The next night, on Raw, The shield strode into the arena alone as Punk had decided to walk in with Kofi to keep up appearances. As other superstars gathered around the match boards, Ambrose's state of happness came to a screeching halt.
There on the boards was the announcement that Ambrose would be facing Punk in the night's main event. Ambrose raised his eyebrows in an expression of exasperation, and then walked slowly to the locker room.
There were so many things that could go wrong with this match: of course Ambrose knew this, yet he was still in an odd way happy that he got to face Punk and not someone like Ryback. Since their match in Abu Dhabi in October, corporate had been pushing for Ryback and Kofi to feud. Neither man was remarkable on the mike, and the feud would help their skills, while Kofi could get a lot of time off from his supposed injuries. The mental image of Ryback slamming Daniel Bryan through a table snapped Ambrose back to the present, where he was preparing for his match against his newly requited crush. He grinned broadly as he zipped up his vest. This would be an interesting night indeed.
While Ambrose was nervous but optimistic, Punk was confident and calm as he put on his new kickpads. He had long ago stopped worrying about what was marketable and decided that it would be best for himself and those around him if he were just to be himself. He had not even given the match a second thought, he was so sure that Ambrose would throw the match as a courtesy to him. He slipped on his tights and hoodie, thinking this would be the easiest match ever.
Boy, was Punk wrong. Ambrose went at him from the starting bell, doing moves that took others years of training with the finesse of a veteran, careful not to make Punk's bumps too brutal. As the match progressed, Punk became more and more angry. How the hell was he supposed to win if Ambrose was actually fighting him tooth and nail? Punk assumed even then that Ambrose would allow him to win, even though he was currently putting up a fight. He went for a weak neckbreaker and was stunned when Ambrose changed it into a thundering DDT. Time slowed and sped up again as he felt the ref beat the mat three times, then hears the announcer call Ambrose the winner. His shocked mind still thought Ambrose would help him up, at least, but Ambrose was anchored in Kayfabe at the time, celebrating with his fellow shield members as they stood outside the ring, heading up the ramp.
Punk stomped up the ramp once he got his bearings, livid at Ambrose's actions. It was one thing for Ambrose to beat him as he was scheduled to do, but it was another to leave him in the ring stranded. He headed straight for the shield's trailer, thinking of all the ways he could punish Ambrose for his actions.