Could The Rock and Roman Reigns finally meet at WrestleMania 40?
For years there have been rumours that The Rock could be tempted back to the ring for one more match, despite being one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Add in the fact the legend hasn’t wrestled in over a decade and is now 51, and a match seems unlikely. But that doesn’t mean impossible.
The clamour for a match between Rock and Roman Reigns appears never-ending, and the Hollywood star recently suggested the match was on the table for WrestleMania 39. Although it ended up not happening.
Meanwhile, the former WWE Champion has left the door open for a match at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer suggested the match is a real possibility if The Rock wants it.
“I remember last year when he pulled out, he absolutely talked about the possibility of Philadelphia the next year. Him wrestling Roman Reigns has been talked about for years, and he wasn’t gonna do it during the pandemic.
So 2020 and 2021 were out. Dallas (WrestleMania 38) was a possibility, but they had LA (WrestleMania 39) scheduled and he decided that LA was gonna be the one he was gonna do it in because SoFi Stadium and 100,000 people and all that, which they didn’t come close to, but he wasn’t on the show either, so whatever.
He basically felt that he didn’t have time to get into ring shape, he had his other projects, he had the XFL starting, which he was the face of the company and co-owner. And talked about maybe this year.
And this year there’s a strike so there’s not a lot of work for him. There’s still the XFL, and if the strike ends, things can change. But it’s his for the taking, and it’s always been.
Every year it’s been like that. If he wants it, any year he wants to do it, it’s his. Just a question of, it’s all up to him, whatever he wants to do. A couple of years back, there was some talk of him working with Levesque (Triple H) in one last match, and his schedule didn’t allow it that year either. He’s got a busy schedule.
But right now, he doesn’t have a busy schedule. He’s probably got the least busy schedule that he’s probably had since he started in WWE as a rookie in 1996, because of the strike. We’ll see.
There’s a lot of variables so there’s no real answer. I’ve asked around and there’s no answer. Either he’s gonna do it, but the ball’s always in his court on that.”
If the match were to be made official, wrestling veteran Kevin Sullivan believes that a special referee could be added and Mike Tyson should be one of the names considered for the role.
The Rock’s Return Was Big Business For WWE
The Rock made his most recent return to WWE on the September 15th episode of SmackDown. Not only did the moment give the show a nice boost in the ratings, WWE announced that The Rock’s return has over 103 million social views.
There have been rumours circulating that The Great One may appear sooner than WrestleMania, but these have been refuted.
H/t to Wrestle Talk