Rock beats Cena in raucous WrestleMania 28

Rock beats Cena in raucous WrestleMania 28

McClatchy Tribune

MIAMI

Pro wrestling continued its week-long stranglehold — or is it chokehold? — on South Florida’s attention Sunday night with WrestleMania 28, the unofficial Super Bowl of the massively popular pseudo-sport.

Egos and chins were bruised, or at least very much appeared to be so. World Wrestling Entertainment, known more commonly as WWE, these days readily acknowledges the scripted nature of its matches.

For fans, none of that really matters. They don’t know the results going in, and Sunday’s WrestleMania included an extra helping of suspense and drama with the return of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who went head-to-head with WWE icon John Cena.

Who won that clash of the titans? The Rock, of course, to an eruption of inevitable, thundering cheers from the hometown crowd. During the bout, one fan held up a sign that said, “If Cena wins, we riot.” Besides, Johnson’s victory now sets the stage of a rematch.

Sunday’s string of wrestling matches at the Miami Dolphins’ Sun Life stadium attracted a crowd of 78,363 — a number the Dolphins themselves have struggled to achieve of late, and which WWE claimed was a SunLife record. When a WWE announcer revealed the figure in the midst of WrestleMania, it was followed immediately by a boisterous display of fireworks.

Wrestling is a lot of things — silly, full of plot twists, and acrobatic among them. A place for understatement it is not.

In addition to fireworks, the technical dazzle included shooting flames, smoke effects and a massive screen-within-screen visual display that essentially occupied an entire football end zone.

Things began with a pre-event press conference featuring some of the WWE’s biggest names, along with a surprise appearance by boxing legend Mike Tyson.

Tyson, a lifelong wrestling fan, was earlier this week inducted into the WWE’s Hall of Fame (as a celebrity inductee). He said that honor impressed his family even more than his entrance into the boxing hall of fame.

Though wrestling is certainly a full-contact affair, Tyson said it has an uplifting undercurrent of positivity — something that contrasted with his boxing career, which included some startling lows, such as Tyson’s biting off a piece of opponent Evander Holyfield’s ear.

Of wrestling, Tyson said: “Boxing represented the dark side of me, and this represents the light.”

From there, the press conference predictably veered into some smack talk between star attractions Johnson and Cena. Johnson’s varied movie roles in recent years — and limited WWE presence — led Cena to question his commitment to fighting in the ring. Johnson responded that he left his full-time wrestling gig years ago because he wanted a “diverse” career that included starring on the silver screen.

“I quietly walked away, and I make no apologies for that,” Johnson said.

Soon after, the wrestling action began — and none of that could be called quiet. Crowd chants were frequent and thunderous, and included a “USA!” chant after the singing of America the Beautiful.

The oohs and ahhs were particularly audible when wrestlers in the ring were about to fly through the air. And if a wrestler was pinned down, the referee could have easily not bothered counting on the mat — a seat-rattling “One .‚â.‚â. Two ..‚â. Three!” erupted every time from the crowd.

The crowd even roared after what was likely the most lackluster bout of the night — a victory by the pasty-skinned Irish wrestler Seamus. Seamus took advantage of an opponent who was distracted — wrestler Daniel Bryan was receiving a kiss from one of the WWE’s sultry “divas.” Seamus pounced, and the match was done in what seemed like less than 10 seconds.

“It was too fast,” admitted wrestling fan Cynthia Caceres, 20, of Miami, who was attending her first WrestleMania.

But Jorge Ferdinandy, a 30-year-old from Miami, loved the speed with which Seamus triumphed — it brought the night closer to what he was really waiting for: Cena versus The Rock.

The Rock’s talents as an actor, and a wrestler, are why Ferdinandy has long been a fan.

“He’s not only a good sportsman and wrestler and all that, but he can also perform,” Ferdinandy said.

THE MATCHES

In his first WrestleMania since 2004, The Rock pinned John Cena with the Rock Bottom as the crowd erupted in the main event of WrestleMania XXVIII on Sunday at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens.

Cena, mocking The Rock, was about to execute a People’s Elbow when The Rock sprang to his feet and caught a stunned Cena with the Rock Bottom, putting to rest their one-year feud.

Until Monday Night Raw.

Following the win, Rock celebrated for about five minutes with fans in a frenzy. Cena, who left the ring quickly, just dropped near the top of the entrance in disbelief.

After kissing his mom, Ata; his ex-wife Dany Garcia; and his daughter Simone at ringside, Rock signed some autographs including a Dwayne Johnson #94 University of Miami jersey. The Rock played football and graduated from The U.

If Sun Life Stadium had a roof, it would have blown off as the crowd erupted when The Rock made his way to the ring to Miami’s Flo Rida performing “Good Feeling” and “Wild One.”

Undertaker 20-0

In the much-anticipated end of an era match, Undertaker pinned Triple H with special guest referee HBK Shawn Michaels making the count.

That makes Undertaker 20-0 in WrestleManias (3-0 against Triple H at ‘Mania).

Undertaker, sporting a crew cut, emerged from the airy, smoky entrance and delivered a classic Hell in a Cell (enclosed steel cage) match with Triple H.

The sold-out crowd was in the palm of their hands, ooohing and ahhhing, applauding and yelling. They even chanted, ‘This is awesome’ during the epic aggressive contest.

After a few near falls by each competitor, Taker finally beat the Cerebral Assassin with a tombstone pile driver. The fans gave them a standing ovation.

In a departure from his character following the match, Undertaker and Michaels embraced, and then they hoisted up Triple H and helped him to the back. The three era changes ended an era.

Punk Still Best In The World

CM Punk retained the WWE title by beating Chris Jericho with the Anaconda Vice. Each combatant had a few near falls and submissions with the crowd solidly into the match after a brief respite following the Taker/Triple H encounter.

Eve Interruption Costs Team Teddy

With Zack Ryder cleaning house, Eve Torres jumped in the ring to celebrate ‘Woo Woo Woo’ style, distracting Ryder, who was then caught by The Miz with the skull crushing finale.

So Team Johnny defeated Team Teddy, meaning WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis is the general manager of Raw and SmackDown. Eve kicked Ryder in the ‘broski’ after the match.

What’s in store for Teddy Long and Team Teddy members on WWE Monday Night Raw on April 2 from the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami.

Sheamus Captures World Title

The World title match between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus took the opening spot on the card.

In one of those blink-and-you-miss-it moments, Bryan kissed AJ and then turned around and received a kiss of death from the Celtic Warrior with the boot to the mush (brogue kick), and Sheamus quickly captured the World title as the rowdy crowd exploded.

Big Show Big Win

An emotional Big Show won the WWE Intercontinental title, pinning Cody Rhodes after a knockout punch. Big Show avenged weeks of embarrassing past WrestleMania moments, instigated by Rhodes on WWE TV.