Full Match: John Cena vs. The Rock: Once in a Lifetime

Once of twice in a lifetime. The biggest wrestling match of this generation is the Rock vs. John Cena, which was built up for over a year before FINALLY taking place at “Wrestlemania XXVIII” in the Rock’s hometown of Miami, Florida. This was as well done of a build as you may ever see with the two of them saying every nasty thing they could think of about one another. The challenge was laid out the night after “Wrestlemania XXVII” and they actually waited a full year to go ahead and have the two of them fight. That made for a must see feel, and now you can see it again.

It’s that big.

WWE has released the full version of the Rock vs. Cena from “Wrestlemania XXVIII” on their YouTube page. The match took place six years ago to the day on April 1, 2012 and had all the imaginable hype, including musical performances before the match. While Rock would eventually win after Cena got just a bit too cocky for his own good, Cena would come back and win the rematch and the WWE Championship the following year at “Wrestlemania XXIX”. The video also includes the post match celebrating, which featured Cena sitting on the ramp, looking dejected and stunned after his loss.

Don’t remember the show? Here’s a full review.

Opinion: Somewhere around January of 2012, I knew I had to see this match. I didn’t know if it was going to be good and I didn’t know if it was going to be bad, but one way or another I had to see it. These two had been built up to the point where neither of them could conceivably lose and that makes for a very special feeling. That being said, I don’t know why Rock won. This loss made Cena look like he was in over his head against someone who had barely wrestled in the last eight years. Then Cena beats the returning Brock Lesnar later in the month at “Extreme Rules 2012”. It really didn’t make sense.

What did you think of the build to this match? Did the right man win in the end? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 26 wrestling books. His latest book is the WWE Grab Bag.

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