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Post by BV on Dec 21, 2012 19:25:32 GMT -5
The build up was horrible in my opinion. Weeks upon weeks of those two going back and fourth on the mic got old really quick.
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Post by joebob27 on Dec 21, 2012 19:52:07 GMT -5
How was he going to turn heel? Insult the local sports teams. I guess he could go the CM Punk route and say that the Magna Carta is a crock of shit.
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Post by joebob27 on Dec 21, 2012 19:55:01 GMT -5
How was he going to turn heel? I guess you're right, in a way they couldn't turn either guy heel. But, at the same time Cena's character was 100% in everything he said yet Rock came out on top. Didn't make much sense to me. Why was Cena's character right? It was tired drivel coming from the office in the past, brought to last year via time machine. All of that stuff was part of the problem with the build. Instead of having two great "athletes" ready to take each other's heads off to prove who was the best, you got whiny mocking promos. It did great business, obviously, on payoff day, but the build could have been so much better.
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Post by Straight Edge Scrotum on Dec 21, 2012 20:24:39 GMT -5
That entire feud, I was like - so what if the Rock left? A lot of people at that point were wishing Cena would leave for a little while. The Rock could leave (and has) a thousand times and everytime he comes back, he'd be instant money.
I do think the year-long build was incredibly weak, especially when there was never any actual contact between the two of them until Mania.
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FinalGwen
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Particularly fond of muffins.
Posts: 16,434
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Post by FinalGwen on Dec 21, 2012 20:31:55 GMT -5
I don't mind that the Rock left. I just wish he'd do it permanently. So many awful insults, and he still can't get out of the mindset that calling people gay is amusing. We've moved on as a culture, Rock. And if he absolutely had to insult LGBT people for whatever reason, couldn't he at least try not to make his big musical number "We Will Rock You". Not only was that possibly the worst rendition of the song ever, but... He does know who Freddy Mercury was, right?
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kidglov3s
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Wants her Shot
Who is Tiger Maskooo?
Posts: 15,870
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Post by kidglov3s on Dec 21, 2012 20:35:09 GMT -5
I don't mind that the Rock left. I just wish he'd do it permanently. So many awful insults, and he still can't get out of the mindset that calling people gay is amusing. We've moved on as a culture, Rock. And if he absolutely had to insult LGBT people for whatever reason, couldn't he at least try not to make his big musical number "We Will Rock You". Not only was that possibly the worst rendition of the song ever, but... He does know who Freddy Mercury was, right? Is it fair to single out The Rock for that when he's feuding with John Cena?
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Allie Kitsune
Crow T. Robot
Always Feelin' Foxy.
Celestial Princess in Exile.
Posts: 46,137
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Dec 21, 2012 20:36:08 GMT -5
I don't mind that the Rock left. I just wish he'd do it permanently. So many awful insults, and he still can't get out of the mindset that calling people gay is amusing. We've moved on as a culture, Rock. And if he absolutely had to insult LGBT people for whatever reason, couldn't he at least try not to make his big musical number "We Will Rock You". Not only was that possibly the worst rendition of the song ever, but... He does know who Freddy Mercury was, right? Just going to say, if people are going to rage over someone being insensitive about "LGBT", they should probably be using the term "LGBTQQIAA", since I'm pretty sure that's the preferred all-inclusive term now.
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BorneAgain
Fry's dog Seymour
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Post by BorneAgain on Dec 21, 2012 20:36:23 GMT -5
My real issue is that there never felt like there was any progress in the feud. From the night after Wrestlemania 27 to Wrestlemania 28 it felt like the same points regurgitated. Even the Awesome Truth... thing (I hesitate to dignify it by calling it a feud) changed nothing about the dynamics of the build up. If you didn't watch that whole year, you would have missed really nothing important about Cena/Rock because they were cutting the same promos and making the same points in March 2012 that they were in March 2011, which wastes the opportunity a year long promotion could have had.
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Post by joebob27 on Dec 21, 2012 20:48:23 GMT -5
I don't mind that the Rock left. I just wish he'd do it permanently. So many awful insults, and he still can't get out of the mindset that calling people gay is amusing. We've moved on as a culture, Rock. And if he absolutely had to insult LGBT people for whatever reason, couldn't he at least try not to make his big musical number "We Will Rock You". Not only was that possibly the worst rendition of the song ever, but... He does know who Freddy Mercury was, right? Is it fair to single out The Rock for that when he's feuding with John Cena? LOL. Seriously, I mean I guess that's why they found common ground after WM. Now they will team up and call everyone gay.
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Post by Brother Nero....Wolfe on Dec 21, 2012 20:49:21 GMT -5
Is it fair to single out The Rock for that when he's feuding with John Cena? LOL. Seriously, I mean I guess that's why they found common ground after WM. Now they will team up and call everyone gay. I'd buy the living shit out of a ppv centered around a Cena/Rock rematch if--and only if--the promo was set to Brokeback Mountain's theme.
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Post by Beets by Schrute on Dec 21, 2012 21:07:07 GMT -5
That match blew {Spoiler}.....my mind
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2012 1:51:45 GMT -5
I guess you're right, in a way they couldn't turn either guy heel. But, at the same time Cena's character was 100% in everything he said yet Rock came out on top. Didn't make much sense to me. I disagree, personally. Rock liked being in the WWE but hey, not a cult, dude went to make movies. He came back because hey, he has time to do both now. Cena went "YOU LEFT" a thousand times like he was a psycho ex-girlfriend. So? And here's the thing--to Rock's fans, Cena's argument didn't matter at all. Like he left. Rock fans admit that. They don't ive a s***. I'm one of those people. Meanwhile, to Cena fans, it was all about loyalty to the WWE and the fans and whatever and...I honestly didn't like that. I like Cena, he's one of my favorite wrestlers, but his argument against the Rock basically came down to "You should have spent your entire life with us because you owed your life to the fans!" which...just didn't sit right with me. Meanwhile, Rock's argument was pretty much "pfft, KIDS like you? Blow me fruity pebble". Both guys just looked like total jerks lol.
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Post by CATCH_US IS the Conversation on Dec 22, 2012 2:31:31 GMT -5
How was he going to turn heel? The Rock basically came off as a heel throughout the feud. He blatantly buried Cena's gimmick, basically saying "You Suck Because Little Kids Cheer For You." The Rock should've basically been the Hollywood Hotshot who touted himself as "The Savior of Wrestling" and bragging about how his presence "automatically makes wrestling cool again".
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Post by "Cane Dewey" Johnson on Dec 22, 2012 2:38:06 GMT -5
I do wish that, in hindsight, Rock/Cena happened at Wrestlemania 27 and then Rock/Cena II happened in Miami. Rock/Cena would have freed up the Miz to work with John Morrison in a title match instead of Morrison working that six person tag with Trish Stratus, Snooki, Laycool, and Dolph Ziggler.
You could, for instance, book either Rock or Cena to win the first round, with the loser feeling doubting himself as to whether he can really cut it any more, and then trains harder for the next bout come Miami and gets his win back (since WWE is so intent on booking everything 'even stevens' nowadays). At the very least, the loser doesn't challenge the other guy until Royal Rumble time, sparing us the pathetic build that was 'Once in a Lifetime' since now there's a real motivation for the match: the loser wants to prove he can beat the other guy, the winner wants to humiliate the other guy again. I think I'd book Rock over Cena in Atlanta and then for Rock to heel it up on TV before Miami the year after, where obviously the crowd will be rooting for the Rock since a) he's the hometown guy and b) because Cena always gets heel reactions at Wrestlemania.
Cena gets the win at Wrestlemania 28, proving that today's generation can hang with the wrestlers of the Attitude Era (or whatever that criticism meant), and then I'd let that win slowly start to go to Cena's head, especially in light of the heel heat he'd get from the crowd, topped with the fact that he also beats the returning Brock Lesnar. So at this point, Cena's booked more or less the same storyline-wise from here on out, while occasionally really heeling it up, saying that he's a role model to today's children, that he's the superhero that WWE needs, that he's better than everyone else because of how many times he's won the title and headlines pay-per-views.
Around the Royal Rumble 2013, Cena calls out the Undertaker, saying that he is the guy to break the streak. Undertaker comes back around Elimination Chamber and accepts Cena's challenge, saying that as the conscience of WWE, he needs to put Cena in his place once and for all. Cena and the Undertaker headline Wrestlemania in New Jersey, with the Rock taking on CM Punk for the WWE title. Cena breaks the streak by making the Undertaker tap, and is turned full-blown heel by the fans that night and the next night on Raw who refuse to accept that the Undertaker would lose, that his streak would be broken via tap-out.
Cena, by turning fully heel, amps up the 'Fruity Pebbles' aspect of his character by wearing gaudy colours, decked out in tons of merchandise (hats, shirts, wristbands, jorts, socks, shoes, etc.), and preaches about being the saviour of WWE (think Kurt Angle in 1999-2000 but with the volume way up). People like Ryback, Daniel Bryan, and a face-turned upper midcarder like Ziggler move up because Cena is now in the heel camp. The Undertaker retires and CM Punk moves down the card to elevate midcard face talent in his last year with the company in a Chris Jericho-esque role.
I'd rather see that than what they've done with the booking for the past almost two years.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2012 2:40:46 GMT -5
The majority of the build up was for Cena as far as I am concerned they tried the damndest to make Cena look like he was on The Rocks level...and they did it for one night that was the night Cena accused Rock of writing on his wrist...there was not once during the entire build did Rock ever get to lay out Cena like that...hell majority were like it's done because The Rock everyone had been seeing to that point was not even The Rock everyone knew.
Only after did Cena get in his best shot did The Rock finally get to be The Rock with the boston history lessons , the promo in front of the rocky statue and his final promo about why he wanted to face Cena.
Thats why the build up to me was crap because untill the preverbial final hour it was all Cena no selling The Rock.
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Jimmy
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Post by Jimmy on Dec 22, 2012 2:42:23 GMT -5
I thought the build to the match was universally disliked by all. I know the internet didn't like it, and it's not like the casual fans were turning out in huge numbers to follow it.
I doubt anything leading up to the match is what led to anyone buying the PPV. They were going to buy it for Cena vs. Rock no matter what, but WWE really phoned in the build to it.
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Mochi Lone Wolf
Fry's dog Seymour
Development through Destruction.
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Post by Mochi Lone Wolf on Dec 22, 2012 2:55:43 GMT -5
I thought it was a fine match and feud, but not something I ever want to see again. Especially not again at this year's Wrestlemania.
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SEAN CARLESS
Hank Scorpio
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Post by SEAN CARLESS on Dec 22, 2012 3:06:46 GMT -5
How was he going to turn heel? The Rock basically came off as a heel throughout the feud. He blatantly buried Cena's gimmick, basically saying "You Suck Because Little Kids Cheer For You." The Rock should've basically been the Hollywood Hotshot who touted himself as "The Savior of Wrestling" and bragging about how his presence "automatically makes wrestling cool again". The thing is, he did make wrestling cool again. Albeit briefly. The box-office proves it. And Rock couldn't be and wasn't the heel. Because for the vast majority, regardless, Cena was. WrestleMania was sold on the lapsed majority wanting to see Rock vanquish a guy that they'd convinced themselves was the standard bearer of everything now wrong with wrestling. And they got that payoff. People went home happy. (they'd have booed anything else). People need to realize that when it comes to The Rock, Cena will NEVER be the face in their feud. And he'll never leave the ring to anything other than boos, win or lose, if they do meet again in April. If WWE are deadset on continuing Cena's unchanging tired and stale dog and pony show (Cena should win and turn heel, Hogan-style, with Ryback chasing him thereafter), they might as well keep Rock and him far apart, and go in a completely different direction with them respectively.
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Post by joebob27 on Dec 22, 2012 3:24:22 GMT -5
The Rock basically came off as a heel throughout the feud. He blatantly buried Cena's gimmick, basically saying "You Suck Because Little Kids Cheer For You." The Rock should've basically been the Hollywood Hotshot who touted himself as "The Savior of Wrestling" and bragging about how his presence "automatically makes wrestling cool again". The thing is, he did make wrestling cool again. Albeit briefly. The box-office proves it. And Rock couldn't be and wasn't the heel. Because for the vast majority, regardless, Cena was. WrestleMania was sold on the lapsed majority wanting to see Rock vanquish a guy that they'd convinced themselves was the standard bearer of everything now wrong with wrestling. And they got that payoff. People went home happy. (they'd have booed anything else). People need to realize that when it comes to The Rock, Cena will NEVER be the face in their feud. And he'll never leave the ring to anything other than boos, win or lose, if they do meet again in April. If WWE are deadset on continuing Cena's unchanging tired and stale dog and pony show (Cena should win and turn heel, Hogan-style, with Ryback chasing him thereafter), they might as well keep Rock and him far apart, and go in a completely different direction with them respectively. Yep, there was no way that Cena was going to get an overwhelmingly positive response in that feud. They could go to the CM Punk school of heel heat with the Rock and it still wouldn't work. The only thing I could think of.... maybe if he was over complimentary of Cena. But then that makes them both heels.
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Post by Brother Nero....Wolfe on Dec 22, 2012 3:45:51 GMT -5
The thing is, he did make wrestling cool again. Albeit briefly. The box-office proves it. And Rock couldn't be and wasn't the heel. Because for the vast majority, regardless, Cena was. WrestleMania was sold on the lapsed majority wanting to see Rock vanquish a guy that they'd convinced themselves was the standard bearer of everything now wrong with wrestling. And they got that payoff. People went home happy. (they'd have booed anything else). People need to realize that when it comes to The Rock, Cena will NEVER be the face in their feud. And he'll never leave the ring to anything other than boos, win or lose, if they do meet again in April. If WWE are deadset on continuing Cena's unchanging tired and stale dog and pony show (Cena should win and turn heel, Hogan-style, with Ryback chasing him thereafter), they might as well keep Rock and him far apart, and go in a completely different direction with them respectively. Yep, there was no way that Cena was going to get an overwhelmingly positive response in that feud. They could go to the CM Punk school of heel heat with the Rock and it still wouldn't work. The only thing I could think of.... maybe if he was over complimentary of Cena. But then that makes them both heels. Yeah I remember one line where The Rock went "The Rock respects you" and the crowd boo'd like crazy up until he said "...but that doesn't mean The Rock likes you."
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