WrestleMania 28 Predictions: John Cena Will Topple The Rock

After a year's worth of buildup, John Cena and The Rock will finally shut up and get to destroying each other at WrestleMania XXVIII on Sunday. 

Because the match will take place in The Rock's hometown of Miami, and because he's a WWE legend who is not guaranteed to strut his stuff in the ring ever again, the safest way WWE can play this match is to have The Rock come away victorious. After all, it's not like anybody is going to complain too loudly if Cena loses.

WWE will not play this the safe way. Now is a perfect opportunity for the company to do something bold, and the bold way of playing this match involves Cena standing triumphant over The Rock in the middle of the ring.

This is exactly what's going to happen. I can feel it in my bones.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the result of this match is going to be controversial either way, as all good WWE results should be.

If The Rock wins, WWE will have done a favor for a guy who has more loyalty to Hollywood than the ring, and the company will have signaled that it has absolutely no clue what to do with Cena.

If Cena wins, however, WWE will have ticked off an entire stadium full of people and millions of Rock fans sitting at home, all for the sake of throwing a bone to one of the most tired characters on WWE's roster.

But that last point is exactly why I'm predicting a win for Cena. If ever there was a chance for WWE to change Cena's character and create new and exciting opportunities for him going forward, this is it.

WWE has little to gain by having The Rock win. He'll leave to go make another movie and will still have the reputation of being professional wrestling's ultimate badass. If Cena wins, he's the one who will leave the ring as the ultimate badass, and he's not going to bolt for Hollywood as soon as he steps out of the ring and walks past thousands of booing fans at Sun Life Stadium.

No sir, Cena will stick around. It's possible that his ultimate "badassery" will not please the majority of WWE fans. In fact, Cena will probably be hated more than ever.

And that's not such a bad thing. Inflated hate could combine with Cena's (likely) inflated arrogance, creating a recipe for the ultimate heel. Such a turn of events would be a long time coming, and a welcome sight for many WWE fans.

Of course, there's always the possibility of Cena being more loved after defeating The Rock than he was before, and that wouldn't be a bad thing either. He'll basically be the same Cena, except a bigger star.

Whether more hated or more loved, WWE could do many interesting things with the new version of Cena. On the flip-side, the company could do nothing with an absent Rock and a defeated Cena. Nothing interesting, anyway.

It boils down to this: WWE's choices are a career-defining victory for Cena, or a make-everyone-happy victory for The Rock.

I trust WWE will make the best decision, as opposed to the safe decision.