The Royal Rumble is always seen as the start of “The Road To Wrestlemania” and the 2013 edition was no exception, pretty much confirming what most fans already expected: The Rock vs. John Cena will headline the biggest show of the year, for the second year in a row. The only difference is this time the WWE Championship will be on the line, as Rock ended CM Punk’s 434 day title reign in the main event of the Pay-per-view, while Cena won the Rumble match itself, giving him the opportunity to challenge for the gold at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on April 7th.
Of course, there are a few things that could happen to change this. First of all, Rock could lose the championship before Wrestlemania. That is, if he even wrestles between now and Wrestlemania. Okay, he’s probably not dropping the title.
John Cena could use his Rumble win to challenge World Champion Alberto Del Rio instead. Yeah, that’s not happening either.
Dolph Ziggler could cash in his “Money In The Bank” briefcase for a title shot at any point between now and Wrestlemania, or he could even do it before or after the main event at the show itself. It certainly would be a way for WWE to elevate Ziggler as a top heel for the company, something they sorely need (not that CM Punk is doing a bad job, but there’s plenty of room for another). The only problem is, after Ziggler has lost to Cena on a seemingly weekly basis, does anyone see him as being able to hang with the top guys?
So, barring an injury or some sort of crazy change in direction (which is always possible, this is Vince McMahon we’re dealing with), it will be Rock vs. Cena, with the WWE Championship on the line. Last year, that main event was good enough to pull 65,000 fans into Rock's hometown of Miami for Wrestlemania. Will a second helping do the same in the Northeast in what can be a very chilly time of year? WWE seems to think so.
Starting tomorrow night on Raw on USA Network, we’ll see what kind of supporting card they have planned to go with the main event.
Oh, and for those who aren’t enthralled with Cena vs. Rock on top again, the annual “Who will Undertaker face?” debate is already open for business.
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