WrestleMania 28 Card: Rock vs. Cena and Top Fights Appeal to Fans of All Ages

Sunday's slate at WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami is shaping up to be one nostalgia and renewal for the WWE, a clash between past and present for the right to own the future of professional wrestling.

How fitting, too, considering the calendar's recent turn to spring.

But while such whimsy may seem out of place in connection to a sport as built on bravada, machismo and all other forms of male-identified theatrics, the chronological connection that the WWE hopes to forge between its greatest moments and biggest personalities should come to fruition, thanks in large part to a stacked fight card at Sun Life Stadium.

As Grantland's The Masked Man points out, there's a striking similarity in the setup between this year's lineup—which features a WWE Championship match between CM Punk and Chris Jericho; an epic Hell in a Cell tilt featuring old-timers Triple H and The Undertaker; and, of course, a main event with The Rock and John Cena taking the stage—and the one at WrestleMania III a full 25 years ago. The Punk-Jericho brawl is expected to provide fans with the most conventionally compelling display of athleticism on the evening, just as "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat.

Meanwhile, Cena-Rock and Triple H-Undertaker will attempt to replicate the intergenerational intrigue and theatricality that came of the monumental clash between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant in 1987, in which Hogan defeating the aging Andre for the then-WWF Championship.

Whether the upcoming slate can measure up to the matches of yesteryear remains to be seen, though there's one thing of which all fans can be certain:

That even if WrestleMania XXVIII falls short of such lofty expectations, it'll should still be one heck of an entertaining display.

Follow @J0shMart1n