFC champion, Brock Lesnar, is in Miami this weekend. News like that could sell a lot of discount jewelry online.

Again, it could be to take part in the fan events.

But if Lesnar were to return, one could only be completely tantalized by the potential of his “surprise comeback” to the stage that launched his career.

Would Lesnar be used as a way to take the World Heavyweight Championship off whoever wins the Danial Bryan-Sheamus match? Lesnar returning to wear the belt would give Smackdown the sort of instant credibility it’s lacked since Edge went down to a career-ending neck issue.

Or could he be inserted into the Rock-Cena match as the instant-sell match for next year’s WrestleMania? Rock vs. Lesnar would be epic, and rumor has it Rock is already signed for next year’s big event.

The least likely scenario would have Lesnar interfering in the Punk-Jericho issue. A monster like Lesnar is better off playing against the big boys like Mark Henry, Sheamus, Kane and Undertaker over at Smackdown.

Or he could return and just look menacing. While less disappointing, that might be more likely, given how Lesnar disrespected WWE when he exited last time after being made an overnight sensation. McMahon rarely makes the same mistake twice.