The Rock vs. John Cena: WWE Does Not Need Another Year-Long Match Promotion

While the fun may not be over when it comes to WrestleMania 28, there are few lessons we can learn from this year’s event. Maybe the biggest one of all is that the WWE Universe does not need another year-long build for a match.

While it is true John Cena and The Rock was a one-in-a-million type event and everyone and their mother wanted to see it, the build was better than the match and the build is not what we wanted to see.

Yes, The Rock can still “Bring It” and John Cena is still one of the most loved and hated wrestlers in the WWE in a Tim Tebow-kind of way, but a year of building left us wanting the match of the year.

We got that with Hell in a Cell.

The Rock did his part and sold for Cena, but like in his matches with CM Punk, Cena looked tentative and almost comically involved in the match, like it was something he may not have wanted to be part of. But as you and I both know, management made this match and with draw in Florida and The Rock’s hometown, this was nothing short of a “given”.

And when The Rock won, it was almost obligatory.

The look on Cena’s face was priceless. The loss, the emotion and the total feeling of either satisfaction or relief was etched across his forehead.

You cannot script something like that.

It may have been just as emotional for these men to have sold this match for 12 months, remaining in character and continuing a daily routine. The Rock traveling from California and making movies and Cena continues the hectic lifestyle of a WWE wrestler, risking injury and being involved in a plot line with Kane and then wrestling the likes of Mark Henry, The Miz and others.

Stress does strange things to you. And Cena seemed like this was a spot that may have been taken lightly by himself. He was too deliberate and was too slow in developing and sometimes joking inside the ring.

It did not live up to what I hoped.

While a year-long match promotion does wonders for the company and business of the WWE, it does little for the fans and may be worse for the wrestlers. And while the likes of Brock Lesnar and Lord Tensai may be coming to the promotion, it is unlikely we will see something like this again.

Or at least we hope it does not happen for some time.

Promoting huge matches is great, but you can do just as much in half the time and still get the same results.