When Dwayne The Rock Johnson made his triumphant return to WWE in 2011 as the host of WrestleMania 27, the seeds were planted for a pair of matches that would headline back-to-back WrestleManias against the biggest full-time star in the WWE. This was undoubtedly the biggest match that the company had the ability to make during this time period and anticipation was high for the eventual square-off. While the matches themselves were less than memorable affairs, with the Twice in a Lifetime dream pairing not producing a ton of in-ring chemistry, the build-up the showdowns were quite fun. Promo exchanges between the two often got heated, with a more personal touch than most of what WWE produces. Fans could sense some very real animosity brewing beneath the surface with the two stars, and recently The Rock has admitted as much in several interviews. Johnson has been quoted as saying the two almost came to blows several times, and that the tension that you saw on television between the two was genuine. Mostly it stemmed from two alpha dogs who were both driven to be the best butting heads, and Cena taking his promos a little too far (especially when he called Rock out for having his promo notes written on his hand). It seems there were several guys backstage who resented Rock walking back into two straight Mania main events, and he wasnt as welcomed as he felt he should have been. Regardless, the two went out and did business like true professionals and have since ironed out their differences.
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
