WrestleMania 28: Why The Rock vs. John Cena Had to Happen in Miami

As if there weren't enough intrigue already built into the Rock and John Cena feud at WrestleMania 28, the fact that the show takes place in Miami makes it even better. 

The Rock made his name in Miami when he played college football for the Hurricanes in the early 1990s. He grew up as a person in that city. When Raw celebrated his birthday in Miami this year, he made a point of throwing up the Hurricanes sign.

Cena is the perfect foil for Rock's return to action. While Cena gets booed wherever he goes, the chants get even louder at WrestleMania because you have the hardest of hardcore wrestling fans in attendance. These are the fans that can't stand him, no matter what he does or how hard WWE tries to make him look cool. 

The heat for this match is going to be off the charts. Rock is going to have everyone in attendance firmly behind him. He is the returning hero, stepping back into the ring on the biggest stage wrestling has to offer, against an opponent that everyone loves to hate.

WWE has been trying for weeks to make it so Cena and Rock are splitting the crowd 50-50, and it has worked to a point. Some fans that would normally boo Cena are cheering him after he speaks, because he sounds like an actual human now, instead of the goofy cartoon character he normally is.

But all of that effort will be meaningless at WrestleMania. Short of Rock actually going out to the ring before the main event and telling everyone in Miami that they suck, Cena is going to get booed out of the building.

And you know what? That's okay.

The biggest match of all-time, which is what WWE is billing this as, should have as much heat as any match in history.

Rock is going to get a reaction the likes of which few wrestlers have ever achieved. There will be 65,000 people hanging on everything he does—whether it's talking or wrestling—and they want to see the returning hero conquer the new empire in WWE.

Cena doesn't get to play the villain very often, but when he has had to—like at Money In the Bank last July—he has handled himself well.

The match between Cena and Rock was good enough on its own, but when you add the Miami setting as a backdrop, it becomes the perfect storm for WWE.

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