Considering how/why Hogan couldn't have wrestled a big match after 2010, lets consider 2006-2010 as the only time where this match could've happened. Once considering that, how would you have wanted it to happen?
Here are a few ideas:-
I- Face John Cena as a modern-day American Hero vs Hulk Hogan as the original American Hero, face of the WWE, etc.
II-A full-blown heel John Cena, with every gangster, thug, rapper element in his character exploded to the fullest trying to put down Hogan as an abomination to Wrestling. Every week, he'd come out and try to tell Hogan why he sucks, how his family has been ruined, how his daughter is a no-talent "****", etc. It'd get more personal than anything.
One week, Cena would even come out and rap about Hogan's sex tape and mock him. This would of course be a temporary heel phase for Cena , just as it was for Shawn Michaels for one month before Summerslam.
The result of the match hardly would've mattered, because it'd have been more of a Past vs Present, Old vs New, Grandpa Hogan vs Cena in his prime. Their confrontations on Raw would've been huge and the match probably would have surpassed Hogan vs Rock, Hogan vs Michaels, and Hogan vs Orton.
Your thoughts? I can't think of any other way to book it, except the two choices.
Firstly, Hogan-Cena would be nowhere near Hogan-Rock. It would've been on par with Hogan-Michaels as a distant, distant second. Hogan-Orton? LOL. I have no idea why that's being mentioned here, but ok. That's not in Hogan's top 10 moments.
Secondly, you forgot the best, easiest, and most obvious situation: heel Hogan vs. face Cena. Of course, theses relative terms, as much of the crowd would cheer for both, just as they did during Rock-Cena. Cena would be a face to the new school crowd, while Hogan would be a face to the old school crowd. That's why turning Cena heel would make no sense, especially for one match. The people who boo him now would love him as a heel and start cheering him. But the new school crowd doesn't have the same affection for Hogan that they do for Cena. So you'd have half the crowd that likes both and half the crowd that doesn't care for either one. That's a mess. You turn Hogan heel, have him tell Cena how much he sucks, how he'll never be the face of the WWE, etc. and the people that boo Cena now will love him even more than they already do. And the fans that love Cena now will boo Hogan like crazy. It's the perfect situation.
But John Cena did have that Rapper gimmick before he became the face of the WWE and he should've used it much more while Rock vs Cena II. The Rock didn't need to be a heel to make things interesting. Cena did. And they failed. Same old hustle loyalty respect BS.
Anyways, Heel Hogan is hard to imagine. And also that way, you can't have Cena criticize him week after week , mock him using his rap, etc. Else it should be Face vs Face.
Why would Cena turn heel for his match against Rock? That makes absolutely no sense, for the same reasons I gave above. Right now, Cena is a face for half the crowd and a heel for half the crowd. Rock, just like Hogan, is a huge face for Cena's heel half while he doesn't appeal as much to Cena's face half. So it's a perfect matchup, as currently consistituted. When Cena turns heel, he's going to be a monster face for the people who boo him now, the same people who also consider Hogan and Rock monster face, while he'll be a monster heel for the people who cheer him now, the people who doesn't care so much for Hogan or Rock. It makes absolutely no sense to turn Cena heel, especially against Hogan or Rock.
And who cares if Cena can criticize Hogan? He doesn't need to, since like i I said before, Hogan will be criticizing Cena plenty. That sets it up perfectly for Cena to pin Hogan and 'prove himself' to everybody. If Cena is criticizing Hogan, then either Hogan needs to beat Cena, which is insanely stupid, or you have the heel (Cena) winning a big match at WrestleMania, which again is insanely stupid. Especially if Cena is only going to be a heel for one month. It'd be one thing if this was kicking off Cena's big heel run, which they don't want to do for obvious reasons, but having him bury Hogan for nothing? No. Just no. The face needs to win at Mania, which is maybe the biggest reasons Cena should be the face.
It's pretty easy to book. Hogan comes out, starts putting down Cena, says he can't hold his jock, he's not in his league, he will never be as big as Hulkamania, etc. Cena comes out, tells him they can settle it in the ring, cuts a few of his rap promos on Hogan(like he did with a Rock). Have some sort of face off/contract signing before WrestleMania where Hogan cheap shots Cena and gives him the ole leg drop. And then Cena wins at Mania, Hogan shakes his hand and raises his arm in celebration. Everybody's happy.
