I never thought a day would come when I would write a headline saying John Cena owned The Rock in a promo but that's exactly what happened on last night's (Feb. 27, 2012) episode of WWE Monday Night Raw.
"The Great One" made his triumphant return to answer back to the explosive and passionate promo Cena cut on him last week. All the focus was off everyone else and these two titans of the ring took center stage to duel in the middle of the ring, a microphone the weapon of choice for this particular battle.
Turns out Cena is quicker on the draw.
That's because The Rock didn't do much more than pander to the crowd, talk about Twitter, and spew a load of catchphrases. He even created a new one for the evening -- Kung Pao Bitch. I have no clue what that is or what it even means but when it comes to Rock, it doesn't really matter, does it?
As Rocky took his sweet time soaking in the love from the Rose Garden faithful in Portland, it felt like something was off. He wasn't saying much of anything. He delivered nothing worth committing to memory and he spent far too much time staring at the fans without speaking.
So when Cena's music hit (for the third time throughout the night), it felt like an audible. Like Vince McMahon was sitting at the gorilla position and decided to send him out to shake Rock up. When Cena went off -- especially in regards to the promo notes on Rock's wrist bit -- it felt like a shoot. Seeing Rock puff his chest out with such a deep scowl furthered the notion.
He's a good actor and all but by the time Cena had dropped the mic and walked up the ramp with a smile, Rock looked legitimately shaken by the turn of events.
It's entirely possible the entire thing was a work and, in fact, that's likely that's the case. After all, we know WWE wants Cena to garner a much bigger babyface reaction heading into Miami for WrestleMania 28 on April 1. They want an environment similar to something like The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 18. This segment most certainly seemed to go a long way in accomplishing that mission.
Still, doubt lingers regarding whether or not Rock was in on Cena interrupting him and making him look so very bad in his first appearance back since Survivor Series last November. My Twitter timeline is lit up with folks wondering just how much of that promo was planned.
To that end, the entire segment was brilliant. Cena got over on Rock. Straight to his face, no less. Standing toe-to-toe with "The Great One," John Cena stood taller and delivered everything the legendary Rock was supposed to ... and more.
By my count, that's Cena: 2, Rock: 0. As my brother so aptly put it -- who would have thought a Fruity Pebble could crack the Rock?