Perhaps dreams do come true.
After months of verbal tirades and diatribes that seemingly went nowhere, the WWE's biggest star finally brought up what was on everybody's mind. With The Rock being back, would he really do all of this verbal bashing for absolutely no payoff?
If that was the case, some wouldn't be surprised. After all, many had turned their backs on The Rock when he became Dwayne Johnson and seemingly left the wrestling business behind forever. Of course, just one appearance changed many minds, and whatever Mr. Johnson said was taken as gospel to some. One man that did not see it that way was John Cena.
The "fruity pebble" as he has been dubbed, lost at Wrestlemania to The Miz, mainly because of actions taken by "the great one". Would that be it though? Would Rocky ride off into the sunset content that he helped The Miz retain his title? John Cena needed to find out.
Last night on Raw, Cena called out Rock to speak about what happened at Wrestlemania and oddly enough, the two seemed to come to a common ground. They respect each other, but they simply don't like each other. Then, in a moment that will probably go down in wrestling history, Cena told Rock to "listen to the people" and accept a match with him. This was the payoff fans had been waiting for, but would it happen at Extreme Rules? That would seem kind of anti-climactic, no?
Of course it would be anti-climactic, and The Rock realized that too. He said that this match could only be done in one place, Wrestlemania! After a handshake that will live in infamy, the first match for Wrestlemania 28 was set. It will be a clash of generations, a dream match to many (and a money match for Vince McMahon), as The Rock and John Cena will finally face each other in a ring!
It makes a lot of sense. Miami is a place that The Rock calls home. He played his college football there and has always referred to it as a place that is close to his heart. So wouldn't it be fitting for The Rock to have his last big match in front of his family and friends, and probably have a tie-in with his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame? Even better, John Cena should induct him, leading to the next night's festivities!
Let's take a step back though. Six months ago, did ANYONE think that The Rock would ever step foot in a WWE ring again, let alone wrestle in one? Even a month ago, the common thought was that if Rock wasn't going to climb in the ring at Wrestlemania, he was never going to do it again. Has there ever been an instance where we were all so glad to be wrong?
I guess this year's style of waiting until after the Royal Rumble to even remotely start Wrestlemania storylines is out the window. We now have a match made for next year's show a year in advance! It will be hard to maintain excitement for it over a full year, given this is the age of instant gratification, but I have a suggestion. Ignore it until Survivor Series.
What the WWE needs to do is let The Rock ride off in the sunset for now. Continue on with your programming without The Rock. Nothing can be gained by him being there and him wrestling anyone else before Cena would kill much of what is so special about this match. Every now and again, Cena could be portrayed as "distracted" due to the match on the horizon, and heels can use this to their advantage. Announcers can speak about the possibility of a heel injuring Cena and how this could end the dream of having Rock vs. Cena at Wrestlemania 28. Little mentions will work, but The Rock can't be there. I'd even suggest that Cena gets the title somewhere around September/October only to lose it a month or two later with Rock looming on the horizon. Once November rolls around, the program can be talked about more, as at that point the more hype, the better.
Barring an injury, the WWE can't screw this up. This is maybe the biggest match since Hulk vs. Andre. Yes, it has something on Hogan vs. Rock in the sense that Rock is still under 40 and can conceivably still put on a good match with Cena. Hogan was almost 50 when he returned and while Rock tried to get a great match out of him, what you got was a spectacle that masked a very average contest.
This on the other hand can be great. It is a spectacle, it is a dream match, and it can be utterly fantastic. I can't believe we are sitting here in April talking about NEXT year's Wrestlemania, but Kudos to the WWE for getting this done. I can't tell you how exciting this news is, but I can tell you that the liklihood of the MouthoftheSouthShore.com crew going to Miami for next year's show has gone up dramatically. We were planning on it anyway, but now with this match in tow, who could possibly pass up on it?
Stay tuned for more news from last night's Raw and make sure to follow me on Twitter at @FanVsFanMotSS for news and generally amusing commentary.
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