What would it mean for Wrestlemania if Cena was injured?

[owen9110]

WWE have spent an entire year building one of the biggest feuds in recent years for this years Wrestlemania. Undoubtedly Rock vs Cena is one match every fan will want to see however my question is what would have happened if Cena or even The Rock was unable to compete?

Would they scrap the entire year's worth of promoting or would you think they would get somebody else to go one to one with the great one- would anyone else be able to step up?

What do you think?

 

[Spunky]

My guess would be that the match would be postponed until Cena was injured and The Rock was free. I can't see anyone taking his place at this point because this match seems like a Hogan vs Rock match, the icons of two different generations clashing. Cena is the face of this generation, and at this point in time no one else can be uttered in the same breath.

That hurt to say...

 

[Tattooed Jesus]

I think Rock would have to still face someone at WM28 as it is going to be from his hometown and they would probably hold off Cena/Rock until Cena was injury free, hopefully by Summer Slam playing up the whole "hollywood" angle between the two.

As for who The Rock would potentially face, I would put money on HHH or The Miz. It has to be someone that The Rock could beat because him losing to anyone prior to facing Cena would make the match mean less.

He could beat HHH and HHH wouldn't look any worse for the wear. He could beat Miz and still make Miz look good, giving Miz a decent Mania Rub from the Great One. Other than those two I don't think anyone else facing The Rock prior to Cena would work at all.

 

[The Eighties]

They couldn't just scrap The Rock wrestling as then they'd be in a position where they'd most likely have to offer refunds and would lose their key buyrate attraction.

I know he said he was definitely retired for good but my guess would be that Vince would ask HBK to come out of retirement for the match and he would accept, as when it comes to dream match lists HBK vs The Rock is at the top of many peoples.

The next option would be throw lots of money at Brock Lesnar to wrestle The Rock, although how much either would be on Raw to promote the match is questionable.

The only other option would be Triple H given their history, but it would lack the appeal that a dream match is supposed to have as they have had so many PPV matches.

I don't think Austin would do it as I think if he does "One last match" it will be where he's the center of attention, not sharing the comeback spotlight.

 

[Azane]

Won't change much unless he's severely injured, Rock Cena is already going to be a pretty slow paced match to make up for the fact that Dwayne is a movie star, not a wrestler, and ring rust pretty much kills the idea of a competitive athletic match.

Cena can wrestle injured and hardly miss a step on this.

Replacement if he's hurt enough
Orton, he's the closest thing to Cena.

 

[thebarber]

great question, would be crushing. But I really think they could easily step up Randy Orton. Two third generation superstars, have accomplished as much as each other in WWE. orton could EASILY revert back to Legend Killer mode and play the heel. Would like to see a month or so build up if Cena was to get injured. But Orton could fill the void easily and if booked right, would make for a much better storyline,imo.

 

[JJ15776]

A large part of this would depend on how close to WrestleMania Cena gets hurt. Obviously, if it's the week before, they wouldn't have time to do anything...but if it's, say at the Royal Rumble or the Elimination Chamber?

Rock would still fight somebody. They could simply go with the closet thing to Cena today, which would be Randy Orton or CM Punk...or they could go the 'up and coming' route, somebody like Miz or Barrett. I don't really see the point of Triple H or Austin, honestly.

Or they could go HUGE. There's three options for opponents that could match the hype and anticipation of Rock vs. Cena.

Have The Rock come out and talk about all he's done in the wrestling business, everybody he's beat, all the titles he's won, blah blah blah. But there's one thing he hasn't done...

A."I've never beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania." Rock vs. Undertaker sells itself. This depends on who they have lined up for Undertaker...if it's Brock Lesnar, I don't think they toss that away, but if it's Kane or Triple H, I think they'd plug The Rock in instead.

B."I've never wrestled Shawn Michaels." I know HBK said he's done, but desparate times call for desparate measures, and I think if anything could make him come out of retirement for one more match, this would be it.

C."I've never beat Brock Lesnar." Lesnar ended Rock's last WWE title reign and broke his record of youngest ever WWE champion. Again, if Lesnar is scheduled to fight Undertaker, this option goes out the window. But if he's available, I think they'd throw a ton of money at him to come back for this match.

Rock/Cena would still happen at some point...when might depend on how severely Cena is hurt. Would they do it at SummerSlam? Or save it for WrestleMania 29?

My guess is Rock would fight CM Punk at WrestleMania 28 and John Cena at WrestleMania 29.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I think there are 2 options if that happened, one would be Jericho... The two could have a great match and more to the point carry a verbal feud in a few promos, the "full circle" thing would come into play with Jericho saying "when I came in it was you asking who I was... now I've proven who I am...who are you these days?"

2nd option is Taker...

Either way Cena costs Rock the match to prolong the fued... and if they go with Taker it sets up another potential rematch for Rocky next year...

 

[Krossbreed]

The Rock verses CM PUNK now thats a match and feud i would wanna see. One guy who can talk smack the other who can make whatever he is saying seem ferociously shocking.

Maybe before wrestlemania 2013 cm punk can do a promo calling out the rock...or austin...

but if cena cant perform at westlemania there really isnt anyone else on cenas level who would draw money other than cm punk, maybe chris jericho or go completely radical and pick a name out the hat like randy orton..who could use this a character changer to go heel.

 

[OutsiderDX]

That means WrestleMania just got BETTER. CM Punk will take the spot that he deserves and will close out WrestleMania.

It means i would actually want to watch the Main Event for the first time in years.

It means Cena won't be able to bore the F out of us.

It means we dont have to worry about him botching the finish to another WrestleMania match, like he did with Edge and Big Show.

It means, i will have reason to go to church... and pray that he stays injured.

 

[mrpops]

Cena would still wrestle no matter how injured he is. I dont care if he has a broken back, he would still do the match. He would have to literally die to not do the match.

Seriously, people in his positition have always sucked it up and said fuck it and did their job. They are NOT going to fuck this up. Shawn wrestled with a broken back. Stone cold still wrestled fucked up. Edge wrestled with a broken neck. Brock wrestled with broken ribs for months on end. Theses guys dont give up.

This match is happening no matter what unless one of them dies.

 

[Krossbreed]

cena is no longer the man in wwe ...cm punk is...this is the point in cenas career that he either takes time off, go do movies or gets legitamately injured...but the feeling i get is cena is hogging the spot light but people really want to see someone new rise to that level...obviously the fans wnna push new people look what was happening with ryder...wwe had to write him off the show for a while to keep there original plans in tact because the fans wanted to re write the plans... when seth and ambrose get there debuts cena cant be the top guy he cant even be in the picture...the next wave of wwe needs to see real wrestlers who have realistic move sets...not that hulk hogan/ cena b.s.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Something got Jericho back... and I think it's the promise of Cena taking a step back after Mania and him getting to share the spotlight with Punk... Jericho has no reason to be back except that massive run he never quite got... Vince has no reason to use him on his terms other than that...

 

[Suibon]

If Cena gets injured, say, just after the Rumble, then creative could at least apply a stopgap solution to save face and book a match involving Rock and either the Undertaker or CM Punk - where at least you could make a sensible angle about the Rock not beating the Deadman or the Rock hating Punk's guts, and make it work as well.

However, if Cena has a mishap a few weeks or days before Wrestlemania and cannot compete as a result... time to bring in Kane or Triple H, who at least put on a great show alongside Taker, storyline or no.
​

 

[Aeon Mathix]

Well after Vince unhooks the noose off of his neck and steps off the chair after hearing the news of Cena's injury, there is only one match that could ALMOST rival Cena vs Rock

The Rock Vs Undertaker

They could really build up the whole 20-0 storyline which is indeed a huge deal in of itself. Other than Taker, I don't see what other big match is available for Rock to do at Mania. The Miz should never close out Wrestlemania again after what happened last year and is not even close to Rock's level. Neither is Punk. Hell nobody is on Rock's level besides Triple H and Cena. Undertaker was never as big as Rock, but Taker has that legendary aura surrounding him and Mania is basically HIS show so why not?

No matter what though, god forbid Cena gets injured, we all know Cena and his drive. He will work the match come hell or high water. I'd even venture to say if he gets paralyzed from the neck down he would still do it

 

[Ballin247]

Rock could face Michael McGillicutty. It would be the most electrifying man in sports entertainment history vs. that guy that wears his hat backwards. lol. It would be the greatest third generation star vs. arguably the worst third generation star. Complete opposites. The match would be over in 35 seconds but it would be funny.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Punk would step into that role nicely. I mean there are some RUMORED real life tension between the two and heading into 'Mania this feud could generate some great momentum and buzz.

Taker is a great choice. Probably his last match and he goes one-on-one with a legend like The Rock. Works out fine.

 

[mesl]

I think they'd pull the rock too... Can't face CM Punk (Rock can't win the belt), can't face the Undertaker (Rock can't win), can't be Rock vs. Austin (Austin would want some prep time).. The only possible option would be Rock vs. Jericho, maybe a HHH.. but the care factor would drop by 10x

The more comdeic scenario would be if Rocky bailed for movie reasons.... Seriously with a 12month build up then pulling out at the last minute, we would never hear the name Rock mentioned again on WWE TV.. He'd become the new Benoit

 

[TheHeartbreakPunk]

i dont think they would cancel the match, because if its in the rocks hometown, it would be pointless. The person i would put in for the match is the miz.They had some problems going into wrestlemania, so it would make the most sense.

 

[#hamler]

If Cena somehow were injured, the WWE would likely book around it. Depending on the severity of the injury, I believe Cena would push himself to have a match with Rock. If a bad enough injury arises, CM Punk, The Miz or any other WWE Superstar will likely be booked to face The Rock. It would require some build up, so perhaps a superstar he already possesses some chemistry with; Triple H, Undertaker, The Miz just to name a few. I don't think the WWE would waste the opportunity to get The Rock in the ring at Wrestlemania in his hometown; the pay-per-view buys are too promising to pass up.

cena is no longer the man in wwe ...cm punk is...this is the point in cenas career that he either takes time off, go do movies or gets legitamately injured...but the feeling i get is cena is hogging the spot light but people really want to see someone new rise to that level...

Has it ever occurred to you that The Rock actually had the luxury to chose his opponent for his returning match? Why wouldn't The Rock pick the top superstar of the WWE? Why wouldn't The Rock pick an opponent who can draw and gain enough Pay-per-view buys? Cena will do that. Cena isn't hogging the spotlight at all. He's purely featured in a match with one of the biggest stars of the '90's. Cena deserves it. Punk does not.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Like Shawn Michaels (Wm14) and Kurt Angle (WMXIX) before him I am sure Cena will find a way how to work through the injury for WM. They will probably limit Cena's in ring involvement to a promos and quick squash matches. I doubt Cena is going to pass this up due to injury, facing The Rock at WM28 is a match of a lifetime for anyone.

 

[DirtyD79]

If Cena were too injured to wrestle it would certainly throw a major spanner in the works. This is the match they're building the pay per view around. if that hapened you would have to insert somebody who is either a current champion or immensely over. If not a champion it would have to be someone like Triple H or Undertaker.

 

[theBec2101]

Good thread. It would be a huge blow to the wwe. But at least they have undertaker opponent. The Rock vs The Undertaker. I'd watch or even The Rock vs HHH (they had some great matches in the day) also Orton and the Rock would be good and also CM Punk cause he was talking alot shit too on the Rock.

 

[Dagger Dias]

WWE would be in rather big trouble if Cena got injured. It would mean the loss of the match they have been promoting an entire year in advance. I'm sure that they are smart enough to not put him in any matches that can potentially injure Cena to the point that he would no longer be able to compete against The Rock. Obviously he is not invincible so preventing an injury is not always 100% possible, but if it did happen then WWE would need to immediately find a replacement, as the show must go on.

The best outcome would be to use someone currently on the roster rather than bringing back another legend to face The Rock if Cena got injured. Punk will likely be in one of the world title matches, so he's out. The same can most likely be said for Bryan. Randy Orton could do it, the only problem there is that he is not as big of a star as Cena so it would not be as big of a deal as Cena VS The Rock is going to be. I hope it will still happen and that Cena manages to stay injury free between now and then for that reason. There's also The Miz too, given that there is some history from last year's Wrestlemania although I'd go with Orton if a replacement had to be made.

 

[rocksaviour]

I would go for Punk or Orton if the worst thing happened to Cena.

For Punk it would be getting the belt off him and then perhaps Rock screwing him out of getting a rematch for Mania and the next week coming out and saying that he hates Punk's whining and anything he does isn't half as good or as memorable as how he did it back in the 90s then Punk says Rock is washed up and left the WWE Universe to go and give Hollywood a try etc etc. Perhaps have Austin come out on the night and screw one of them.

For Orton I would play off the 3rd generation thing and that Rock's last Mania match, he lost to him (being Orton) in a handicap match and then the next month he took out Foley (say maybe it was Foley's last 'great match') and after all this time he has wanted to do the same to Rock. Maybe get both of their fathers involved in the buildup and on the night as well.