The Rock & John Cena def. The Miz & R-Truth

NEW YORK — A hallowed institution situated at the core of the Big Apple, Madison Square Garden has bore a dynasty of cherished WWE moments – Jimmy Snuka’s steel cage-top leap, the WWE Title bout that sparked Hulkamania in 1984, The Game’s exultant return from injury in 2002 and so many more. Add to that list the night “The Most Charismatic Tag Team of All Time” came to The Mecca of Sports-Entertainment to put aside their approaching WrestleMania XXVIII dream match and instead put boots to the asses of The “Awesome Truth.” Though John Cena wasn’t exactly safe from said footwear.

Never before, never again would The Rock and John Cena, arguably the biggest stars in the WWE Universe, stand aligned. But the single instance in which they did – collectively deconstructing The Miz & R-Truth at Survivor Series in The World’s Most Famous Arena – will be remembered by the WWE Universe forever. More so, The Cenation Commander-in-Chief won’t soon forget the emphatic Rock Bottom he received after the match from his teammate and archrival. (PHOTOS)

Worldwide, droves of WWE fans, Superstars, Legends – literally everyone – wondered how the Cenation leader and The Great One could possibly keep it together. Precisely 133 nights before their rock of ages collision at The Show of Shows on April 1, the vast, clash-ready personalities of The Rock and Cena paired to combat a reckless, riotous twosome hell-bent on eclipsing the ’Mania-bound icons.

As the New York crowd eagerly vocalized, The Great One’s still got it. Both starting and finishing the bout, The Rock showed no such “ring rust” and was perhaps even more electrifying than ever. A win-ending People’s Elbow to The Miz made The Brahma Bull’s return to action a glorious one, but the exclamatory statement to Cena in the aftermath was an aggressive reminder of the joust five months away on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

This unlikely union was forged seven years after Cena (at his first-ever WrestleMania) and The Rock passed like two vessels in the night, much like the NYC buses featuring their iconic faces in the streets outside the Garden. When offered a teammate of his choosing by Interim Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis, The Cenation Commander-in-Chief did the unthinkable, selecting a man who hadn’t seen competition since his last match in 2004, ironically, inside MSG. In the end, it seemed Cena picked the right tag team partner after all.

Fueled by the entwined lineage of his family and the Garden, The Great One returned home at Survivor Series. At the same annual event in which his WWE career was born in 1996, The People’s Champion reignited his thirst for serving smackdown and the timing couldn’t be better. In mere months, his teammate tonight will turn to rival in the most highly anticipated match in WrestleMania history.

Despite a shared victory in New York City, Cena and The Rock ended their night with locked eyes, looking past the physical forms before them and envisioning the spectacle ahead in Miami. While a Rock Bottom rattled the “Reunion” star, who seemed accepting of the crowd’s favor of The People’s Champ, a yet even grander stage awaits these titans.

What unique yet intersecting Roads to WrestleMania will The Great One and the Cenation leader trace to April 1? Time tells all.