WWE: Why the Rock Should Lose to John Cena at Wrestlemania 28

John Cena will face The Rock at WrestleMania 28, and though the match is arguably the biggest of all-time, wrestling fans across the world are complaining that it’s “too predictable”; that Cena will win and that The Rock will move on to Hollywood. 

Predictability isn’t always a good thing. But in this case, I don’t mind it. 

Cena has to win. The Rock has to lose. Has to.

While the millions of Team Bring It will cheer The Rock and mercilessly boo “The Champ,” the outcome of this historical bout that is best for business is Cena winning. Clean. 

I know that there are rumblings that The Rock will stick around after WrestleMania 28 and even compete at WrestleMania 29. I don’t care. That changes nothing. 

Although I’m a much bigger Rock fan than Cena fan, having a part-timer like The Rock come in, beat the face of the WWE and then bolt the company the next month or even the next week isn’t going to benefit anyone, except maybe The Rock. And The Rock doesn’t need it. 

His WWE legacy is intact, and his Hollywood career in full force. If he loses, so what? Though I won’t hate him for leaving like some others will, he’s not going to be around to hear about it. 

Cena, on the other hand, is undoubtedly the face of the WWE. He loses, it hurts him. It hurts his image, his pride, his character: Everything. 

I don’t care how popular The Rock is or how much money he’s going to bring into the WWE by competing at WrestleMania 28. When you run a major wrestling promotion like the WWE, you do not, under any circumstances, bring in someone to bury your top employee. 

Even if The Rock is set to wrestle another match or two or three, he’s not going to call up his agent and say, “Hey, I’m done with acting. I’m returning to the WWE for good. Don’t get me anymore auditions.” 

I certainly won’t hate on The Rock for moving on to a movie career. Like he said on Monday, he traveled the roads while in WWE full-time, working matches every night and worked his ass off for the company for years. And I respect the hell out of him for it. 

But even though he’s competing at this year’s WrestleMania, The Rock is the past. Cena is the present and the future. 

Cena is the guy who will be performing at house shows the week after WrestleMania 28. Cena is the guy who will be in the main event of WrestleMania 32. Cena is the guy who will be promoting the WWE on talk shows for the next five years. 

Whether anyone likes that or not doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is doing what is best for the WWE long-term, rather than living in the moment. 

The hoopla surrounding The Rock’s return will undoubtedly make some WWE officials want to give The Rock the win and then see how it plays out. But cooler heads will prevail. 

The WWE brass knows what The Rock has done and is currently doing for the business, but having “The Great One” win at Mania sets a bad precedent that the company cannot afford to take. 

What if The Rock wins this year, and in 2013, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin says he’ll agree to wrestle CM Punk at WrestleMania 29 only if he goes over? 

I realize that’s a completely hypothetical situation, but you get the point. 

By living in the past (having The Rock win), you jeopardize your future (Cena), and that’s a risk that the WWE will not and should not take.

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions on Formspring.