The minds behind WWE wrote themselves into a corner, but seem to have gotten themselves out of their self-induced choke-hold. Wrestlemania 27 aired this past weekend in front of a crowd upwards of 71,000 in Atlanta, Ga. While the biggest wrestling event of the year has now passed, the fallout is underway.
Wrestlemania
The Rock, of course, hosted this year’s Wrestlemania, the event that the WWE had been building up to for a couple of months. Aside from a few highlights, the show lacked anything special. There was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that couldn’t have been predicted and, most importantly, not a whole lot of fan excitement.
What I did like seeing was the first match right out of the gates: World Heavyweight Champion Edge defending his title against Alberto Del Rio.
Edge was a wrestler I used to have a minor appreciation for, but since my return to watching the WWE, I really couldn’t have cared less about his title defense against some new guy with his own ringside announcer and a nice car.
However, the match was exciting to watch and kept my attention throughout. Edge ended up keeping his title in what was a great start to the show.
The Rock opened the night with a 15-minute long speech, riling up the crowd, which was electrifying as always, but then his role in Wrestlemania dwindled somewhat. We saw him a few times backstage with some very random special guests (Pee Wee Herman), which was humorous, but pointless, and clearly just an attempt to get a few laughs from the audience.
It worked to some extent, but was disappointing in terms of how The Rock’s hosting abilities were utilized.
The Michael Cole vs. Jerry “The King” Lawler match was much worse than expected. Much, much worse. I didn’t expect very much, since one has always been just an announcer and the other hasn’t wrestled in years, but the entire match was horrid.
I’m not alone on that one, because the capacity crowd at the Georgia Dome started chanting “boring” at one point. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the guest referee, but his role in the match was limited until the very end, when he handed out multiple “stunners” to unsuspecting victims.
I would have loved to see this entire plot line end right there at Wrestlemania, but unfortunately it will go on, as displayed by the events which took place the following night on Monday Night Raw.
The match of the night was, by far, Triple H pitted against The Undertaker and his 18-0 Wrestlemania record. Matches like this one are the reason people watch WWE.
It was grueling, entertaining and even shocking.
Undertaker won in the end, but the disappointing thing was seeing him being carted away from the ring. It is quite obvious that The Undertaker will now disappear for 10-11 months to deal with the “injuries” from this match, only to return for his next Wrestlemania match.
The Fallout
There are plenty of plot lines continuing on and branching off from Wrestlemania 27, but the only one worth dwelling on revolves around John Cena and The Rock.
After The Rock restarted the disappointingly awful title match between Cena and The Miz at Wrestlemania, he gave Cena a well-deserved “rock bottom,” and then finished The Miz off with a “people’s elbow.”
On Monday Night Raw, Cena called out The Rock and convinced “the great one” to agree to a match. The Rock obliged, saying that the epic fight will take place next year at Wrestlemania 28.
Now for those who didn’t already realize this, The Rock did not come back to the wrestling world for his legacy to be tarnished. That is reason enough to make it glaringly obvious that he will beat Cena, but what makes me even more convinced is that The Rock is from Miami.
Where is Wrestlemania 28 set to take place? Miami.
WWE has a knack for allowing star wrestlers to win a bout in their hometown. No need to worry, Cena fans, this match isn’t just going to be The Rock destroying Cena. This is WWE’s way out of a messy situation.
People love The Rock, and are iffy on Cena and his abilities. This match, which will take place in about 350 or so days from now, will be a great one.
It has to be. The Rock isn’t going to stick around forever, and even though he will win, it will be a match that will help gain Cena respect.
I expect it to be similar to this year’s Triple H vs. Undertaker match: one man wins, but you can’t help but root for and respect both of them.
Some may be upset that this match won’t happen until next year, but I’m fairly content with it. That means The Rock, in some capacity, will be around for at least a year longer than I expected him to be.
He can continue his movie career while also appearing on Raw every once and a while to keep the fans happy.
This is a match that gives the people what they want. It will settle a plot line that once seemed like it had no solution. Cena was rapidly declining in popularity since the people’s champ returned, and had The Rock left the scene this quickly after Wrestlemania, the WWE would have no true superstar for people to root for. Now they can rebuild Cena’s image while maintaining The Rock’s.
I’m on board with this plan.
Cena and Rock, we’ll be seeing you next year in Miami.
Daniel Feingold can be reached at minaret.sports@gmail.com.
From a wrestlers perspective wm was horriable. Alberto del rio was red hot and they did not give him the belt after a well booked royal rumble. There was no money in the bank ladder match the wwe is is loaded with young developmental superstars who work there asses of at fcw and the couldn’t find one guy to go over and build a story around bs. Further more the rock who is no longer a weestler and has not been with the comPany for 7 years payed out both main eventers cena and miz pathetic no reason to remember wm 27
No mention of Snookie? She was the highlight of the night – Mad Skills in the squared circle!!
Couple of things wrong with the article but I’ll let it slide. Tell me is there a big wrestling fan base at ut?
oh and by the way @IrishJD hogan was heel at wrestlemania x8. i dont see the the rock turning heel and even if he does people will still love him more than that big fat bowl of fruity pebbles..
this pg crap sucks, and now i hear that vince is planning to take wrestling out of World Wrestling Entertainment which means that it will be only WWE or only entertainment. I would love to see the rock win next year but i fear thats not gonna happen, everything is too predictable these days i mean one can already tell whats gonna happen next year….cena’s gonna repeat the same 4 moves he knows 10 times and the rock is probably gonna use 40 different moves and yet cena will win and i will lose every last shred of respect that i have ever had for that man. oh and btw if the rock wins then that will probably be the best day of my life(or maybe one of the best days) a much better match for next year wouldve been the rock vs the undertaker , i mean either of them could win and both of them go home with tons of respect.if the undertaker wins the streak continues and he retires 😛 and if the rock wins the streak ends and the rock and the undertaker can both retire after the match and induct each other into the wrestling hall of fame because seriously by that time they would be the only two actual wrestlers left rest all would be homeless power rangers…
I know The Rock a very long time now since the late 90s, when I start to watched the WWF/WWE. He’s a good person with a lot of heart and his passion for greatness. The fans (including myself) love The Rock to see what he does in the mic or his in-ring skills abilities. Now of course John Cena, I give a lot respect for him too. But he is really tearing the WWE apart, because when after I saw Raw or SmackDown. I look up in the ratings and ppv buyrates, and it was sooo poorly. I miss the old John Cena(Doctor of Thuganomics), when he used to be cool back then. But now…he just…look like a superhero for kids. Now I do respect for the kids (of today) though. But the Cena fans needs to understand what wrestling is really about, man.
Take a good look from the Attitude Era, they had good popularity, good fanbase, good storylines, good talent superstars and divas (including: The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, The Undertaker, Kane, Mick Foley, Trish Stratus, Lita, Chyna, and so many others) and etc. That is really get you all hyped up and seeing good excitements whenever you watch Raw or SmackDown! on television, you know something is really going down.
Now take a good look from the Universe Era (I call it “Universe Era”, because the WWE keeps on refering to the fans as the WWE Universe.), they had some good talent superstars and divas and a lot of bad talent superstars and divas, bad fanbase, bad popularity, bad storylines, bad ppv buyrates, and etc. Now this is where you get really bored out of no excitements, no hyping up, no great building fueds, no blood, no chairshots, no sexuallity, no hardcore match types, and no dangerous stunts. That is why a lot of wrestling fans (including me) don’t like this era.
But anyway I just brought it out, so you can know what’s really going on from today in the WWE. Okay back to the Rock/Cena fued: The Battle of two Generations/Eras. You know three years ago…from 2008, the fans want The Rock to face John Cena at WrestleMania. But The Rock declined his wrestling match, because he is an hollywood actor right now. But he still loves his fans and the business (WWE) that he worked for in the past. Some of them said, “that is not going to happen.” Uhhh, did it happen at WrestleMania 25th Anniversary?…Nooo. Did it happen at WrestleMania XXVI?…Nooo. Did it happen on this year’s WrestleMania XXVII? Close, but nope. After the aftermath of WrestleMania XXVII, on WWE Raw. John Cena want The Rock to come out in the ring. The fans really wants to see this happen. John Cena speak the fans of what they really want to a…Rock/Cena match at WrestleMania.
The Rock accepts his challenge and they will clash each other at next year’s WrestleMania. Since this match will go down in history…this is what I (and everybody) wanted. Because I can’t wait to see The Rock wrestle against John Cena. Oh I almost forgot…next year I’ll be at the age of 21. So this might be my last and fifth favorite WrestleMania in WWE history. My first favorite WrestleMania is: WrestleMania X-Seven (17) from 10 years ago in 2001. Also…I wonder if the WWE going to induct The Rock (my first favorite wrestler of all time!!) and Trish Stratus (my first favorite diva of all time!!) to the Class of 2012 Hall of Fame induction ceremony next year since WrestleMania XXVIII is GOING to be located at Miami, Florida (The Rock’s hometown).
This is a passing of the Torch Match, So The Rock is going to lose sadly. I got respect for John Cena but I am a Rock Fan. Anyway it’ll be a great match, and Cena will come out on Top. Anyone who disagrees…take a look back at Wrestlemania 18 and watch The Rock vs Hulk Hogan. Which is fine by me.
did cena win or not