The Rock Returns to WWE to Host Wrestlemania

Finally, The Rock has come back to WWE Monday Night Raw! And with that, The Rock has also come back to host Wrestlemania 27 this Sunday at 7 p.m.

The Rock made his triumphant and electrifying return to the wrestling world in Anaheim in mid-February. He had been gone for seven years. For seven years, wrestling fans didn’t get to hear his theme song blast from the speakers in arenas around the country, they didn’t get to see him smack talk or layeth the smacketh down on any jabronis and they didn’t get to see the people’s elbow, unless it was by means of Youtube videos of old footage.

It’s no secret where he has been. Whether you think any of his movies are good or not, he certainly has made his impact in the film industry over the past decade or so. I was pretty young when he was around in his prime. I was just a kid who was engrossed in the world of wrestling (back then it was WWF) and would always get my parents or my friends’ parents to fork over money for the Pay-Per-View events, the main one, of course, being Wrestlemania.

Simply put, I grew up watching The Rock and wrestling; it was a big part of my life for a few years a while ago. I say that it was a while ago because it has been a while since I was interested; try like seven years ago. See any parallels here?

Once The Rock left, I slowly lost interest, and eventually just stopped watching. Other big names, like Triple H, Kane and The Big Show were still around, but they simply just could not draw fan interest like The Rock could, and apparently still can.

So through those seven years, the WWE changed from a PG-13 rating to a PG rating. John Cena came around and essentially was implanted as the new face of the organization. He was there to attract more of a younger audience, and by looking at some of the fans in these various arenas, he accomplished that to a certain degree.

However, for whatever reason, Cena just didn’t seem likeable enough for wrestling fans. I had stopped watching, but I would see Raw or Smackdown on while flipping through the channels, and watch for a few moments.

I empathized with those fans, because nothing about the product was appealing to me anymore. Instead, it just made me miss the days when The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin joined teams, as well as the days when Stone Cold was bad and faced off against The Rock. Okay, so maybe Stone Cold was bad for just about a week and then that idea was scrapped. So, I went on Youtube and watched a few old clips.

I noticed a lot of fan-made promos for a non-existent match between The Rock and John Cena. With that, I saw a lot of negative comments towards Cena. I was fairly surprised at what I was reading, seeing as though Cena seemed to be the guy who took over after The Rock left.

That is why it actually comes as no surprise to me that, now that The Rock is back, the boos for Cena are louder than ever. I’m not positive on why exactly The Rock returned, but I can say for WWE and Vince McMahon’s sake, they should be pleased. When your apparent top wrestler, the man who you market the most, is getting heckled immediately after The Rock returns, then there’s something wrong. I have no reason to not like John Cena, seeing as though he is suppose to be on the good side, but it’s as if he might as well be the villain here.

The Rock came back after practically abandoning his fans for nearly a decade, and within seconds, he seemed to be forgiven. The deal is, Cena called out The Rock a few years prior for leaving his so-called “home” in wrestling to do movies. Fast-forward to 2011, and The Rock isn’t too happy with those comments.

Once The Rock spoke John Cena’s name into the microphone in Anaheim, it was made apparent who a majority of fans actually care about. I know that because I am an example of that fan, one of The Rock’s millions (and millions!) of fans around. I watch every week now just to become familiar with some of the names in the industry and the storylines developing leading up to Wrestlemania.

Bringing The Rock back was a fantastic marketing tool for WWE, as now they have more people watching. Sometimes The Rock isn’t on until the end of the show, or he may not be on at all, but I still watch. It gets me excited again, and it gets me reminiscing about a time during my childhood that seemed so long ago.

There have been lots of storylines constructed in the past few weeks, but none are greater than The Rock vs. John Cena vs. current WWE Champion The Miz. The Miz is the bad guy of the group, the one you love to hate.

Now keeping tabs of everything that has gone on the past six weeks, I’ve actually grown to appreciate The Miz. He is so excellent at being the bad guy, and that really hasn’t been done effectively since Triple H was bad, which was quite a while ago.

Speaking of which, Triple H and The Undertaker will be facing off at Wrestlemania, in a battle of likeable wrestler vs. likeable wrestler.

There is plenty of other stuff going on, but who really cares? The Rock is back and will be, in some capacity, involved in Wrestlemania. It will be the first one I’ve watched since probably 2002, but even with just my recent knowledge of the goings-ons in WWE, this year’s big event looks like it’ll be a great one.

Oh, and Snooki will be fighting as well.

Daniel Feingold can be reached at minaret.sports@gmail.com.