A new report has given a huge update regarding the WWE future of The Rock and when fans can expect to see him back inside the squared circle.
The Rock made his WWE debut on November 17th 1996 at Survivor Series at Madison Square Garden. The WWE’s first-ever third generation Superstar appeared under the name Rocky Maivia emerging as the sole survivor for his team.
The 2021 Survivor Series marks the 25th anniversary of that famous debut, leading to speculation that The Rock would be appearing at the event. However, according to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast, that won’t be the case, as The Great One will be in Australia while the show is taking place.
“Little update on The Rock – he is apparently in Australia during Survivor Series. Now does that mean that he won’t be doing something at Survivor Series? They’re definitely gonna mention it. They’re definitely gonna talk about it. There will be maybe a video appearance or something that’s planned. But he’s not gonna be there.”
There had also been rumours circling that the former World Champion would be returning to the ring for a huge clash with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 38 in Texas. This also now appears to be off the table.
“It really looks like the focus has shifted to moving a Roman/Rock match to LA (WrestleMania 39 in 2023). I’ll say it this way – there are people that are adamant that it needs to take place in Los Angeles. They’re adamant. There are certain people that say, ‘No, this match should not happen at Dallas (WrestleMania 38 in 2022), it should happen in LA.”
This lines up with an earlier report from Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter which stated that the plan was seemingly for Reigns to face Brock Lesnar in 2022, before meeting The Rock a year later.
The Rock hasn’t been seen on WWE television since appearing alongside Becky Lynch on the 20th-anniversary edition of SmackDown in October 2019. His last in-ring action came at WrestleMania 32 where he defeated Erick Rowan in an impromptu match.
His final match of any significance took place three years previously when he was defeated by John Cena at WrestleMania 29. The match served as the follow up to the “once in a lifetime” encounter between the pair a year earlier.
H/t to Wrestle Talk for the transcription.