Whereas over on SmackDown, it's a very material issue. If Teddy Long magically waved a wand and said "We're stripping Randy Orton and Christian is the new Champion," Christian would celebrate it as a triumph and cling desperately to his title belt. He values the actual title of being World Champion.
If they did the same thing with Cena and Punk and just handed Punk the title with no match, Punk would essentially be thwarted, but WWE would be cutting off their own nose to spite their face if they did that.
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Thank you, Eddie Guerrero.
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