The Rock vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship
Mike Killam:
The build for this WWE Championship match is bad. Really, really bad. Two weeks out, the Rock delivered his signature move on Cena in front of a who’s-who of Hall of Famers. That was great! John should have come out this week on Raw embarrassed and vulnerable. Make me believe this is more than just the stereotypical Rock/Cena pissing contest that exists SOLELY to make another truck load of money. Instead, the two “bitter rivals” didn’t even come in contact with each other, six days before the main event of the biggest PPV of the year. This is what I’m paying $60-70 for this weekend, essentially:
Cena’s promo: I respect the Rock, but I’m going to win because my life sucks. Catchphrase.
Rock’s promo: Catchphrase. Catchphrase. Catchphrase. Random story. Catchphrase.
Come on WWE. If you’re going to slowly drain me of all my cash over time, at least pretend like you’re putting some effort into the process.
Nick Paglino:
The prediction here is pretty simple, John Cena wins. It’s WrestleMania, it’s the company’s top baby face, it’s for the WWE Title, and Cena lost last year. There is no way Cena loses this match. But again, much like with ‘Taker vs Punk, all the predictability of this match could be forgiven if WWE had given us a story line build worth getting excited about. This is a story line that has been 2 years in the making! 2 years! Yet it feels dull, flat, and mostly uninspired because of one fundamental problem. One of the 2 guys participating in the main event hardly bothers to show up on TV. This really isn’t brain science here; you can’t maximize the interest level in a feud if one of the two wrestlers isn’t there. It’s that simple.
But in the end it doesn’t matter. The live gate for WrestleMania 29 already has the show drawing a historical amount of money, the PPV buy rate will be strong if not the strongest it has been in years, so whether the road to the PPV on the whole has been dreary this year, WWE is raking in the money, which explains any creative laziness. The names WrestleMania, John Cena, The Rock, The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, CM Punk and Triple H are money makers without story lines, WWE knows this, and has acted accordingly.
Prediction: WWE wins.
Josh Isenberg:
I can complain about the horrible build like everyone else, but I am going to go another way. Yes, we all know that John Cena is going to win, but how is he going to win? Will Cena show heel characteristics or will he stick to his usual gimmick. I really feel this would be a great time for him to slowly turn on “The People.” He started his face turn because the people loved him, but now they cheer for a guy who doesn’t show up for half of the Raw events heading into Wrestlemania. I want to see a great match here. They can make up for the bad build by a big moment in WWE history.
This has been two years in the making and needs to finally end. It has gone on too long, especially since they lacked the creativity to put on compelling television the past 3 weeks. Their shining moment was at Old School Raw, which seems forever ago. Cena wins, Rock loses, and I pray to God they do not have a third and final encounter a year from now.
Brian Gulish:
Once in a lifetime was true, last year was a non-title bout, this year is for the WWE Championship. John Cena has had his ups and downs the past 2 years and now, he is ready to once again be the face of the WWE. Could be a heel champ, could be a face champ, doesn’t matter. The Rock came back and did what he said he would do, become WWE Champ. It’s now time for him to return to Hollywood. I see this being a great match, with great respect from both men and, in the end, learning from his mistake of cockiness last year, John Cena is all business as he defeats the Rock with an AA for the WWE Championship.
Bill Pritchard:
I don’t care about this match much. It doesn’t need the title involved, and they barely mention it being a title match. It’s all about Cena’s ‘redemption’ and Rock’s greatness; I still don’t care. I liked the segment last Monday, but this has been just promo after promo. I have been saying this for a while, but I see Rock winning, Cena getting angry and attacking him, and Dolph Ziggler comes out and cashes in on the Rock. Yes, Dolph will cash in on the Rock; they will find some way to ignore the blue briefcase stipulation and they will send the fans home shocked, and Dolph will get his moment.
