The Road to WrestleMania 29 Part 1: Twice in a Lifetime

Last year, WWE built WrestleMania 28 around one match.  This match being The Rock vs. John Cena, a match fans had been clamouring for ever since Rock and Cena started a little war of words way back in 2008.  The tagline for this match and for WrestleMania 28 was “Once in a Lifetime”.  Those four words easily sold that match to millions of fans both hardcore and casual alike.  It emphasized the importance and the significance of The Rock vs. John Cena.  That tagline made the match that much more special as it engraved in fans’ minds that Rock vs. John Cena will only happen once.  No return match, no second chances.  It made the stakes of the match that much bigger as there was only one chance for either icon to leave Miami with a victory over the other.

Here we are a year later and guess what is the main event of WrestleMania 29?  It is Rock vs. John Cena II, but now with the WWE Championship on the line.  I wonder who in WWE Creative thought of this gem.  Did anybody at WWE remember how they built the first Rock vs. John Cena match?  Does “Once in Lifetime” ring a bell?  It must have been one fast lifetime or WWE did not think that far ahead when they thought of that tagline.  I personally believe in the latter, but that does not excuse WWE from their laziness.  If there were plans to have John Cena and The Rock fight again (and considering they signed Rock to work WrestleMania 29 about a year ago, there most likely were), it would have been easier to rethink the tagline to “Match of the Decade” or “Two Eras Collide”.  Having this rematch diminishes the importance and significance of their first match in Miami and also their main event match this year at WrestleMania.  Everybody was satisfied with the match we got last year.  Yes, it did not live up to the enormous unrealistic expectations that I and many other wrestling fans put on it, but it was still one amazing match.  At no point in the last year did anybody think to themselves that Rock vs. John Cena II at WrestleMania 29 was a great idea.  We were all basking in the glory of CM Punk’s remarkable WWE Title reign and honestly I would love to see Punk in the main event of WrestleMania 29 still holding the WWE Championship over Rock vs. Cena yet again.  WWE could have put their three biggest stars in The Rock, John Cena and CM Punk in a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship and it would be better than another singles match between The Rock and John Cena.  It would be an excellent launching point for Punk’s heel persona over feeding him to Undertaker and the Streak, but sadly that match would not make as much money as Rock vs. Cena II definitely will.  Money is what WrestleMania has come down to now and drawing the most money has seriously trumped out providing quality wrestling these last few years.  Think back ten years to WrestleMania XIX.  That WrestleMania is forever remembered as one of the best top-to-bottom wrestling cards to ever take place on The Grandest Stage of Them All.  Now think about WrestleMania 29.  Will you be remembering it for the wrestling or the onslaught of rematches that nobody wanted?  The Rock vs. John Cena II will rake in the money in hoards, but in five, ten, even twenty years WWE, will we remember it? 

With the WWE Championship on the line and the lights on bright, WWE you need to bring your A game come WrestleMania 29.  If The Rock vs. John Cena II does not live up to or even come close to the first match, there will be a lot of disappointed and disgruntled wrestling fans that will not let you hear the end of it.  You better put on the match we should have gotten last year at WrestleMania because Rock vs. Cena II is your last shot.  You think people are upset with Twice in a Lifetime, just watch how people get upset when you try and pull Three Times in a Lifetime.  I dare you.

The Silver Report: July 15-21

After months of hype, counting down each and every leading up to it, the 1000^th episode is finally upon us.  This momentous occasion has plenty of fans including yours truly excited to the point that WWE NEEDS to deliver with this show.  Not only to kick off the next 1000 episodes off with a bang, but to convince every wrestling fan that Raw’s move to three hours is really worth it.  In all honesty, I am quite skeptical that WWE can put on a consistently watchable product with Raw being three hours each and every week.  They have a hard time keeping many interested through the two hour shows.  Things can easily drag when you have three whole hours to fill with content.  Hopefully that does not happen, but I am still worried.  With the DX Reunion, Brock Lesnar’s answer, the naming of the new GM, AJ & Daniel Bryan’s wedding, the Rock’s message, the Intercontinental Title match and CM Punk vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship, the 1000^th episode of Raw is definitely stacked.  We will just have to see how everything turns out come Monday night.  While a little worried, I personally cannot wait to see what happens.

CM Punk vs. John Cena, WWE Championship, Raw 1000

To nobodies’ surprise, John Cena won the WWE Championship Money in the Bank Ladder match last Sunday at Money of the Bank.  That left one question that lingered throughout last Monday’s Raw.  When and where will John Cena cash in his Money in the Bank contract?  We would not find out until the very end of the show.  After Big Show got disqualified from his very good match against CM Punk, John Cena made his way to ringside with the Money in the Bank briefcase in tow.  We got a nice little exchange between Cena and Big Show where the Giant played devil’s advocate.  He kept on trying to convince John Cena to throwaway all his morals and cash in the Money in the Bank contract right then and there.  Eventually Cena got fed up and announced he will be cashing in his Money in the Bank contract this coming Monday at the 1000^th episode of Raw before cracking Big Show in the head with the Money in the Bank briefcase.  CM Punk and John Cena have incredible chemistry.  No matter what outside force gets involved in the match, it should be a very entertaining contest.  While I would personally like if the match went on without a hitch, the plans are to have John Cena vs. CM Punk for the WWE Championship at Summerslam.  To get us to that point, something big has to happen at some point during this match to start us on the road to the WWE Championship rematch at Summerslam.  The Rock, Big Show, whoever it may be, whatever happens at the conclusion of this match should be big and hopefully send us to Summerslam in style.

Can You Smell What the Rock Has Cooking?

About two weeks ago, it was announced that the Rock would be on the 1000^th episode of Raw.  This announcement led to lots of speculation.  The last time the Rock was on Monday Night Raw, he promised to become the WWE Champion once again.  Most people, me included, believe that Rock will announce when and where he will be challenging for the WWE Championship because WWE would most likely want to promote the holy hell out of that match like they did for Rock vs. Cena.  My prediction is that the People’s Champ will announce that he will challenge for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29.  That could set up Cena vs. Rock II, Brock Lesnar vs. Rock or even CM Punk vs. Rock depending on who is holding the WWE Championship come WrestleMania.  Other possible events where Rock could challenge for the WWE Title are either Summerslam or Survivor Series.  One of the Big Four PPVs other than Royal Rumble (as the actual Royal Rumble match would overshadow this WWE Title match) would be perfect for a match of this caliber.  Maybe the Great One has something else completely different to talk about this coming Monday.  No doubt the whole wrestling world will be listening to what the Rock has to say the 1000^th episode of Raw.

He’s Here to Show the World

While John Cena won the WWE Championship Money in the Bank Ladder match, Dolph Ziggler won the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder match to the pleasure of yours truly.  Dolph finally has the one thing that could launch him to superstardom.  Now we just have to wait to see when WWE pulls the trigger, but until then we should see Mr. Ziggler hanging in upper card feuds.  One possible feud could be against Chris Jericho, who interrupted Ziggler’s victory speech last Monday on Raw.  Jericho came out and before he even got to speak, Ziggler jumped all over him.  Asking when was the last time Jericho won anything important and going on about how Jericho says he is the Best in the World and has done nothing in his latest run in WWE to prove it.  Dolph would continue to berate Jericho until the Liontamer shut the Show-Off up with a Codebreaker.  It was an excellent segment that planted the seeds for a match at Summerslam or even the 1000^th episode of Raw.  WWE could also put Ziggler into the World Title picture with Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and the returning Rey Mysterio for a Fatal 4 Way match at Summerslam, but that would not be preferred.  I personally think that Dolph Ziggler should stay as far away from the World Title picture for the time being so he has the element of surprise when he actually cashes in the briefcase and he can have time to establish himself as a main eventer before being handed the title.  At this point and time, it is key to have Dolph Ziggler in meaningful feuds with upper mid-carders to main eventers like Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio and Christian which raise Dolph’s stock with the fans and in the WWE locker room.  It is Dolph Ziggler’s time to show the world what he can do.  WWE, it is on you not to screw this up.

Once in a Lifetime: Review of WWE WrestleMania 28

When something is hyped up so much, it is extremely hard for it to live up all the hype.  John Cena vs. The Rock along with WrestleMania 28 had close to a whole year of hype, the only question was could it live up to this incredible amount of hype.  Built as the greatest WrestleMania of all-time, WrestleMania 28 was supposed to blow every wrestling fan’s expectations.  If you were hoping for WrestleMania 28 to be the greatest WrestleMania, you would have been incredibly disappointed.  If you kept your expectations realistic like yours truly, WrestleMania 28 was an entertaining show that was a little better than last years’ anticlimactic event. 

Where most of the big matches at WrestleMania 27 did not live to the hype, the top matches at WrestleMania 28 sure did other than Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus, which was only given 18 seconds.  John Cena vs. The Rock was great though the wrong guy went over, CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho started out a little slow then built into an incredible technical match with one incredible ending and last, but not least Undertaker vs. Triple H was just legendary, easily the Match of the Night and possibly the Match of the Year.  Undertaker vs. Triple H is well worth the price to buy this PPV on iTunes or on DVD, it is that amazing.  The rest of the card is hit or miss.  Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus was disappointing only because WWE gave them 18 seconds, Kane vs. Randy Orton was a good back-and-forth match, Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes was just plain boring, the Divas Tag Match was the definition of sloppy wrestling and Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy was a highly entertaining match that could have been a bit better if it went a little longer.  From top to bottom, WrestleMania 28 was a mixed bag, but overall an entertaining four hour wrestling PPV.  It is by no ways the greatest WrestleMania of all-time; also in no ways is it the worst. 

Sheamus def. Daniel Bryan to win the World Heavyweight Championship

Rating:  5/10

Kane def. Randy Orton

Rating:  7/10

Big Show def. Cody Rhodes to win the Intercontinental Championship

Rating:  5.5/10

Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos def. Beth Phoenix & Eve

Rating:  2.5/10

Undertaker def. Triple H in Hell in a Cell

Rating:  10/10

Team Johnny def. Team Teddy

Rating:  7.5/10

CM Punk def. Chris Jericho by submission to retain the WWE Championship

Rating:  9/10

The Rock def. John Cena

Rating:  9/10

Overall, WrestleMania 28 is a good entertaining PPV.  It did not live up to the massive hype that WWE put on it, but still pulled out to be a better show than my least favourite WrestleMania, WrestleMania 27.  The top three matches on the card all delivered in spades and should not be missed by any wrestling fan.  At the end of the day, WrestleMania 28 is worth watching or even owning on DVD or iTunes.  My rating for WWE WrestleMania 28 is 7.5 out of 10.

The Silver Report: April 1-7

Welcome to the Silverdome debut of the Silver Report.  Originally made up for my short stint contributing to the Tribal Wrestling website (where you can find all past Silver Reports), the Silver Report is where I will look at the biggest news in the wide World of Wrestling from the past week and give my two cents on each.  I have always wanted to bring the Silver Report to the Silverdome, but the timing did not feel right as there was always something big going on be it a big match, a big promo or for the last month the Road to WrestleMania 28 series.  With all the craziness WrestleMania season brings out of the way, it seemed that this week was the perfect week to bring the Silver Report to the Silverdome.  So from now on you will see the Silver Report posted each weekend except when there is a PPV to preview or a wrestling DVD/PPV to review.  Without any further delay, let us jump on into the crazy aftermath of WrestleMania 28.

Cena Gets Brocked!!

After all the year-long build, the Rock got the better of John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania, a surprising decision by WWE as you would think they would rather put over the current poster boy of the company than the guy who is not a full-time wrestler, but I personally am reserving judgment until I see things play out in the coming months.  Come Monday night for Raw, all eyes were glued to the screen as the WWE Universe waited to see John Cena’s reactions to his huge loss in possible the biggest match of his career.  Would John finally turn heel?  Would he get so desperate that he would immediately challenge Rock to a rematch?  Would he even call it quits?  All these questions and more swirled in the heads of every wrestling fan watching.  Everybody had their theory, but no one expected what Cena actually did.  The Face of the WWE came down to the ring and stayed true to his bland generic character.  Cena again rose above the hate and was humble in defeat to the point he asked Rock to come down to the ring for him to show the Great One some respect.  Well that did not happen as a familiar tune rang through the speakers and a familiar entrance video popped up on the Titantron.  The pain finally returned to the WWE and the crowd in Miami and fans around the world went nuts when Brock Lesnar walked on stage.  Brock made his ring to the ring and put out his arm to shake Cena’s hand.  Being the classy good guy, Cena went to shake Brock’s hand only to eat an F-5 from the Next Big Thing.  What started out as another run-of-the-mill promo from John Cena turned into an epic ending for what was an incredible episode of Monday Night Raw.  Even with the Rock, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Undertaker all leaving for the time being, this budding feud between the returning Brock Lesnar and John Cena should keep people glued to Raw for the next couple of months.

YES!  YES!  YES!

The opening match of WrestleMania 28 saw Daniel Bryan lose the World Heavyweight Championship to Sheamus in a whopping 18 seconds.  While WWE finally made winning the Royal Rumble mean something again, but at the expense of squandering what could have been an incredible main event level match and also snubbing Bryan and Sheamus for the second year in a row.  Daniel Bryan’s 18 second loss drew the ire of the hardcore wrestling fans as for the three matches preceding the opener and for the entirety of Raw they chanted Daniel Bryan along with dueling Yes/No chants.  Wrestling fans made their voices heard literally through these amazing chants.  Personally I am hoping these chants catch on with other crowds around the world as I want to hear them every single Raw, Smackdown and PPV.  Maybe with Daniel dumping AJ this past week on Smackdown see Bryan a more intense heel much like he was during his heel run in Ring of Honor.

CM Punk Meet Jack Daniels

CM Punk bested Chris Jericho on the big stage in Miami last Sunday night with the Anaconda Vice, but that was not the end of this personal feud.  After Punk lost to Mark Henry via count-out in a great TV WWE Title match, Jericho took advantage of a hurt Punk.  Chris Jericho grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels and poured it over the defenseless Punk trying to the Straight-Edge Superstar.  Drenched in booze, Punk came to only to get beaten down by Chris Jericho.  Jericho then took another bottle of Jack Daniels and bashed it against the back of Punk’s skull with a wince-inducing impact.  While Punk may have proved he was the Best in the World at WrestleMania, Jericho’s attack on Punk proved that this feud is long from over.  With things quickly escalating between Punk and Jericho, we should a big No Holds Barred WWE Title Match announced for Extreme Rules, which is being held in Punk’s hometown of Chicago, in the coming weeks and it should be good.

The Road to WrestleMania 28 Part 6: Once in a Lifetime

Well WrestleMania 28 is here.  Actually it’s happening right now as I write this quick preview.  Would have loved to do a whole in-depth preview today, but life happened and I got stuck at work much longer than I expected.  I will not be watching WrestleMania live this year as March has been an expensive month for me.  Just see my video game blog (silvergamebit.blogspot.ca) and you will know why.  I will be bringing you a short preview of WrestleMania 28 as the final part of The Road to WrestleMania 28 series.

WrestleMania comes once a year and no matter all the build, all the hype or lack thereof, you always get excited come WrestleMania Sunday.  WrestleMania is an event like no other and no other wrestling PPV or sporting event can compare to the majesty, the grandeur.  No matter if you like the product WWE offers or not, it pulls you in.  It consumes all us wrestling fans to the point that even if we are not watching we are frequently checking WWE.com or other wrestling websites for updates.  This year’s event is no different.  The card may not be as stacked as other years; the build has not been as great as in previous years.  The fact remains that we are all still excited to watch WrestleMania 28 for one sole reason, The Rock vs. John Cena.  The fact that we are mere hours away from this dream match becoming reality will give any wrestling fan goose bumps.  There are also three other main event caliber matches happening on the same card that will certainly rock the huge crowd in Miami and the millions watching at home.  The rest of the card does not look that great, but being WrestleMania WWE could pull out some big surprises for us fans.

Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Big Show for the Intercontinental Championship

Prediction:  Cody Rhodes retains

Randy Orton vs. Kane

Prediction:  Randy Orton wins

Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos vs. Beth Phoenix & Eve

Prediction:  Beth Phoenix & Eve win

Team Johnny (David Otunga, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre & the Miz) vs. Team Teddy (Santino Marella, R-Truth, Booker T, Zack Ryder, Kofi Kingston & Great Khali) to determine the General Manager of both Raw and Smackdown

Prediction:  Team Johnny wins and John Laurinaitus becomes GM of both Raw and Smackdown

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship

Prediction:  Sheamus wins the World Heavyweight Championship

CM Punk (c) vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship

Prediction:  CM Punk retains

Undertaker vs. Triple H in a Hell in a Cell Match with Shawn Michaels as Special Guest Referee

Prediction:  Undertaker wins

The Rock vs. John Cena

Prediction:  John Cena wins

All-in-all, WrestleMania 28 should be an exciting show no matter the outcomes.  Hope everyone who is watching right now enjoys.  I will watch it when it comes out on DVD.

The Road to WrestleMania 28 Part 4: The Best in the World

While WWE is focusing a lot on Rock vs. Cena and Triple H vs. Undertaker, the major heavyweight championships seem to be lost in the shuffle.  One feud in particular that is sadly getting little attention is CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho, self-proclaimed Best in the World vs. self-proclaimed Best in the World.  Things started out a bit rocky between Punk and Jericho, but they have consistently put on the best segments on Raw for the last month.  Their segments rival those between Shawn Michaels, Undertaker and Triple H and sure as hell beat Cena and Rock’s segments on Raw each week.  Today, we will be looking at both CM Punk and Chris Jericho and which one is the Best in the World.

 He has been wrestling for 20 years, has won over 30 championships and achieved many things few wrestlers even dream of such as beating the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same night to become the first WWE Undisputed Champion or winning the Intercontinental Championship a record nine times.  He has reinvented himself time and time again.  Going from Y2J to an egotistical hypocrite-hating heel to now a cocky veteran wrestler who believes everyone from the wrestlers in the back to the people in the crowd want to be him (Jericlones as he calls them).  He is a trend setter in the WWE and all of wrestling.  Just look at all the clean-dressed suit wearing heels in the WWE and other promotions since he made it popular back in 2008.  From the world of wrestling to music to television to even dancing, he has been the best at anything he does in and outside of the ring.  He is the challenger to the WWE Championship and the title of “Best in the World” in a couple weeks at WrestleMania.  His name is Chris Jericho and he is the best in the world at whatever he sets his mind.

He is the Voice of the Voiceless, the Cult of Personality and the current WWE Champion.  He has been considered upon one of the elite wrestlers in the world from his days in the Indies all the way to being a squandered talent in the WWE.  He has enough personality and charisma to play any character from a crazed cult leader to an outspoken punk.  He even turned his career in the WWE around with a microphone.  Now he is the new top dog in the WWE and he is not afraid to speak his mind about whomever.  He has lead two factions, the Straight-Edge Society and the New Nexus.  He is the fastest wrestler to become a Triple Crown Champion.  He is the only wrestler to win tow Money in the Bank Ladder matches and two in a row no less.  His name is CM Punk, the WWE Champion and currently the top dog in the WWE.

Considering that I am a big fan of both CM Punk and Chris Jericho, deciding which one is the Best in the World.  Chris Jericho has had a much longer career than CM Punk and has proved that he can do anything he sets his mind to and be the best at it.  CM Punk has been wrestling just over a decade and is now at the top of his game.  While Punk might not a multimedia superstar, this debate is about the Best Wrestler in World, not who is the Best Superstar of the World.  By a slim margin, it has to go to CM Punk.  He is the current WWE Champion, the top dog in the WWE and clearly puts on the best match and/or promo every time he is in the ring.  Also with CM Punk being much younger than Jericho, he has more potential to get better.  While Chris Jericho is a bone-fide first ballot WWE Hall of Famer right here, right now, CM Punk is in my opinion the Best in the World.

This week saw Jericho make things personal as he attacked Punk and his alcoholic father.  While some think it was not needed, I personally think it added a great new dynamic to this feud in the last couple weeks leading to WrestleMania.  If you have not been paying attention to this feud, you better start now because you will be in for a surprise come WrestleMania when Punk and Jericho steal the show.  Make sure to come back next weekend for the next installment in The Road to WrestleMania 28 series.  Next week will be my personal Top 10 WrestleMania Moments.

The Road to WrestleMania 28 Part 3: John Cena

As we continue on the long road to Miami, the Road to WrestleMania 28 series continues.  This week I pick up right where we left off.  I gave my opinions on the Great One, the People’s Champ, the Rock.  Here today will be the leader of the Cenation’s turn to run through my analysis.  As today, I will be discussing my opinions on the most polarizing person in WWE history.

Way back when I started following professional wrestling, I was a John Cena fan.  I enjoyed his charisma, his in-ring ability and his rapper gimmick.  It was fresh and for a 12 year-old boy, a character that he really seen before.  Also as a 12 year-old boy first starting to follow wrestling, I tended to side with all the faces.  At that time, if you were a heel, I hated you and if you were a face, I liked you.  It is kind of how everybody starts out.  Eventually as I got older and more mature, I started to care more who was the better wrestler and who entertained me more.  With that realization, I started cheering for superstars in the WWE that could actually wrestle no matter if they were face or heel.  After a while, I realized that John Cena was not that good of a wrestler and he did not entertain unless he was put with a guy like CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Edge or Shawn Michaels that could carry him to a great feud.  With the torch of Face of the WWE passed directly to him, John Cena reverted from the interesting rapper gimmick he started out as to a generic Superman gimmick.  Cena had no real character, no real charisma (shouting loudly and cracking lame jokes do not count as charisma) and severely lacking wrestling ability.  He did the same old crap every single night with little to no variation and many wrestling fans including myself got sick of it very fast.  But as the Face of the WWE, the Hulk Hogan of this era, WWE shoved Cena down our collective throats, giving him the WWE or World Title time and time again when it did nothing for him and nothing for the titles and having him squash new talent like he is the new Triple H.  While I do not like John Cena, I do respect the hard-working company man he is.  I am just sick and tired of his inconsistent character that jumps between burying his opponents by not taking them serious and making lame jokes that make more people roll their eyes than laugh, which I hate with a passion, and actually taking things seriously and even getting angry, which I actually enjoy.  I am sick and tired of his generic Superman gimmick, which means Cena can get hit by lightning, run over by a truck and take other amounts of pain no human can actually withstand then shrug it off like nothing really happened and still win the match.  Cena has been doing these things for the last seven years and I am just exhausted of it all.  Something needs to change in his character and soon or there might not be a way to redeem Cena in the eyes of hardcore wrestling fans.  Turn him heel, make him more serious, just WWE please do something with John Cena that is actually interesting and worthwhile or history will just continue repeating itself over and over again once this whole feud with Rock is over. 

While I did complain more about John Cena than the Rock, I will say Cena is bringing it these last few weeks.  For once in I don’t know how many years, Cena is actually taking an opponent seriously and it really shows.  Cena has upstaged the Rock these last few weeks and looks to be under the Great One’s skin.  Like I mentioned before that I don’t think that Cena will stay serious once WrestleMania has come and gone, but one can only hope.  Out of the two, I prefer Rock over John Cena any day of the week, but I see the current Face of the WWE walking out of Miami with his hand raised high in victory.  With WrestleMania 28 only a few weeks away, come back next weekend for the next installment of the Road to WrestleMania 28 series.  Next week I will be looking at Best in the World vs. Best in the World, CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho.

The Road to WrestleMania 28 Part 2: The Rock

Set almost one year ago, The Rock vs. John Cena is a dream match that many have waited for a long time.  Comparable to the Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8, the main event of WrestleMania 28 will see one of the Faces of the WWE during the Attitude Era go up against the current Face of the WWE in an epic clash that should be nothing short of magical.  Ever since Rock made his first shots at Cena over a year ago on Raw, fans and also other wrestlers have split into Team Rock and Team Cena.  While neither Rock nor Cena are among my favourite wrestlers, I want to put my opinions on these seemingly polarizing characters in anticipation for their upcoming main event match at WrestleMania.  Considering that is a lot to talk about here, I will be breaking this article into two parts.  As you can see from the title, this article will be all about the People’s Champ, The Rock and next week’s article will be all about John Cena.

I did not start watching WWE until late 2003, early 2004, so all I knew of the Rock at the time was what my friends who heavily followed wrestling said about him.  As my passion for professional wrestling grew, I started collecting wrestling pay-per views and other DVDs and a handful featuring many of the Rock’s great matches and promos.  I learned quickly what an amazing wrestler and entertainer the Rock was and still is.  Some of my favourite WrestleMania matches feature the People’s Champ.  I also believe the Rock is one of the best talkers to ever grace the squared circle.  When you talk about the Rock, the biggest elephant in the room seems to be that he supposedly “abandoned” the WWE for the glitz and glam of Hollywood.  This point has been repeatedly been brought to the forefront lately as it is a key part of Cena’s argument why he is better than Rock.  For all those who think Rock abandoned the WWE, I will be blunt, get your head out of your behind and face reality.  We are no longer in the day that will see wrestlers stay in the business for years upon years, decades upon decades.  You will never see a career as long as Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan ever again because professional wrestling is incredibly taxing on the body and mind.  These guys and gals cannot do this job forever.  They either succumb to nagging injuries or get out before they have to.  Just look at Edge, Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin who all forced to retire from the ring because of injuries.  Also look at Undertaker who can only wrestle one match a year now due because his body cannot take anymore than that one match.   Back in 2003, Rock figured out that the Attitude Era was over and the WWE did not need The Rock anymore.  So instead of over staying his welcome, Rocky stepped aside for others like Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Edge and John Cena, yes, John Cena to get their time to shine in the main event.  While he did leave WWE, he did not turn his back on it.  Rock came back again and again to do promos when it did not conflict with his other commitments.  Eventually when things calmed down, he came back to the WWE to help bring in fans and put over others in this transitional period in the WWE.  The Rock may not be able to be with the WWE ever single show, but he is giving back to the company that made him the star you see today.  While I do have a lot good things to say about Rocky, his promos as of late have not come close to his return promo from last year or his promos when he was a full time employee of the WWE.  Maybe Rocky has been scripting his promos out way too much instead of letting his creative juices flow and his mouth just go.  Hopefully as we get closer to WrestleMania, the Great One will go back to what made him great in the first place and stop making notes on his wrist.  You are a great wrestler and an amazing talker Rocky, but at the moment your promos are not up to standard you set for yourself.

Love or hate either the Rock or John Cena, you have to at least respect them and their contributions to the WWE and wrestling industry.  The second part of this article will be on my opinions of possibly the most polarizing WWE superstar of all-time and the current Face of the WWE, the one the only John Cena as the Road to WrestleMania 28 series will return next weekend.