Rock vs. John Cena: Why Terrible Finish Ruined Great WrestleMania Moment

The Rock needed to win and the WWE knew it, but to have him win the way he did was a terribly short-sighted idea that won’t help, but rather harm, the WWE product. 

We are to suspend disbelief. In doing so we are to believe that John Cena, in the biggest match of his life, one that he talked about for a year, one that he’s been staunch in his absolute need to win, would be ruined because he resorted to mocking the Rock rather than beating him? 

This goes against everything that the WWE has built Cena to be. He’s not a time waster. He’s not a showboat or an arrogant presence in the ring. He’s a winner and his determination carries him through.

Yet, as he stood over a beaten and tired Rock, he decides to throw the peoples elbow rather than work to ensure a victory?

No one should buy this. While the conspiracy theorists out there will want to subscribe to the idea that this is Cena’s true heel push, no one else should buy that for a second. We’ve been through this movie before, and Cena never goes heel. He is what he is, and that’s never been a showboat. 

So now Cena will have to explain his careless handling of the match, one that has made him a laughing stock and ruined the biggest match of his life, and he’ll have to convince us that his laziness is a part of his persona. 

The WWE went to great lengths to make both men appear strong. At the end of the day they needed to. Cena and the Rock are two hugely bankable stars. They can’t be thought of as weak.

Yet in the final seconds they caught Cena sleeping. Something isn’t right. It’s a shame the way they finished a match that was so good. This was supposed to create a moment of two titans clashing, but instead we’ll remember it for the time Cena showboated in the biggest match of all time.

Something doesn’t seem right about that.