WWE News: John Cena, CM Punk and the People vs. the Rock

By now, you've probably heard that CM Punk called the Rock  an "ass kisser" during his headline-hounding shoot promo.

If you were really paying attention,  you probably also heard of John Cena's recent anti-Rock comments, at a house show in Perth, Australia, that were subsequently endorsed at the same show by CM Punk himself. 

Randy Orton got in on the Rock bashing with recent criticisms of the People's Champ during a radio interview in Arizona where Rocky was just one of a handful of verbal victims of Orton.

Cena's apparent bitterness towards the Rock, which is an ambiguous mix of promotional fodder for their upcoming match at WrestleMania 28 and  legit personal animosity towards Rock 's lucrative departure from wrestling, seems to have slowly reverberated throughout the top of the food chain in WWE. 

With more top superstars speaking out against the Rock's decision to become a movie star over a wrestler, especially with consummate company guy John Cena leading the charge, the anti-Rock sentiments appear to be a personification of WWE's own collective animosity towards the rock .

Perhaps the cumulative spite towards the Rock is Vince McMahon's sneaky way of guilt-tripping the Rock into returning to WWE earlier than expected, thus giving the eventual build up for WrestleMania 28 more time and meaning. 

Maybe this is the WWE brass not-so-subtly reminding the Rock that he in fact does have future commitments to the WWE, and should he decide to skip out on such commitments for an intriguing movie role, he would only be proving his detractors right.

With CM Punk becoming  the latest big star to be leaving the WWE due to burnout, the WWE was likely covering their bases with the Cena-Punk double team on the Rock in Perth. 

Not having Punk on board for WrestleMania, while not a back breaker, will certainly help WWE's business.  God forbid the Rock falls through as well. 

Sure it was at an non-televised house show that will have little to no impact on the eventual Money in the Bank  (where Cena and Punk will do battle in the main event) buyrate.

But it was certainly peculiar to have the feuding CM Punk and Cena each exchange pleasantries before turning their attention to the Rock and why he doesn't love wrestling anymore.

In fact, the comments were just as peculiar as they were ignorant and propagated, furthering the myth that a departure from a dangerous business with no job security, union, or health insurance for greener pastures is an act of evil. 

Vince McMahon's prevailing genius over the years has been to cultivate blind loyalty and unwavering commitment towards the leading promotion in an industry that has laid claim to several premature casualties. 

Through shows like "Tough Enough," which hammer home the concept of giving up everything to be a slab of meat that WWE can profit off of only to later throw away the leftover bones, WWE captivates young talent by using the glitz and glam of pro wrestling to bait them into jumping on board and never looking back. 

In the world of WWE, still laced with the brute scent of the Good Ol' Boy's Network, paying ones dues is among the top priorities internally, even to the detriment of an otherwise hot superstar.

So what if the upstart Sheamus was statistically proven as the highest drawing WWE Champion of all time.  If he fails to shake but one hand upon entering the building (and thus break tradition) or gets a little too "big for his britches," he is reduced to a floundering paper king no more authoritative than the puppet in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.  

Since its inception, WWE has been a proven slave of its own traditions and delusions of loyalty to a fault.  As a company that has historically turned a blind eye to steroid use during lean times, WWE never misses a beat should one of their loyal propaganda soldiers dare step out of line - which in and of itself is an unpardonable backstage sin literally taken more seriously than death. 

Years ago, the Rock smartened up and “stepped out of line” and then some.  Consequently, former multiple time world champion millionaire continues to hear the same asinine, propagated statements about how his decision to make more money in a more lucrative and safe environment after helping make the WWE millions of dollars, was an act of betrayal. 

Always one to call the kettle black, WWE demonstrates a cycle of betrayal in their day to day operations by refusing to treat its own “independent contractors” as employees despite these workers being confined to contracts that give WWE exclusivity to their talents.  

With wrestlers freely accepting their incorrect classification as an independent contractors, another example of blind faith and loyalty detrimental to their own livelihoods, this is just one of a handful of inconvenient aspects of the wrestling business one must accept to “pay their dues.”

WWE’s storyline/sentiments of the Rock being called out for turning his back on the wrestling business continue to become a growing story as WWE nears WrestleMania season.

The Rock’s inaccurate remarks of “never leaving the WWE again” seem to have come back to bite him, further intensifying animosity towards “Dwayne” for making what turned out to be an excellent career choice. 

As the WrestleMania 28 picture continues to take form, It will certainly be interesting to see how the Rock responds to his ardent detractors upon his eventual return to WWE. 

That is, of course, if he does decide to return to such an unfairly hostile environment, thus bringing one million WrestleMania buys with him in the process.

Follow Big Nasty on Twitter @ThisIsNasty.