WWE: Why the Rock Will Not Be a Factor Until WrestleMania 28

Survivor Series only took place nine days ago, but the excitement surrounding John Cena, The Rock and their WrestleMania 28 match is already dying down considerably. 

It’s not much of a surprise, though, and as much as you may hate to hear this, it’s only going to get worse over the next several months. 

And the reason why is simple: The Rock won’t be around. 

I’m not going to criticize The Rock for moving on to a lucrative movie career and focusing more on that than he will his WrestleMania program with Cena. If I could work and travel less but make more money, there’s no doubt that I would do the same thing The Rock’s doing. 

That being said, The Rock’s busy schedule is definitely going to set some limitations on his feud with Cena. 

If you don’t believe me, then just take a look back at The Rock’s involvement—or lack thereof—in the build to Survivor Series. His return to the ring at the pay-per-view was advertised for months, and plans were obviously in place well in advance for The Rock to wrestle his first match in seven years at the show. 

Yet, aside from some smack-talking on Twitter, The Rock’s only personal promotion of his match at Survivor Series came in a 15-minute segment on the final episode of Monday Night Raw before the pay-per-view. 

So, The Rock’s total involvement in the build to a history-making moment like his return to the ring after a seven-year hiatus was one quarter of an hour. 

That’s weak.

Like I said, I get that The Rock has other obligations to film movies, appear at award shows and things like that. But it’ll be a huge buzz kill for some fans to see the guy who will undoubtedly be the focus of any PPV he appears at be anything but that as we build toward it. 

Now, my point is this: If The Rock could only make one brief appearance on WWE TV for his first match in seven years, then why do we think that’s going to be any different for his match against Cena at WrestleMania 28? 

Well, it won’t be. 

The Rock appeared at Survivor Series, he got the best of Cena and now he won’t be back on WWE TV or back in a WWE ring until god knows when. “The People’s Champ” is a very busy man, someone who’s going to spend most of his time making movies and making money. 

Though his recent involvement in WWE storylines shows that he hasn’t completely separated himself from the professional wrestling business, he’s not going to distance himself from the movie business, either. At least not anytime soon. 

The Rock and the WWE will go their separate ways for the time being, and as I’m sure their contractual agreement indicates, The Rock probably isn’t even required to appear on WWE TV again until at or after the 2012 Royal Rumble. Until then, it will be as if The Rock and the WWE aren’t even on speaking terms. 

Believe it or not, though, I think that’s probably how it should be. 

WrestleMania 28 is still more than four full months away, and as long as The Rock appears on more than one episode of Monday Night Raw, there will still be plenty of time for the WWE to build toward his feud with Cena, starting around Royal Rumble time. 

Up until that point, however, the WWE’s focus will be on building toward the Royal Rumble and building up its younger stars—Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, etc.—as we head into the new year. 

That is what will be the focus of the creative team for the next two or three months. Not a part-timer like The Rock who won’t be around enough for the WWE to invest valuable time into his storyline with Cena. 

So, get used to a Rock-less WWE and one that focuses instead on elevating new talent to the main event level? 

You know? I definitely don’t think I’ll have a problem doing that.