5 WrestleMania rematches that were better than the original and 4 that were worse

#2 John Cena vs. The Rock at WrestleMania 29 (Worse)

A ROCK BOTTOM... from @JohnCena?!? It happened at The Showcase of the Immortals! @therock #HappyBirthdayCena #WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/xGg9sYKMEU

— WWE (@WWE) April 23, 2017

The 'Once in a Lifetime' match between John Cena and The Rock at WrestleMania 28 was truly memorable. It may have been the biggest match in 'Mania history. However, the events of the following year diluted it. Booking Cena and Rock to face each other twice was completely unnecessary.

There was no way the sequel would match up to their epic first encounter, even with the addition of the WWE Championship. The match was predictable as hell and there were no surprises at all. It ended with a finisher-fest from both men, ultimately won out by the 16-time world champion.

Perhaps the rematch between The Rock and John Cena would have been much better had the latter turned heel. The entire three-year plan from WrestleMania 27 to WrestleMania 29 was a bad idea, as it stunted the growth of rising stars during the period.

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#1 John Cena vs. 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 36 (Better)

John Cena vs. 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt - WrestleMania 36

One year after beating The Rock at WrestleMania, John Cena went over Bray Wyatt. It was the first of many big mistakes WWE made with The Eater of Worlds. He had a lot of momentum heading into WrestleMania 30, but it was compromised in favor of Cena getting another big moment at the Showcase of the Immortals.

The match was not bad, it was just disappointing. WWE ended up righting this wrong six years later, as the Leader of the Cenation stepped inside the Firefly Fun House. He relived various significant plot points of his career, with Wyatt pulling the strings.

The Firefly Funhouse match is John Cena on acid. #WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/GljI0eZE9b

— ART TAVANA (he/him) (@arttavana) April 6, 2020

It was a fantastically layered deconstruction of everything that was wrong with Cena, from his 2002 debut all the way to his parallels with Hulk Hogan, and the heel turn that never was. The Firefly Fun House featured loads of easter eggs and little nuggets that rewarded long-time WWE fans.

In the end, The Fiend laid John Cena to rest with Sister Abigail and the Mandible Claw. His own promo about the "most overvalued, overhyped and overprivileged WWE Superstar in existence" was played in the background. It was masterful.

The company could do the same thing this year, with The Fiend taking on Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37.