Royal Rumble 2013 Winner: John Cena Is Perfect Challenger for the Rock

Royal Rumble delivered.

The WWE’s first pay-per-view of 2013 turned out to be everything we were hoping for, and more, when all was said and done. That’s thanks to the exciting 30-man over-the-top signature match that saw John Cena fight tooth and nail to earn his chance to compete for the WWE’s biggest prize at its biggest event.

Sure, we’ve seen The Rock against Cena at Wrestlemania before. But the last time it went down, the WWE Championship wasn’t up for grabs.

Royal Rumble also saw a changing of the guard in the WWE title division. The lights went out, and The Rock’s championship hopes almost fizzled as quickly as they came back on. He was put through an announcers table by an unknown figure when power went during the PPV’s main event.

He was out cold after the assault and was pinned after CM Punk dragged him back in the ring. However, he was given a second chance after Vince McMahon promised to deliver on his no-interference stipulation. The Brahma Bull responded, nailed The People’s Elbow and reclaimed the WWE Championship for the first time in 10 years.

That is what got us here, to this place. It’s not something we can change; there is no going back.

A matchup between The Great One and Cena will certainly have its polarizing effects. Many will look at this as a disappointment. They’ll see it as just another rematch. But that’s shortsighted and not indicative of the bigger picture.

Think about it for a second.

Was there any other logical conclusion? Why bring The Rock back if he wasn’t destined to reclaim the title and headline the promotion’s biggest and most important event?

What’s even more obvious is both of these wrestler's star power. They are each capable of drawing the most fans due to their names alone. But they didn’t get to that point for no reason.

The buildup is sometimes even more exciting than the end result, and that is definitely what we’re in store for over the next two-plus months.

Wrestlemania 29 can’t come soon enough. It’s going to be an exciting ride with two of the game’s best leading us on our journey to New Jersey.