It Only Happens Once In A Lifetime.
We’re finally here! We’re standing at the brink, looking out as WrestleMania 28 draws closer and closer on the horizon. It’s just around the corner and the tension has reached a boiling point. It’s been a long, long time since we’ve seen two superstars with a real dislike for each other lock horns, but if that was the price to pay in order to see John Cena take on The Rock, the wait was well worth it! People say this match is one year in the making, but in reality it goes way before that. This rivalry is rooted deep, and is more real than we’d like to believe. The time for talk is over, and the score of scores will be settled this Sunday when one of these icons walks out of Miami as the winner of arguably the biggest match in WWE history!
We’re finally here! We’re standing at the brink, looking out as WrestleMania 28 draws closer and closer on the horizon. It’s just around the corner and the tension has reached a boiling point. It’s been a long, long time since we’ve seen two superstars with a real dislike for each other lock horns, but if that was the price to pay in order to see John Cena take on The Rock, the wait was well worth it! People say this match is one year in the making, but in reality it goes way before that. This rivalry is rooted deep, and is more real than we’d like to believe. The time for talk is over, and the score of scores will be settled this Sunday when one of these icons walks out of Miami as the winner of arguably the biggest match in WWE history!
I’ve said it before and I will very proudly say it again. I’m with The Rock on this one. Call it Team Bring It, call it The People, call it anything you see fit…it really doesn’t matter. At the end of the day I will watch this match with the hope that The Rock has come back not to lift someone’s else’s career up, but to redefine his own. Did he go to Hollywood? Yes. Did he leave for 7 long years? Yes. Was I frustrated that he left in the peak of his prime? Sure I was. But over the years I have learned to appreciate The Rock for his contributions to the company, and respect the fact that he left safe territory in search of new success; something only the brave would dare do. He broke the stigma of pro-wrestling-actors being doomed to be massive flops. He wanted success, and he made sure he achieved it. And just when he’s no longer called The Rock and just when his career is truly taking off, he decides to come back to his home turf as The People’s Champion, and even signed on for “one more match”; something that he did not have to do. Did he make a bunch of craptastic movies? Most definitely. But he stuck by his goals, and slowly but surely reached superstardom by becoming a fan-favorite action star.
I’ve been a fan ever since the Attitude Era and I’ve waited for The Rock to return for years, so there’s literally no way I’m jumping bandwagons at this point. Tell me all the stories about The Rock leaving to Hollywood after ‘Mania. Tell me all the tales of how he left, and how he’s rusty, and how he uses wrist-notes, and how he doesn’t bust his ass as much as the boys and girls backstage. At the end of the day, every superstar has their personal lives and motives. I don’t know The Rock in person, and I don’t need to. All I know is a superstar I cheered for as a kid has come back to take names, kick ass, and entertain like only he knows how, and that’s all the info I really need to be at the edge of my seat this Sunday.
I don’t really care that much about the business aspect of The Rock’s return, although it’s no secret that he has brought a lot of media buzz for WWE of late. When it comes to childhood heroes and iconic matches, I watch the angle play out as a mark. It’s really the best way to enjoy the ride.
Do I think John Cena is a worthy opponent? Sure I do. I may not like him as a superstar, but I’ll admit that the guy has bucked-up lately. It doesn’t matter what I or anyone else thinks; Cena is and will always be the top-dog of this era. He may not be as popular as Hulk Hogan or Stone Cold or even The Rock, but he carried the company the best he could and that’s respectable. I may not like his promos or the way he builds his matches, or even the way he wrestles, but that really doesn’t change the fact that this match is one for the ages. It’ll be embedded in the collective memory of wrestling fans for decades to come as one of the greatest rivalries of all time. A superstar from the ‘era that just won’t quit’ versus a superstar that ‘redefined the current generation’. It’s beyond huge. I have a feeling we’ll see a side of Cena that we have never seen before this Sunday, and that’s because in a match like this every bar has to be raised. There is no doubt that John Cena is the perfect reason for The Rock to have come back, and come April 1st, win or lose, both these men will be immortalized at the Grandest Stage of Them All.
By the way, that Cena pose above is courtesy of VKM and WCFR. Thanks a mil, guys!
The anticipation for this match is unbelievable. There are more WrestleMania 28 wallpapers to come, but to get into the hype for the main-event of this year’s massive show, download this wallpaper of The Rock vs John Cena, fittingly titled “Once In A Lifetime“!