In the Attitude Era, Dwayne Johnson was one of the big stars Vince McMahon created to lead him in to the next generation. Rocky turned into the Rock and the rest is history. The Rock is a WWE Hall of Famer and former-WWE champion. Although his time in the WWE was short-lived, it didn’t derail the impact he had on sports entertainment. To this day, the Rock’s quotes are still used by the WWE Universe. Even if he comes back once a year, the reaction is always the same.
2012 was a big year for the WWE. Rock wrestled John Cena at WrestleMania 28 . It was the first time the Rock got back in the ring for a singles’ match since 2002. Their bout was also advertised for an entire year. It was a monumental fight, because Cena and Rock are always put in the same conversation. No matter what the Rock’s die-hard fans say, Cena is just as popular in the wrestling community.
Both men took different paths after five years in the business. Rocky decided to go full-time in Hollywood, while John Cena remained in the WWE. One man was passionate about wrestling, while the other had different expectations for his life and other dreams that he wanted to accomplish. It’s fair to say that the Rock accomplished everything he set out to do.
While the comparisons are obvious, the Rock and John Cena will always remain grouped together because of their impact on the wrestling industry. They were the ones that encapsulated entertainment and wrestling in their respective eras. In a recent interview with GQ.com, John Cena discussed more comparisons to the Rock.
“Because I’ve been in it so long, and if you look at (“The Rock” Dwayne Johnson), he had tremendous success in the WWE, but his success was short-lived when he left full-time for Hollywood. I think he had to do a tremendous switch, but I know he had the ultimate goal for coming back to the WWE and making it a better place…
“But for me, at this point, so much of our audience loves me, and so much hates me, I kind of just realize I am who I am, and I am John Cena, I’m not ‘The Rock.’
“At my age, I’m not trying to score cool points. I’m just excited when I can speak to younger members of our audience in the WWE. I just get to be a superhero to kids, but I’m not trying to be on the cutting edge of style or anything like that. Once you reach that point of deprivation, you don’t mind it.”
The WWE understands Rock’s emphatic persona in the sports entertainment world, so it’s obvious as to why they want him back for WrestleMania 32 . Since WrestleMania 27 , the Rock has had a share in the festivities. He’s wrestled in two of them, hosted one and just had a guest spot for the last two. However, his appearance at WrestleMania 31 has got the WWE Universe talking about a potential tag-team match.
Any rumor that involved Rock and Rousey were false and likely won’t happen. Then again, the WWE is still trying to land the Great One at WrestleMania 32 .
“The Observer is reporting The Rock wrestling at WrestleMania 32 is still not on the table but WWE will likely try to ensure he makes an appearance of some sort.”
John Cena and the Rock should both appear at the huge show, but they won’t be working with each other. If the WWE is able to secure the Rock, it’ll be a guest spot. As for John Cena, what will he do at WWE’s biggest show?
[Image via wwe.com]
