CB’s Slant: WWE WrestleMania 28 Mix Tape, a.k.a. Gotye vs. John Cena

Columns, Top Story

On this WrestleMania morning that has quickly become the afternoon, I thought of a fun little exploration that I decided to undertake just hours away from one of the most anticipated WrestleMania events in years. The card is stacked and our staff picks are filed, but now it’s time to set the mood. Therefore, I offer up my own personal WrestleMania 28 Mix Tape, which dedicates one song to each of the four main events on the card: The Rock vs. John Cena, Triple H vs. The Undertaker, Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus and CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho.

CB’s Slant: WWE WrestleMania 28 Mix Tape, a.k.a. Gotye vs. John Cena

Match: John Cena vs. The Rock
Song: Somebody That I Used to Know
Artist: Gotye (featuring Kimbra)

Lyrics for John Cena:

Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
But had me believing it was always something that I’d done
But I don’t wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn’t catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know

Lyrics for The Rock:

But you didn’t have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don’t even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough

CB’s Slant: The Rock screwed John Cena out of the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 27, and John Cena just never came to grips with that. It’s true he and Rock have had a rocky relationship since Rock left WWE, largely in part due to Cena’s own comments dissing The Rock for leaving. Yet Cena cares a lot about what The Rock has said about him over the years, too, and he personally feels that Rocky now is simply “Dwayne” putting on his Rock face, that Rock is not the same force in the ring that he was before he left WWE, and so essentially Cena doesn’t really know — our respect — this new incarnation of “The Rock”.

Meanwhile, The Rock probably thought that coming back to WWE was going to be a lot smoother of a ride for him than it actually has been. He didn’t expect the bulk of the WWE locker room to buy into Cena’s comments about The Rock basically swooping in to steal others’ airtime / spotlight, or to be disrespected for not coming back full-time, for not being on the road, and for not being all the way back despite his promises to “never leave”. From The Rock’s perspective, it’s like the new WWE locker room — and most importantly John Cena — has forgotten that Rock helped revive WWF/E in the Attitude Era and that he already paid his dues during that boom period. SO even though The Rock says he’s finally back “home” in WWE, he’s really a stranger to many of the guys still there and being treated like an outsider they are wary of instead of an old friend they want to go to war with. You know, it’s kind of like going back to your old college for Alumni weekend 10 years after you graduated. Sure, the place is still intact and the campus looks the same, but the people are different and that changes the entire culture from when you were there. I just don’t think Rock realized just how different — or how unwelcome — he was going to be treated, and that has to have taken a toll on him in some way………

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Match: The Undertaker vs. Triple H, Hell In A Cell
Special Referee: Shawn Michaels
Song: Roll Away Your Stone
Artist: Mumford & Sons

Lyrics for Triple H:

Cause you told me that I would find a hole
Within the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal
And all the while my character it steals

Darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I see

Lyrics for The Undertaker:

Stars hide your fires
These here are my desires
And I won’t give them up to you this time around
And so I’ll be found
With my stake stuck in the ground
Marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul

Lyrics for Shawn Michaels:

But you, you’ve gone too far this time
You have neither reason nor rhyme
With which to take this soul that is so rightfully mine

CB’s Slant: I think these lyrics really tell the story here. Triple H knows he needs to go into the darkest places in the darkest corners of his mind if he wants to end THE STREAK and finish The Undertaker, and he really believes he can do it. His moral “character” has been sacrificed to allow these unreal thoughts to creep into his psyche, and now Hunter wants to simply destroy Taker so that he can finally move on himself.

For his part, The Undertaker is saying that while Hunter took a piece of him last year when he couldn’t leave the ring under his own power, and this time around he’s not going to give Triple H any satisfaction at all. At the end of the day, Taker will put a stake through Triple H’s darkness and collect his soul like he’s done to so many others — including pieces of Hunter’s — at WrestleMania.

Of course, Shawn Michaels is a big road block for both men, and on one hand HBK could be playing possum and actually want Taker to lose. However, I really think that Michaels doesn’t want that to happen because if anyone was ever going to end THE STREAK, it was going to be Shawn. In his heart, Michaels still believes Taker’s soul should have been “rightfully” his to collect, and he’ll be damned if Triple H does that on HBK’s watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7XqTNEf9cg

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Match: CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho
Song: You’re The Best Around
Artist: Joe Esposito
From The Karate Kid Soundtrack

Lyrics for Chris Jericho:

History repeats itself
Try and you’ll succeed
Never doubt that you’re the one
And you can have your dreams

Lyrics for CM Punk:

Try your best to win them all
and one day time will tell
when you’re the one that’s standing there
you’ll reach the final bell

Lyrics for both wrestlers:

You’re the best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down

You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down

You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you dow-ow-ow-ho-how-ho-own

CB’s Slant: For Chris Jericho, he’s trying to repeat history by toppling over who many WWE fans think is the current best wrestler in the world: WWE Champion CM Punk. Y2J has certainly been to the top of the mountain before — to this day he still brags about beating The Rock and Stone Cold in the same night — and he will pull out all of the stops to try and beat Punk at WrestleMania to reclaim his best in the world status. Jericho knows that the mind games are now finished and it’s simply time to put up or shut up where it counts most: Inside a wrestling ring on the grandest stage of them all.

CM Punk also knows this, and on that WrestleMania stage Punk is going to have to stay focused on the task at hand in the ring and not get caught up in all of the other stuff that has already transpired. This really is a WWE career-defining moment for Punk because while he has had a terrific run as WWE Champion, it has not been without its setbacks (see: the whole Kevin Nash/HHH mess he was thrown into).

Instead, like Daniel LaRusso, Punk needs to prove once again that he really belongs and that he truly is the current reigning “Best Wrestler in the World” not just because he puts it on a T-Shirt but because he comes up the big winner when it counts most. Ultimately, if Punk can retain his WWE Championship against one of the most calculating and credible opponents he’s ever had, then he will be the one who can brag about that remarkable WrestleMania accomplishment for the rest of his career.

Besides, does Punk really want to hear all of the braggadocio from Jericho if Y2J wins? I didn’t think so.

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Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
Song: Powerman
Artist: The Kinks

Lyrics for Sheamus:

It’s the same old story, it’s the same old dream,
It’s power man, power man, and all that it can bring.

Lyrics for Daniel Bryan:

If you want your money, you better stand in the line
‘Cos you’ll only end up picking up nickels and dimes.

CB’s Slant: Interestingly enough, when I was trying to think of lyrics to apply to Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus, I came to realize that their feud really hasn’t been fleshed out all that much as most of the focus has been on Bryan and his treatment of his girlfriend AJ.

With that said, Bryan’s mistreatment of AJ does serve the purpose of making Bryan the clear heel champion and Sheamus the true baby face challenger. As a result, the story for this match once the bell rings is a refreshingly simple one: Sheamus won the Royal Rumble and now he wants to win the World Heavyweight Championship, while Daniel Bryan will do anything he can in his power to make sure that he doesn’t give it up at WrestleMania.

Two guys fighting for the same old dream, wanting the title and the power it can bring. Like I said, it’s refreshingly simple, and it sounds good to me………

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI6On0nGrxk

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That’s all from me — CB.

CB is an Editor for Pulse Wrestling and an original member of the Inside Pulse writing team covering the spectrum of pop culture including pro wrestling, sports, movies, music, radio and television.