WWE News: Please, No Rock-John Cena II

Reverse engineering the wrestling year to carry from Wrestlemania to Wrestlemania was just the way things used to be done. Then WWE got away from long-term planning and we saw several thrown- together big shows that left us scratching our head as to whether anyone in the creative department had vision for the future. 

Then WWE booked John Cena vs. The Rock an entire year in advance. At the time, I thought it was an awful idea. Today, I still think it was an awful idea. The Rock-Cena match is one that everyone wants to see, and I’m glad the dream match is happening. However, the excessive eight months of build-up has left us wanting something else. 

Aside from the company burning through material to the point it's now sheer repetition week-in and week-out on Raw, the greater issue facing the feud is its impact on the rest of the show. Cena is the biggest star on the active roster, and knowing that he is going to face the Rock at the next Wrestlemania leaves the rest of the year as a letdown.

Ever since the Rock departed, all the way through the summer, we had nothing but weak attempts to make Cena’s character interesting. It didn’t seem that anything mattered because we all knew it was just killing time until the Rock returned. Other than his two months of battling CM Punk at the end of the summer, Cena’s last year was one of the most boring periods of his career. 

Feuds with R-Truth and further conflict with the Miz? That’s the best they can do? He was completely left off the TLC PPV. Then he enters into the most uncomfortable of feuds with Kane for two months. That was the epitome of wasting time. 

Which brings me to the latest news that WWE intends on booking next year’s main event the night after WM 28. (Source: 411Mania via Wrestling Observer) As someone who plans on attending next year’s Mania, it’ll be nice to know what I’ll be paying to see. But it still leaves me feeling empty.

The biggest fear is that they’ll immediately book Rock-Cena II. After listening to Michael Cole spout off for the last few weeks about how this is “one time only,” to immediately have that turned on its ear would feel as if the last few months were being ignored. 

The only way I can accept announcing the match a year in advance is if it were the match I really want to see (and am pretty confident will see) next year: Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels. 

The last month has been dedicated to developing an animosity between the two best friends. Their dynamic has always been palpable. They play the classic “Good Friends, Better Enemies” mantra better than any pairing in wrestling history.

The story, just as Cena-Miz-Rock was last year, has been developed to the point it can be blown off at Wrestlemania this year, while launching into something completely different the following year. 

After Michaels inevitably kicks both Triple H and Undertaker’s teeth down their respective throats at different times during the Hell in a Cell match, and the Undertaker inevitably hits a Tombstone on Triple H and pins him, we’ll be able to feel it coming. 

The next night on Raw, Triple H will call Michaels to the ring, express how deeply disappointed he is to know that he can’t count on his best friend at a time when he needs him most. He’ll say that the only reason he lost to the Undertaker is because of Michaels’ massive ego not allowing him to accept Triple H is the greater legend. 

A challenge will be issued and accepted. Then Triple H will deliver a devastating beat-down, turning full heel and leading the company as a vicious-heel authority figure through the next year. 

Of course, that’s the way I’d do it. Just don’t give me Rock-Cena II. Please.