Is WWE planning a Rock vs John Cena best of three series of matches starting at WrestleMania 28?

After The Rock left the WWE for the greener pastures of Tinseltown, he long pushed the line that he was done with professional wrestling and he had no legitimate reason to go back. And for years, that was true. He got out at the right time, when the business had lost all the heat it had from the Monday Night Wars and was returning to a state of perpetual mediocrity.

During this time, John Cena was determined to be Vince McMahon's golden child and was given the ball at WrestleMania in 2005 and has been running with it ever since. Indeed, he's closing in on various records surrounding the WWE title and that tells you all you need to know about his time at the top.

Not coincidentally, there came a time when Rock changed his tune regarding a potential return to WWE. No, he would never come back to occupy a permanent slot on the roster as an active wrestler, but he would as least be open to the idea of something major, something that, if done right, would be a very big deal.

And that's what happened, as WWE convinced him to return to feud with its top babyface star and the man who spent years badmouthing him, the previously mentioned Cena. Rock cost him his WWE title match at WrestleMania 27 and the very next night on Raw they set up a match between the two that would take place at WrestleMania 28 one year later in Miami, Rock's unofficial home. 

Then, Rock left. Again.

This was to be expected, of course. He didn't say he was back for good, just that he was back and he would be involved a lot more than in the past. As we would later learn, this meant infrequent appearances throughout the year and as his WrestleMania 28 match against Cena draws closer, getting involved more and more to help promote the show. After all, WWE believes that it can break the record for pay-per-view buys and, if done correctly, it most certainly can.

The first advertisement for Rock to return to start building his feud with Cena is at Survivor Series and because that event is slated for Nov. 20, that means it's high time for WWE to figure out how they want to book this thing.

It's a difficult spot to be in. The obvious choice is to have Cena go over clean on Rock because he's the one that will be sticking around and holding the title and, if this point hasn't been forgotten, he promised to defend the WWE championship against Rock at 'Mania.

Then again, the event will be held in Miami, which is Rock's unofficial home and the fans at Sun Life Stadium will reflect that. Everyone in that building will be firmly behind him, unless an atmosphere arises like that in Toronto for WrestleMania 18 in which Hulk Hogan stole all his babyface heat right out from under him. That scenario isn't likely here, as he'll be cheered as the hero, unless they set him up otherwise in the build up to the match by turning him heel, which would be the dumbest decision in the history of time.

And that's why the bookers are in a pickle. Figuring out a finish that will send the fans home happy while still managing to put over Cena will be damn near impossible. So what's an easy way out of this? You guessed it (and the title gave it away): a best-of-three series of matches.

The latest Figure Four Weekly brings word of an idea being kicked around in Stamford:

Survivor Series ads in New York this week advertised Rock as "returning to the ring" for the PPV event in Madison Square Garden this November. According to sources, he will return to the ring in the sense that he will step inside it at some point and probably deliver a Rock bottom and people's elbow, but he will not be wrestling. The build to WrestleMania will go into full effect starting with that show, and Rock is expected to appear at Royal Rumble and perhaps Elimination Chamber as well. There has also been some talk that the way to solve the problem of who will win the WrestleMania main event is to do a best-of-three series with Rock and Cena wrestling at Mania, Backlash and then a third time at SummerSlam 2012.

Just playing fantasy booker for a second, the easy scenario, that would admittedly require some added commitment from Rock, would see him winning a hard fought match at 'Mania to win the title and send the fans home happy and have everyone at home eager to tune in and see how this thing plays out. He would work his damnedest to make Cena look as good as possible so as to make it seem as though he is Rock's equal and on the same level as "The Great One."

Rock would have to make consecutive appearances on Raw leading into Backlash the next month as champion, of course, where he would drop the strap back to Cena. To set up the third and final match at SummerSlam, he would need to do an angle that involved one of two things:

1. A smoz finish. Some sort of scenario in which Cena gets the victory through nefarious means. This isn't the most desirable option, but it's certain a possibility and would make sense within the context of the storyline, if done right.

2. An injury angle. This is the better option, one in which Rock gets "hurt" during the match in some capacity and it directly effects the eventual outcome. Rock can claim his injury was the reason Cena won while Cena can say he would have won anyway, just like he was so close to doing at WrestleMania.

With either of those two, the answer is to set up the third and final match at SummerSlam where Cena would quite obviously go over clean and Rock would be expected to make him look like a million bucks, which he would undoubtedly do.

Obviously, this is a fantasy booking scenario and the best-of-three series is certainly not set in stone. That said, to me, it's the best possible outlook.

Or do you have one better?