WrestleMania 28: Why the Rock's Return Is Dawn of New Era for People's Champ

There have been mixed reactions thus far to the build toward The Rock's match against John Cena at WrestleMania 28. Even if it hasn't lived up to everyone's expectations, the match promises to be huge, and it will be the start of a new era in The Rock's career.

When you break down The Rock's career, it essentially has had only two parts. First, he was a professional wrestler, and now he is an actor. Once The Rock steps into the ring against Cena on April 1 in Miami, however, his two professions will finally come together as one.

In a way you, can say that something to that effect has already happened, since he wrestled in a tag-team match at Survivor Series and has made periodic appearances on WWE programming. But he has been an actor first and foremost, and that is why many fans, particularly of the Internet variety, have turned on him a bit.

The Rock is still going to be primarily an actor following his WrestleMania match, as he obviously has a passion for it and is compensated quite handsomely. There have been rumors that The Rock hasn't simply returned for one match, though, and that he could wrestle a series of matches against Cena—or at least wrestle when called upon by Vince McMahon.

Last year's WrestleMania drew over one million buys, making it the second-most lucrative WrestleMania in the company's history. His match with Cena figures to shatter the current buy-rate record for wrestling's biggest event, and any time he appears on a pay-per-view in the future, it will be money in the bank for the McMahon family.

The Rock clearly doesn't mind getting a big payday from the WWE every once in a while, and despite what some may think, he still seems to have a genuine passion for the business. If he didn't care about the WWE, then he wouldn't be helping the company put on what may be the biggest and best WrestleMania in history.

With that said, rather than just getting wrestler Rock or actor Rock in the future, The Rock seems to be evolving into a hybrid of both. Most of his time will be spent as an actor, since McMahon won't call upon him except for big events, but he was completely absent from the wrestling scene for years, so occasional appearances and matches would essentially make him a part-time wrestler again.

People can say what they will about The Rock being too Hollywood, or that he appears via satellite too often or that he is too obsessed with Twitter. But the fact remains that the general audience is interested in what The Rock does, as are non-wrestling fans, so his mere presence makes the product more intriguing and more watched.

Now that Vince has The Rock in his back pocket as insurance if a major pay-per-view needs a shot in the arm, there is reason to believe that The Rock will be around the WWE for a long time to come. That doesn't mean that he's going to go on tour and wrestle house shows or anything outrageous like that, but it does mean that he will once again be linked to the WWE.

The Rock has already gone on record as saying that he will be at next year's WrestleMania, so it seems likely that he will have another match, perhaps against Cena again, or maybe with a new opponent such as CM Punk. Whatever the case, The Rock is back to being a major component of the company.

In a lot of ways, The Rock's status as a dual wrestler/actor may ultimately be better for the wrestling business than when he was simply a wrestler. Fans often complain about the WWE getting poor ratings or buy rates, but The Rock is in the public eye, and he'll be touting the WWE. That will only result in more interest and higher ratings.

While The Rock may no longer be the same character he was as a full-time wrestler, he isn't simply Dwayne Johnson the actor anymore either. This new version of The Rock takes components of both personalities, and even though not everyone is fond of this new Rock, it's better than what we have gotten as wrestling fans over the past several years.