10 Times WWE Directly Insulted Your Intelligence
3. "Once In A Lifetime"
WWE - the cheeky f*ckers - used their biggest annual stipulation and biggest title reign in years to ensure that this looked as if it happened organically rather than as result of years of careful planning. Careful planning made worse by how shamelessly they chose to sell the WrestleMania XVIII encounter as "Once In A Lifetime" from inception through to eventual execution.
Gifted a full year to build the match thanks to the unique layout of the John Cena/Rock programme, the sales pitch was smart enough. 12 months to craft some memories that will last a lifetime...or as it turned out, another 12 months.
Rock and Cena's broadly enjoyable encounter didn't really need the rematch, but things had been set in motion two years before that anyway. The need for the leveller between the two (that was also presented as Rock "passing the torch" given to him by Hulk Hogan to 'The Champ') resulted in 'The Great One' terminating CM Punk's iconic WWE Championship reign and John Cena shovelling the last mound of dirt on Ryback's faltering main event run all at the same time.
In the cold light of reflection several years on, this lack of future-proofing then still haunts the star-less product of the now.