Redemption vs Greatness

[Mac Attack]

As Prison usual, I will write my thoughts and predictions on each particular match at WrestleMania and I decided to start with the one that people care about the most right now. That’s right I’m talking about The Rock vs. John Cena.

Let me start this post off by saying that this match is one I am not looking forward to. The reason being behind this is that I do not feel it will be better than the first one, and even more concerning is that I feel the build-up to this match will be nowhere as good as last year. In addition I feel that the expectations for the build-up will not be met. And yes I am indeed blaming the Great One, The Rock. I have no doubt that we will be seeing pre-recorded promos for the Rock in the coming weeks and I feel this is not a good thing. John Cena is best when he interacts with others, John Cena is not as good when he goes on miniature rants on how this is the most important match he has so far, and that he’ll never give up and overcome all his past failures. So having the two not be at the same place at the same time for four weeks in a row will hurt this program.

However, I have another problem with the booking of this match and that is that it feels more predictable than an Undertaker Streak match. Everyone knows John Cena is going to win. It’s clearer than ever. It’s been far too long having no WWE champion at house shows, in 4 weeks it will be too long without having a WWE champion at a live show too. Now before everyone jumps on me there is some positivity in the next paragraph.

There’s one small possibility of hope that can arise from this match. That comes from The Rock being tentatively scheduled for Extreme Rules. Now it is clear that he will be turning in his rematch clause in order to be on the event but the red flag is currently hoisted very high. Why have a second match with Cena with virtually the same build-up? I know I’m not alone in this opinion but it seems like John Cena will be turning heel somehow at Mania. Then the rematch at Extreme Rules makes a ton of sense. I have been advocating NOT for John Cena to turn heel however I feel in this scenario it would work….well too. I understand the risk in the drop of merchandise sales, however if they build Cena up right I feel that there will be those fans that will easily purchase heel Cena merchandise. In addition, when evaluating risk vs. reward I feel that the increase in viewers and ratings will actually increase the WWE’s bank account and not hurt it.

In summary I am not thrilled for this match to occur as I feel the initial response will be underwhelming. With that being said it is indeed The Rock vs. Cena so In the end you know it will be good, but you can also deduce it can just be underwhelming. However if it wasn’t clear after reading all that my prediction is on the bottom….

Winner and New WWE Champion John Cena

 

[Mac Attack]

Next I'm going to work on Swagger vs Del Rio.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Cena is not turning heel at WM. For him to turn heel, that would almost necessitate The Rock to win the potential rubber match at Extreme Rules. With normal superstars that's not always the case, but this IS the The Rock we're talking about. There's always the point - and a valid one at that - that putting a heel Cena over Rock would get Cena supremely over as a heel. That's true, but I still have a very hard time seeing The Rock moving on past losing to a heel Cena twice and wrestling someone else at SummerSlam, which he will reportedly be at.

And also, predictability does not always mean bad. It's better to be predictable and make sense, than to throw in a random swerve and not make sense. Just ask Vince Russo. All that is required is a good story to suck people in. Look at Cena vs Punk on Raw. Many people predicted Cena would win. Did that make the story in the ring any worse?

 

[AndThat'sTheBottomLine]

I agree with you because we've seen this same old song and dance before only it was for an entire year. The only thing is instead of Cena talking about trying to win the biggest match of his life, he's talking about basically getting his win back and then some at Extreme Rules. I don't look forward to the build up and the only possible saving grace is maybe the match will be good but I won't get my hopes up for that.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I agree with you because we've seen this same old song and dance before only it was for an entire year. The only thing is instead of Cena talking about trying to win the biggest match of his life, he's talking about basically getting his win back and then some at Extreme Rules. I don't look forward to the build up and the only possible saving grace is maybe the match will be good but I won't get my hopes up for that.

Cena and Rock can create a good buildup if it's told properly. But I don't think it's possible to be better than last year simply because it was an entire year in the making. While things didn't heat up until the last month or so, it was something that was always hanging over them for the 11 months prior.

As for the match, I don't see it being 5 stars by any means. You'll never get a Savage/Steamboat match from Rock/Cena. But you will get a Hogan/Warrior type match, same as last year. It won't be a technical masterpiece, but you'll have an atmosphere that's big enough to trump all that.

 

[AndThat'sTheBottomLine]

Cena and Rock can create a good buildup if it's told properly. But I don't think it's possible to be better than last year simply because it was an entire year in the making. While things didn't heat up until the last month or so, it was something that was always hanging over them for the 11 months prior.

As for the match, I don't see it being 5 stars by any means. You'll never get a Savage/Steamboat match from Rock/Cena. But you will get a Hogan/Warrior type match, same as last year. It won't be a technical masterpiece, but you'll have an atmosphere that's big enough to trump all that.

True. I daresay Cena had his best match ever on Monday Night RAW but that was CM Punk. The Rock could wrestle a technical watch with the best of them but his conditioning isn't what it used to be. He may be built like a brick shit house but that means nothing without good cardio. But it will be another big fight feel especially for those of us that live in the moment. It's obvious Cena wins but again, people will watch it, and most of the IWC will bitch about it, myself included.