Wednesday Morning Backlash on The Careers of John Cena and the Rock Heading into WWE Wrestlemania 27

John Cena and The Rock have been the talk of the wrestling world for the last 10 days or so, and with good reason. The promos cut by these two men the last two weeks on Raw has been some of the best and most compelling things seen on WWE TV in ages. The idea of these two actually having a real one-on-one match has ignited the IWC into a “Will They or Won’t They Frenzy.”

Why are people so excited to see this? Well, why not? Rock is one of the biggest stars of all-time, and Cena is the WWE Golden Boy for the last six plus years. But these two have more in common than just their status as top dog in WWE at different times.

Rock debuted in 1996 as “Rocky Maivia,” a vanilla babyface that showed good athleticism but little else and didn’t really connect with the audience. After taking some time off due to an injury, he came back as part of the Nation of Domination and leader Faarooq’s right hand man. He eventually became so compelling of a heel that the fans couldn’t help but cheer him. He then turned into an even BIGGER heel and had an amazing run before turning back babyface. Internet types often labeled the Rock as a great showman but not a very good “technical wrestler.” His promos were the primary reason he got as over and amazing as he did, but that charisma helped make his matches feel consistently big.

John Cena debuted in 2002 as a guy with “Ruthless Aggression,” and quickly showed that didn’t really mean anything as he became a vanilla babyface with tights to match every town’s home team. Eventually he became a heel rapper and showed so much charisma the he got over with the crowd and they couldn’t help but cheer him. The rap on Cena has been that he’s not a great “technical wrestler” but that his promos and charisma have made a lot of his matches feel big.

The “PG Era” definitely ended up handcuffing Cena as far as his promo work, and that is an obstacle that Rock never had to encounter. Now I’m not saying that it somehow makes Cena better, but it is interesting to note and to think about how Rock would have done with the same restrictions Cena is currently working under.

What are these two ultimately going to do at WrestleMania XXVII? I can’t wait to find out.