“The Doc” Chad Matthews returns with the latest installment in his WWE Decade in Review series, highlighting the events, matches, moments, and themes that defined 2013

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This week, The Doc turns his attention to 2013, a most interesting year in WWE’s modern history. In the decade’s fourth year, WWE blended past and present arguably as well as they ever have.

Sure, The Rock came back again to less thunderous applause, but his presence along with the likes of Undertaker, Triple H, and Brock Lesnar did not define the year’s creative peak. Instead, the pillars of the Reality Era – CM Punk and Daniel Bryan – were largely what 2013 is remembered for. Punk, through Summerslam, continued his magical two year run at the top of the mountain. Bryan, by year end, was ready to replace Punk as the diehard fanbase’s anchor.

Of course, redefining the roles for John Cena and Triple H was also a massively influential historical aspect of 2013 in WWE. Cena, who had been the top star in the company for most of a decade, began his descent to a reduced main-event role not long after scoring the biggest win of his career at WrestleMania. Triple H resumed his villainous role as leader of the modern day Corporation, gloriously antagonizing Bryan in what proved to be the most emotional story arc of the entire decade for many.

These themes and more are discussed in today’s retrospective look at 2013, followed by the countdown of the Top 10 matches of the year.

If you want to discuss WWE history with Doc, follow and tweet @TheDocLOP !

The Greatest Matches and Rivalries of the WrestleMania Era is now available on Audible and iTunes (as an audiobook)!

Click here to order on Audible: https://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Matches-Rivalries-WrestleMania-Era/dp/B07WSTJDMS/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=