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COMPLETE THOUGHTS ON WWE 'ONCE IN A LIFETIME' SPECIAL

By Mike Johnson on 2012-03-26 20:00:08
As we wait for Raw to start, here's some ongoing thoughts on the "Once in A Lifetime" Rock vs. John Cena special promoting Wrestlemania:

*Keith David as narrator? Nice! Great guy and brings a really good gravity to the importance of the story.

*The segment on Rock's celebrity really brings a vivid picture of what a huge star he's become in recent years. Interesting to see them using Chris Jericho and Triple H among the celebrities discussing Rock's success.

*Johnson made a comment that being on the move tells him how successful he's become. That's something I've heard from a lot of actors in my former line of work. They had to be doing something to be "out there" or else they felt their career was passing them by.

*Rock came off like a guy who really loves his fans and was thankful for his success. They did a nice job balancing the star power and his humble side.

*I popped huge for the shot of Kowloon's in Boston, which really is one of those places that every wrestling fan should visit. They have tons of wrestling-related signed photos and posters there and the food is pretty good.

*They presented John Cena as this driven, special athlete that was on par with the top sports stars of today, like Alex Rodriguez and even legends like Michael Jordan.

*Whoever was responsible for editing this thing deserves a raise. Ten minutes in and it makes me want to pay for the show - and I'll be IN Miami.

*Did I really just hear the Indigo Girls on a wrestling special?

*The family home movies of John Cena wrestling with his brothers underscores the man's love for the business.

*For the first time ever, we learn what's on Cena's trademark dogtags - the names of his family. If you can't consider the guy a babyface after this, how can you not? If WWE's strategy was to use this match to finally make Cena a monster babyface to the entire fanbase, this is a hell of a way to make it happen.

*The segment on Rock's childhood showed some really nice early glimpses of the charisma that would make him a star. The story of his struggling family being evicted from their home in Hawaii hit home as something that would inspire anyone to fight to make their name. As a way to show that Johnson isn't this Hollywood star with his head in the clouds but a grounded individual with the same stresses and problems in his background as the average person struggling day to day, this was awesome.

*20 Minutes in, WWE has done a hell of a job painting this as the modern day equivalent of Bruno Sammartino vs. Pedro Morales or a more mature version of Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior with these two superhuman, incredible heroes set to collide.

*We get to see comments from Miz and Big Show. So, um, where are the WWE and World champions? Again, WWE has a chance to get the younger trailblazers out in front of more eyeballs during a time period where they are the ones touring regularly and thus far, failed to accomplish that.

*They started to lose me a little with the discussion of Twitter and the idea that this was a groundbreaking match built on the strength of social media. I think while social media added a dimension to the storyline, the idea that it's going to make this match historic is pretty silly.

*This turns into a bit on John Cena's new relationship with Fruity Pebbles thanks to the Rock insults. This leads to them showing a bunch of kids who are fans of Cena happy that he's on the box. Miz was pretty damn funny saying he hopes Rock calls him "Cocoa Puffs" or something so he can get on a cereal box. Anyone who believes Miz is really getting buried only needs to see him on this special to realize that if the company WAS really pissed at him, he'd be nowhere near something that's going to get as much exposure as this special.

*They weren't selling me on the match as much with the social media or the cereal boxes as they were with the personality profiles.

*Once they went back into the deep personality profiles, with Rock visiting Samoa and being named a Chief, wow. That was some impressive footage and man, you couldn't help but feel proud for him as he talked about the heritage he carries.

*Then we went into John Cena's drive as a performer and as HHH explained, his ability to stop everything he's doing while being pulled every way by everyone because there are children who came to see him. Watching Cena interact with some of the make-a-wish children showed him as the type of man I'd hope my own son grows up to be one day - strong, caring and genuine.

*Hey, Sheamus and CM Punk showed up!

*This special is just absolutely off the charts wonderful.

*The segment on Dwayne Johnson's Hollywood career and goals was well done. For those who have never traveled for a living, the idea of Johnson walking off the set on GI Joe, going to NYC to wrestle and then heading to start on the set of Snitch is mind-boggling insane and difficult, just from the point of sheer exhaustion. For him to act like he just breezed through that is INSANE.

*They touch upon the idea that some fans hate Cena. HHH described this as Cena raising his heights to the point that he became a franchise like the New York Yankees. They showed some great footage of Cena reacting backstage to the mixed reactions he received in his own hometown and of Cena meeting a fan wearing a "Cena Sucks" shirt during a signing. Only in NYC would that happen! Cena noted that it's not his job to make the fans cheer him, just to entertain them. I wish certain people in positions of power would remember those words rather than expending energy to make fans sway one way or another.

*We close out putting over the importance of Wrestlemania as this mythical event with lots of people giving their pick as to who will win the main event. Again, the editing on this was just superb.

In 60 minutes, WWE made me a fan of both men and made me look forward to the main event of Wrestlemania. If it did that for me, I certainly hope it did it for a lot of fans that are on the fence.

Mission hype Wrestlemania, accomplished.

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