Although he’s previously stated that he’s retired, Dwayne Johnson has also never ruled out getting back in the ring. As the old adage goes, “never say never.”
This has led to months and months of speculation about the Hollywood megastar getting back in the ring to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39. As many fans have suggested, the intrafamily storyline is ready made and a match would pit one of the biggest stars of today against one of the greatest of all time.
It has previously been reported that there was a mid-January deadline for The Rock to decide whether or not he would be involved. Although speculation began to gather pace that he could miss the show altogether.
Despite this, fan excitement hit a new high in recent days as WWE launched new Rock related merchandise, while there have been hints that he could be involved at the Royal Rumble in the promotion of the event.
Dwayne Johnson Seemingly Turns Down WrestleMania Match
Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer has now reported that Johnson will seemingly not be getting back in the ring to face Reigns. The report comes off the back of WWE CEO Nick Khan refusing to confirm nor deny the reports of a comeback in a recent interview.
Meltzer stated that Johnson has indicated that he wouldn’t have time to get into shape for a main event clash with Reigns. However, he left the door open to work with WWE in the future. The report adds that there is also the possibility that a potential match and appearance is being kept secret.
“Those close to the situation have noted WWE coming out with new Rock merchandise, but said that is more related to the 30th anniversary of Raw. We were told that unless he changes his mind in the next few days, since a deadline for Mania plans is coming, that he’s indicated he won’t have time to get into the kind of shape he feels he needs to be in to do a main event match with Roman Reigns, but kept the door open for something in the future. Of course it is a possibility that it’s something being kept a secret from everyone.”
Meltzer added that he didn’t know if the star had officially turned the match down, but it’s considered “less likely” than a few months ago.
“He had said he would need to have training time to be able to get in ring shape. So his decision comes down to his belief of having adequate time to prepare.”
The Rock hasn’t wrestled since being defeated by John Cena at WrestleMania 29. During the bout Johnson sustained an abdominal injury which pushed back filming for the movie Hercules. The WWE legend did technically wrestle against Eric Rowan at WrestleMania 32, where he pinned the star in under 10 seconds in an impromptu match.