John Cena and The Rock received the most unique feud in WWE history based on how the company set it up. Rock and Cena announced their match for WrestleMania 28 one year in advance to build the appeal with another rematch coming. WWE knew that the interest would be there for the biggest realistic dream match at the time.
Fans had mixed reactions to the matches and segments that took place between the two legendary performers. WWE benefited from it all since Rock and Cena was a commercial success in helping the company get new viewers again. Find out what led to each step of the rivalry along with important behind the scenes details about the Cena vs Rock rivalry.
10 Cena Started Feud Long Before it Was Confirmed
One of the reasons there was such strong appeal for John Cena vs The Rock was the backstory of Cena taking shots at Rock in interviews. Cena felt that Rock was disloyal to the wrestling world for leaving for so many years due to his acting career.
Rock clearly loved the wrestling business given the importance it had on his entire family. Cena making such critical comments towards Rock just added more interest from fans hoping that the dream match would one day come.
9 Rock Took Shot at Cena During 2008 Hall of Fame
The Rock made a rare appearance for WWE when inducting his father into the 2008 Hall of Fame class. Fans loved witnessing Rock take the stage to once again deliver hilarious comments during his speech that connected about the current WWE landscape.
Chris Jericho, Mick Foley, and Santino Marella were some of the comedic targets before getting more personal with Cena. Rock made a joke about Cena’s The Marine being used as a torture device with a huge ovation from the fans loving every second of it.
8 The Rock Returned in a Non-Wrestling Role
Fans were mixed on The Rock’s first return after a long break coming as the host of WrestleMania 27 rather than having a match. Rock wanted to slowly work his way back before getting into shape for his first match back.
The hosting duties gave WWE time to build Rock vs John Cena even though Rock wasn’t going to wrestle at the event. Cena, Rock, and The Miz all cut promos together to build the Cena vs Miz main event. Rock interfering was all he felt was needed to set up the story for the match one year later.
7 The Miz's Title Reign Was A Prop In The Feud Starting
The Miz suffered from being the WWE Champion during the timing of the John Cena vs The Rock feud. Fans often forgot that Miz was even in the champion since he was treated like a secondary part of the WrestleMania 27 program.
Miz having a terrible performance in the match also hurt his title reign as fans only discuss Rock interfering as the main memory of that match. WWE had Miz drop the title about a month later and he has yet to win another world title.
6 Things Grew Hostile in Promos
The promos from The Rock and John Cena did a great job building up the WrestleMania 28 match. Both wrestlers cut intense promos on the other in the months leading up to the attraction. The tension would reach new highs when in the ring together.
Cena called out Rock for writing notes on his arm for a promo in a segment that saw Rock getting visibly upset. Rock even went out of his way to make a joke about Cena’s real-life marriage ending during a concert performance. Cena and Rock each broke the script to make the rivalry have a real feel to it.
5 Kane Tried to Turn Cena Heel
WWE never seriously considered turning John Cena heel during his run as the face of the company. There was one storyline that did add some slight hope for fans when Kane returned from a break with his mask attempting to make Cena “embrace the hate” heading into his match with The Rock.
If there was ever a fair time for Cena to be a heel, a program with a beloved legend like Rock made sense. However, the story played out with Cena overcoming Kane and staying true to his face character heading into the match with Rock that he did lose.
4 WWE Went Back on "Once in a Lifetime" Slogan
WWE used The Rock vs John Cena as their top match for WrestleMania two years in a row when booking the rematch for WrestleMania 29. Many fans were upset about this since the first match had the literal tag line of “once in a lifetime.”
The success of the first match made Vince McMahon commit to booking the rematch for the biggest stage. Cena received his win back by defeating The Rock for the WWE Championship in the second of their blockbuster matches.
3 Teamed Up Before Facing Off
A forgotten aspect of The Rock vs John Cena rivalry was Rock making his in-ring return teaming up with Cena. Rock wanted to have a real match before WrestleMania 28 to ensure he was in the best shape possible.
Survivor Series 2011 taking place in Madison Square Garden allowed Rock to wrestle on the same event in the same venue that he debuted at fifteen years prior. Cena and Rock defeated the duo of R-Truth and The Miz for Rock to shake off the rust after a seven-year hiatus.
2 First Match Set PPV Record
WrestleMania 28 proved that The Rock vs John Cena was a massive attraction when it set the all-time best buy rate for any WWE PPV. Fans loved the appeal of Rock vs Cena along with The Undertaker vs Triple H and CM Punk vs Chris Jericho to deliver a new record of 1.2 million purchases on traditional PPV.
The match creating so much interest and money for WWE influenced them to run the rematch one year later. Rock and Cena’s rematch at WrestleMania 29 didn’t have the same results, but it drew an impressive 1 million buys.
1 CM Punk's Title Reign Was Sacrificed For Rematch
CM Punk gaining momentum for the biggest success of his career saw his timing playing a negative role during WrestleMania season. The end of Punk’s time in WWE saw him upset that he never got to main event the biggest show of the year.
WWE trusted Punk to hold the title from Survivor Series 2011 to Royal Rumble 2013, but he couldn’t convince the company to change plans. Punk’s legendary WWE Championship reign ended at the hands of The Rock. WWE wanted the title involved in the Cena/Rock program which left Punk to drop the belt to make it happen.