If Rock (@TheRock) Says He Wants to Wrestle… #WhatWouldYouDo
Picture yourself sitting with Vince McMahon on a show day. But it’s not just any show day. It’s the Monday of the final show before Wrestlemania. The Rock has made his triumphant return to WWE TV nearly a month ago and sent shock waves through the business. Attendance is back up, the ratings went up and this coming Sunday could be a major turning point in the wrestling (sorry, sports entertainment… bad writer…bad bad).
As you sit there going over the Monday Night Raw show, in strolls into the meeting… Dwayne The Rock Johnson. And imagine if he he dropped this bombshell.
“I want to wrestle… Sunday!”
What would you do? #WhatWouldYouDo?
1. Would you push all the chips in, hoping to hit it big at this Wrestlemania with less then a week?
2. Would you wait to run the match a later – perhaps Summerslam?
3. Would you be patient and wait till Wrestlemania 28?
Share your vote and twitter #WhatWouldYouDo with @theRock.
David Lagana / IWantWrestling.com
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Me to Vince: So after telling your shareholders that this WrestleMania is going to be a launching point for fresh faces, you’re going to allow The Rock to wrestle and take the spotlight away from everyone else? The guy comes in 2 months ago and he’s the main thing of WrestleMania? Just have him host. Let him do his thing on the mic. No wrestling, hell, he shouldn’t even be feuding with anyone until after Mania! You shouldn’t have shown him on TV, either! Make the people buy Mania to see The Rock… what’s that? I’m fired?
Hold it off until WM28, the slow build always yields the best results! Sure the fans are going nuts, ratings are climbing too! So why bring things to a crashing halt so soon? I did have one of those pre- WM dreams where Cena”s long awaited heel turn was born at WM 27. Yeah Cena got his title back perhaps not in a sportsman like manner, as we’ve grown accustomed to, finally all those “Cena sucks” chants, along with those “fruity pebbles” chants caught up with him. In one split second Cena dropped the u can’t see me b.s. And made sure that everyone saw the five knuckle shuffle come down on The Miz (brass knuckle sandwich) 1-2-3 New champ and of course The Rock and Cena locked horns for a few seconds. Long enough to keep em wanting more! And Miz became a sympathetic baby face! Who would’ve imagined?
Put him on Monday night after Wrestlemania. It’ll bump the ratings for Raw even more and may start some momentum for that show which, let’s be honest, doesn’t have a while hell of a lot of actual wrestling on it…
The final image that should be left in every fans mind at mania is Cena getting Rock bottomed making up for the attitude adjustment he took from Cena on Raw. This occurs after Cena, tiring of Miz’s show boating during the match decides to say Ah F’k it and wins the match with a heel turn delivering the five knuckle shuffle with brass knucks on Miz while referee is distracted by Riley. A-ride turns on Miz and joins Cena in attacking the fallen Miz bringing The Rock to the ring. Rock dispatches Riley over the ropes and deliver’s the Rock bottom to Cena and Rock helps Miz to his feet. Miz becomes a babyface feuding with Cena when Rock is unavailable, come Summer slam you could feature Rock teaming with Miz vs Cena and CM Punk with Riley in their corner. Rock and Cena wet the fans appetite for their Ultimate Showdown at WM 28! That’s how I’d book it!
Add on to previous post; during Rock’s hiatus Miz vs Cena for WWE title with pre taped Rock taunts at Cena leading to a Summer Slam match pitting Rock and Miz vs Cena and CM Punk on top. Adding CM Punk guarantees a strong performance making up for Rock and Cena not actually tying up until WM 28! Punk actually playing the foil for Cena actually would work better than Cena given Punk’s abilities on the mike are better than Cena and he could hold his own with Rock. Riley can be with Punk and Cena.
I love how every one of these plans involves a Cena heel turn that torpedoes one of (if not THE) Vince’s top merch draws.
To answer the question, I’d beg and plead The Rock to wait a year… and if he agrees, make him sign the contract on the spot. Cena vs Rock with a year to figure out how to do it is the kind of cash cow that makes stockholders (like me) drool. Cena vs Rock with seven days build would probably get a nice bump in buyrate and ratings but nothing like they could get.
Vince will have The Miz as a top merchandise draw to make up for the Cena loss, not to mention the $$ he’s going to make with Sin Cara! The turning of Cena is going to occur, they had the opportunity with The Nexus angle, and they got cold feet. Well here, there are no excuses, what if’s, it’s a go, and quite frankly it’s a move that will result in a huge payoff and move the business forward to the next level! No complaints about a stale WWE, lazy writers, etc. Bring it!
Wait ’till Summerslam, for a couple reasons:
1. I think it’s too late to go with a sea change. What would you do with the Miz? Make it a triple threat? That takes away from both the title AND the Cena/Rock dynamic.
2. I don’t think announcing that the Rock is wrestling at this late date will do much for the ‘Mania buy rate. But it could really help Summerslam.
3. I don’t trust the Rock’s change of heart to last all the way to next year. August, okay, but not next year.
4. WWE would be crazy to do anything but Cena/’Taker next year with 20-0 on the line. It’s THE big money match hanging out there. It would be especially awesome if we had a despicable heel John Cena, but I’m not betting on it.
Cena/Rock would have been ideal for this ‘Mania, but it’s too late to do it right. Save it for Summerslam, build it properly, and work towards Cena/Taker at WM.