10 Major Stars Who Questioned Bad WWE Booking

6. John Cena

The Rock John Cena
WWE.com
"Rise Above Hate".

That, according to The Wrestling Observer, was going to be the prevailing message during the build towards John Cena vs. The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII. Originally, WWE's creative team thought it'd be best if 'Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes' Cena didn't respond to Rocky's blistering comments with promos of his own. Cena, to his credit, thought that idea sucked.

Maybe he realised he'd be dead in the water if he pretended to rubber-ear The Rock's barbs, or perhaps Cena knew he had some damn good material on 'The Great One' he needed to sneak onto TV. Whatever the case, he was smart enough to realise that WWE's initial plan to pen a one-sided verbal beatdown wasn't going to cut it.

Had Cena not been so willing to speak up and fight his own corner, the build towards 'Mania XXVIII would've consisted of Rock tearing him down without any sort of rebuttal. Then, when Cena put him over on the big night, he'd look like a total clown who had barely bothered to bite back.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.