Who do you actually want to Win at WrestleMania?

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Who do you actually want to win in the main event at WrestleMania?

The Rock has to win end off.

Do you think the creators/writers know themselves who is going to win yet?

What can Rock say or do to Cena as a heel that he's not already said or done? He's vocally destroyed him, he's cost him the WWE Title at WrestleMania, he's continued to publicly berate him and put him down, he even initially refused to team with him, when he did team with him he beat the crap out of Miz & Truth then Rock Bottomed Cena

After all that The fans where vocal in who they preferred and it wasn't Cena, Rock turning would be illogical

NickisBHAFC wrote:The Rock has to win end off.

Why?

Because he is my childhood hero therefore should win

In all serious, it would be great to see the rock win just for the aftermath. Rock go in for a handshake only to get beaten the hell out of by Cena. Next night on Raw Cena explaining why he did it and saying he is a changed man with a new attidude etc

I would hate to see Cena win and just celebrate with a bunch of kids wearing Cena shirts

Cena to get the win, A swerve so rock turns heel.

We are treated to 3 months of Hollywood rock and a rematch with baton passing moment at summer slam.

Or would that damage rock/ team bring it too much

I think it would.

1) I cant see The Rock agreeing to turn heel when he is promoting movies at the same time as this current run.

2) Cena's Character is in desperate need of change, if the Rock turns Heel and Cena comes out smelling of Roses again, he has nowhere to go once The Rock disappears.

Danny Balboa 316 wrote:

Cena to get the win, A swerve so rock turns heel.

We are treated to 3 months of Hollywood rock and a rematch with baton passing moment at summer slam.

Or would that damage rock/ team bring it too much

I think it would.

1) I cant see The Rock agreeing to turn heel when he is promoting movies at the same time as this current run.

2) Cena's Character is in desperate need of change, if the Rock turns Heel and Cena comes out smelling of Roses again, he has nowhere to go once The Rock disappears.

Fair points raised by yourself and gaffer, rock would have to turn on the crowd to go heel and that really isn't viable for him I guess.

I think if WWE has The Rock go over they've essentially buried their No.1 guy... Cena has to go over, otherwise it makes no sense at all. The whole build up had been to make Cena look inferior, the only way to reverse this is for Cena to overcome the odds and beat The Rock.

That's how the WWE works though or at least how it used to opperate, they would give you bat and the strongest survived, Rock has simply work to that rule, Cena has been so overly protected he's never been tested so much, it's up to him to show he is every bit an equal to The Rock

There are 3 possible scenarios for this match:

1) Cena wins clean. Afterwards there are handshakes and hugs and mutual fapping and all is right in the world of WWE once again.

2) The Rock wins clean. Cena goes batf*ck insane afterwards, thus turning heel.

3) Cena does an Austin-at-Wrestlemania 17 style turn during the match then wins after beating down the Rock.


Either one of scenarios 2 or 3 would do for me, I think the biggest thing is that whatever the outcome, Cena has to be the one standing tall at the end of the night. He could lose cleanly to the Rock, but only if he then went on to decimate the People's Champ.

Come the following night on RAW no-one would be talking about the fact Cena lost, they'd be talking about him beating up the Rock. Follow it up with Cena cutting the promo of his life and you're on to a winner. It's like Shawn Michaels said - sometimes it's more important what you do the day after the pay per view than whether or not you won at the pay per view itself.

So for that reason I'd want the Rock to win, as long as Cena beats him down afterwards.

I personally think Rock will win cleanly but only after Cena finally lets the crowd get to him and he reminstrates with them, then he turns round into a Rock Bottom, probably the third RB of the match

Even if Cena does turn heel, which I would encourage I would still have him go over clean, it adds an ambiguous moral edge to the Cena character who really has done it all but can't be accepted by the fans.

I still belive that however it plays out if The Rock goes over WWE will have shot themselves in the foot.

rocky maivia

If Rock loses, We Riot!

A Fine Folk. wrote:Do you think the creators/writers know themselves who is going to win yet?

I think this is a great point to bring up.

My gut feeling is no... Booking is very much week to week in the modern WWE & I fancy not even Vince has figured out the finish...

Could you imagine the 'Miami Screwjob' Vince upset at The Rock leaving the 'WWE family' for Hollywood goes against script & screws The Rock in his home state.... Imagine the fall out

Remember ages ago John Cena joined the Nexus - Anyone for a Nexus re-union in Miami?

I think whichever way around it is, Cena will still turn heel one way or another...and could be down to any of the reasons already mentioned!

What better way to turn your No.1 PG-era face in a heel by having beat the living daylights out of The Rock leaving him a bloody mess...could also move it away from the PG stuff a bit more too.

One thing that i wodner about is that Cena is booed a lot as a face...if he turns heel will those people start cheering him??

longrangeeffort wrote:One thing that i wodner about is that Cena is booed a lot as a face...if he turns heel will those people start cheering him??

I think this would eventualy happen. Remember how good he was when back in 2003 & 2004?

He use to get some of the biggest pops when he was US Champ. As a heel he would be given a lot more freedom of his character and I think his charisma would begin to show again.

I've said for a long time I don't think he will go full blown heel.

nasisillmatic wrote:

longrangeeffort wrote:One thing that i wodner about is that Cena is booed a lot as a face...if he turns heel will those people start cheering him??

I think this would eventualy happen. Remember how good he was when back in 2003 & 2004?

He use to get some of the biggest pops when he was US Champ. As a heel he would be given a lot more freedom of his character and I think his charisma would begin to show again.

I've said for a long time I don't think he will go full blown heel.

I agree, I think he would start out as a full heel in the wake of WM and the fall out with Rock, but after that gradually people will cheer him again and he'll become more of a 'tweener' (however much people hate that term). I don't think that people would necessarily turn him full face again, but the fact is that most fans these days seem not to want to cheer out and out good guys.

I can see someone making a comeback and getting involved in the match, perhaps Mankind or even Austin...

I personally think Cena will win, but they'll keep the rock looking strong by having Cena win dirty thus turning him heel

Is Rocky likely to be hanging about after or is it this match then he's done?

AntLord wrote:Is Rocky likely to be hanging about after or is it this match then he's done?

Apparently The Rock is sticking around for a while, or so he has said, not sure if his Film schedule has been toned down for this but that could provide a clue.

Someone mentioned earlier in this thread that it could be a finish similiar to when Steve Austin beat The Rock with the help of Vince McMahon and it made me think if maybe John Laurinaitis will get involved.

We know The Rock is appearing in a few of the Raw shows before Wrestlemania, so it is highly likely he could bump into Laurinaitis, either backstage of maybe after Laurinaitis interrupts him. Rock could then rip him to bits with a promo. In the match with the referee down out comes Laurinaitis. He brings in a steel chair to hit The Rock with, John Cena first whips the chair out of his hands saying he wants to win the right way (similiar to what happened at Money In The Bank with CM Punk) before turning round to batter The Rock himself. John Laurinaitis can then wake the referee up. Attitude Adjustment, 1,2,3 and then Laurinaitis can raise Cenas hands and the 2 Johns can stand there smiling over a beaten Rock. This would complete a Cena heel turn as well as cementing Laurinaitis as the new Vince McMahon and getting him tonne loads of heat.

I realy hope the Rock wins, though I would he suprised if he was given the win.

Shot 21 LCFC wrote:Someone mentioned earlier in this thread that it could be a finish similiar to when Steve Austin beat The Rock with the help of Vince McMahon and it made me think if maybe John Laurinaitis will get involved.

That was me, but I don't think Cena should be geting any help to beat Rocky, just use a chair to finish him like Austin did.

I don't know if Cena can be trusted to turn heel on his own, at least with an outside pressence the direction will be pretty simple, Cena is a never give up badass though, if he was heel he shouldn't really need anyone else, we need a massively strong heel, it's been a long time since there's been one, when there is a dominant heel it makes us all want to see the face beat him, that train of thought's been lost along the way

That's exactly why Cena has to turn on his own. To be a strong Heel its him that people need to hate not someone else. All of Austin's initial heel heat in 2001 was because he'd sided with Vince, not becuase he changed his character.

If Cena bashes The Rock in with a chair then it's him alone who has crossed the line. Then you start adding hangers-on after the turn to emphasise that Cena holds power and caries a threat so the cowards are lining up behind him.

The reason the Stone Colds heel turn worked so well at WM17 is because there was so much bad blood between Vince and Austin, so it was completely unexpected that Austin would join forces with his biggest enemy. There is hardly any history between John Laurinitus and Cena, so I don't see them going with that angle.

DDT wrote:The reason the Stone Colds heel turn worked so well at WM17 is because...

Did it?

Don Caboose wrote:

DDT wrote:The reason the Stone Colds heel turn worked so well at WM17 is because...

Did it?

On the night it did somewhat, long term reasons for it failing are well established.

Ent wrote:

Don Caboose wrote:

DDT wrote:The reason the Stone Colds heel turn worked so well at WM17 is because...

Did it?

On the night it did somewhat, long term reasons for it failing are well established.

Again, did it?

Austin's pop for winning the title was huge. Notice the reaction to HHH walking away with the title the year before, the ring gets pelted with rubbish. At WM17 Austin continues to get pops for each pose after the match.

The only part that worked was once it became apparent Austin and Vince had aligned, the boos for Rocky died down.

Don Caboose wrote:

Ent wrote:

Don Caboose wrote:

DDT wrote:The reason the Stone Colds heel turn worked so well at WM17 is because...

Did it?

On the night it did somewhat, long term reasons for it failing are well established.

Again, did it?

Austin's pop for winning the title was huge. Notice the reaction to HHH walking away with the title the year before, the ring gets pelted with rubbish. At WM17 Austin continues to get pops for each pose after the match.

The only part that worked was once it became apparent Austin and Vince had aligned, the boos for Rocky died down.

It was in texas, any sort of swing in reaction was remarkable.

I do think the original logic is sound though, that vince and austin had such a long history that the turn was (potentially) successful, where it doesn't make much sense for cena to suddenly align with laurinitis.

Ent wrote:

Don Caboose wrote:

Ent wrote:

Don Caboose wrote:

DDT wrote:The reason the Stone Colds heel turn worked so well at WM17 is because...

Did it?

On the night it did somewhat, long term reasons for it failing are well established.

Again, did it?

Austin's pop for winning the title was huge. Notice the reaction to HHH walking away with the title the year before, the ring gets pelted with rubbish. At WM17 Austin continues to get pops for each pose after the match.

The only part that worked was once it became apparent Austin and Vince had aligned, the boos for Rocky died down.

It was in texas, any sort of swing in reaction was remarkable.

I do think the original logic is sound though, that vince and austin had such a long history that the turn was (potentially) successful, where it doesn't make much sense for cena to suddenly align with laurinitis.

Oh I agree wholeheartedly on that last point. Cena needs to be his own man.

The Rock had surpassed Stone Cold in popularity before WM17, it was only because the match was in Texas, that Austin was being cheered. Any other state and Austin would have recieved alot of heat.

Alot of people say Stone Colds heel turn didn't work, and I think the biggest problem, was that there was no Rock around, after Mania Rock left to do movies, so he didn't have him to feud with anymore. So in effect WWE lost there 2 biggest faces at the same time.

Turing Austin heel in his home state was a ridiculous decision.

Its like trying to turn Punk in Chicago, it just wouldnt work, the crowd would probably cheer even louder for him.

If John Cena turns heel, he wont receive as much heat as he does now.

Mr H wrote:Turing Austin heel in his home state was a ridiculous decision.

Its like trying to turn Punk in Chicago, it just wouldnt work, the crowd would probably cheer even louder for him.

If John Cena turns heel, he wont receive as much heat as he does now.

They were backed into a corner a little bit though. The Rock was taking a few months off from wwe to do movies, so he had to lose the belt, and at the time The Rock was red hot, were as Austin was probably passed his popularity prime. So they didn't want Austin going over cleanly, they wanted him to win, but with the Rock still looking strong.

The wrestlemania venue is decided years before, so they couldn't realy help that it happened in Texas.

But they could have helped the outcome. If they knew it was in Texas, dont do the heel turn, simple. Save it for Summerslam or even at the Rumble prior to Mania with Austin going into Texas as a heel, atleast that way he'd have time to promo on his home state to garner some cheap heat.

The WrestleMania venue is only established a year in advance and if they really wanted to then they could have had HHH go over Rock dirty at No Way Out and have HHH/Austin over the title, the match that should have been booked from the start

DDT wrote:The Rock had surpassed Stone Cold in popularity before WM17, it was only because the match was in Texas, that Austin was being cheered. Any other state and Austin would have recieved alot of heat.

Alot of people say Stone Colds heel turn didn't work, and I think the biggest problem, was that there was no Rock around, after Mania Rock left to do movies, so he didn't have him to feud with anymore. So in effect WWE lost there 2 biggest faces at the same time.

Had The Rock really surpassed Austin's popularity at the time? I didn't see it that way.

While I agree that The Rock's star did rise through Austin's absence in 2000, people were still clamouring for the Austin comeback.

During the exchanges between the 2 at the 2001 Rumble and leading upto WM17 I don't remember Austin getting any boos, while I am sure The Rock did. I might be wrong as I was only 15 at the time.

the-gaffer wrote:The WrestleMania venue is only established a year in advance and if they really wanted to then they could have had HHH go over Rock dirty at No Way Out and have HHH/Austin over the title, the match that should have been booked from the start

The Rock didnt hold the title at No Way Out, Kurt Angle did, and the Rock won it off him. I know there was alot of history with HHH and Austin, but there was no way wwf were going to leave The Rock out of the main event, as he had carried the company on his back for the previous 18 months, and he was the biggest draw they had.

the-gaffer wrote:The WrestleMania venue is only established a year in advance and if they really wanted to then they could have had HHH go over Rock dirty at No Way Out and have HHH/Austin over the title, the match that should have been booked from the start

I don't know about that, Austin-HHH was a great feud, but every teased confrontation between Austin and Rocky after Austin's return was met with monster crowd reactions. Everyone wanted to see the two top stars tear each other apart for the title on the biggest stage.

Austin v Rock was the only choice for the main event at that time, no other match could have surpassed it.

nasisillmatic wrote:

DDT wrote:The Rock had surpassed Stone Cold in popularity before WM17, it was only because the match was in Texas, that Austin was being cheered. Any other state and Austin would have recieved alot of heat.

Alot of people say Stone Colds heel turn didn't work, and I think the biggest problem, was that there was no Rock around, after Mania Rock left to do movies, so he didn't have him to feud with anymore. So in effect WWE lost there 2 biggest faces at the same time.

Had The Rock really surpassed Austin's popularity at the time? I didn't see it that way.

While I agree that The Rock's star did rise through Austin's absence in 2000, people were still clamouring for the Austin comeback.

During the exchanges between the 2 at the 2001 Rumble and leading upto WM17 I don't remember Austin getting any boos, while I am sure The Rock did. I might be wrong as I was only 15 at the time.

wwf ratings were at there peak, when Austin was out injured, and the Rock took over. Austin never realy got booed, though I only recall the Rock being booed in Texas, but he never got the same pops as the Rock once he returned. Check out the 6 man HIAC match, the whole arena is chanting 'Rocky'

The fans only turned on the Rock, once he started doing films, as he would leave for months at a time, and people started to get sick of him returning, and then leaving.

DDT wrote:

nasisillmatic wrote:

DDT wrote:The Rock had surpassed Stone Cold in popularity before WM17, it was only because the match was in Texas, that Austin was being cheered. Any other state and Austin would have recieved alot of heat.

Alot of people say Stone Colds heel turn didn't work, and I think the biggest problem, was that there was no Rock around, after Mania Rock left to do movies, so he didn't have him to feud with anymore. So in effect WWE lost there 2 biggest faces at the same time.

Had The Rock really surpassed Austin's popularity at the time? I didn't see it that way.

While I agree that The Rock's star did rise through Austin's absence in 2000, people were still clamouring for the Austin comeback.

During the exchanges between the 2 at the 2001 Rumble and leading upto WM17 I don't remember Austin getting any boos, while I am sure The Rock did. I might be wrong as I was only 15 at the time.

wwf ratings were at there peak, when Austin was out injured, and the Rock took over. Austin never realy got booed, though I only recall the Rock being booed in Texas, but he never got the same pops as the Rock once he returned. Check out the 6 man HIAC match, the whole arena is chanting 'Rocky'

The fans only turned on the Rock, once he started doing films, as he would leave for months at a time, and people started to get sick of him returning, and then leaving.

Yeah true.

It shows you how being young and so into Austin at the time can affect one's perception.

I was a fan of The Rock but during 2000 I was getting worried that he was getting close to Austin in terms of popularity so it was a bitter/sweet feeling when he was winning matches. How sad was I ha.

Those were the days.

DDT wrote:

nasisillmatic wrote:

DDT wrote:The Rock had surpassed Stone Cold in popularity before WM17, it was only because the match was in Texas, that Austin was being cheered. Any other state and Austin would have recieved alot of heat.

Alot of people say Stone Colds heel turn didn't work, and I think the biggest problem, was that there was no Rock around, after Mania Rock left to do movies, so he didn't have him to feud with anymore. So in effect WWE lost there 2 biggest faces at the same time.

Had The Rock really surpassed Austin's popularity at the time? I didn't see it that way.

While I agree that The Rock's star did rise through Austin's absence in 2000, people were still clamouring for the Austin comeback.

During the exchanges between the 2 at the 2001 Rumble and leading upto WM17 I don't remember Austin getting any boos, while I am sure The Rock did. I might be wrong as I was only 15 at the time.

wwf ratings were at there peak, when Austin was out injured, and the Rock took over. Austin never realy got booed, though I only recall the Rock being booed in Texas, but he never got the same pops as the Rock once he returned. Check out the 6 man HIAC match, the whole arena is chanting 'Rocky'

The fans only turned on the Rock, once he started doing films, as he would leave for months at a time, and people started to get sick of him returning, and then leaving.

I think the truth lies somewhere in between. Rocky had started to get stale by late 2000/Early 2001, and Austin's return split the crowd effectively between the two. But crucially for me, Austin never got booed. Rocky's pops were louder maybe, but once he was facing off against Austin, they were always smattered with boos. I think that was enough of an indicator that turning either man was not the right call at the time.

Check out No Mercy 2000 and the reactions to Rocky and Angle during their title bout. Some crowds were starting to react to Rocky in the same way they do to Cena now. Obviously not as widespread or intensely, but it was starting. Its why being the top face in the WWE is now the hardest job in the world.

The Rock was always at a disadvantage trying to follow up as the big face of wwf after Austin, as many of the die hard Austin fans refused to give the Rock a chance. I was the same at first, I used to like Stone Cold, but the Rocks promo's and Charisma won me over in the end, and in the end I realised he was the more naturally gifted of the 2.

The Rock was only booed in Texas, if WM17 had been in Miami then I'm sure Austin would have been booed. The wwf ratings don't lie wwf was at it's peak, in the build up to Wrestlemania 2000. Austin was injured, and The Rock was the top guy.

Ive decided, I cant stand the Rock any more, its stale boring and just not funny anymore. Cena all the way!!!