Could The Rock really miss WrestleMania 41?
As 2024 nears its end, The Great One has already made one of his biggest impressions in WWE in arguably the past decade. Making an unannounced appearance on New Year’s Day and confronting Jinder Mahal in what seems like a lifetime ago, Rock first teased then that he would one day stand face to face with Roman Reigns. With fans excited at this point that the dream match would finally happen, Rock would further cement his legacy just a couple of weeks later when it was announced that he would be joining the Board of Directors for parent company TKO. While unknown at the time, a large chunk of his bonus for signing involved the Hollywood star stepping back inside the ring once more. Unfortunately, the dream scenario quickly unravelled into a nightmare.
With Cody Rhodes winning the Royal Rumble, what was next for Rock became more confusing than ever as it looked like a WrestleMania match was off. However, with Rock showing up again just 6 days after Rhodes’s second Rumble triumph, all goodwill vanished when it appeared that Rock had been inserted as the replacement for Rhodes and would face Reigns as intended. After fan backlash, a pivot and a decision finally made, a compromise was met with Rock and Reigns defeating Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins on night one to set up The Bloodline Rules match for night 2.
Cameoing in the chaotic affair, Rock would ultimately be taken out by The Undertaker to allow Cody Rhodes to finish the story. Showing up once more on the Raw after Mania, The Final Boss declared he would return. That return would take place at Bad Blood on October 5th, and has once again generated more questions than answers…
The Rock Still Unclear For WrestleMania
Staring down Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns after their victory at Bad Blood, Rock counted to 3 and made his way through the back of the arena. Fan theories have begun to circulate as to who Rock will face and when. With early plans seemingly indicating that Rock vs. Rhodes was on for Mania 41 in Las Vegas, the symbolic reference from the Hollywood star now has some speculating that a triple threat might be in the works, with WrestleVotes stating this could be a viable option. However, a new report from Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has caused even more confusion as a source has told him that due to scheduling issues the Hollywood star is currently unable to make it to the event full stop:
“However, as of right now, Dwayne Johnson is not scheduled for the show. Obviously that could change and he’s going to do what he wants all the time. While nobody can say it publicly, some with old school mentalities didn’t like the idea that he stole the show and it‘s not building to a match. “He’s not going to be able to do Mania. He already gave word that he wouldn’t be able to do that match”
When asked bout Rock vs. Reigns vs. Rhodes. Rock came out with the People’s belt that the widow of Muhammad Ali gave him at the Hall of Fame. There was no specific reason given past we were told that different reasons were given to different people. What we do know is that Dwayne Johnson when it comes to this is either going to be all in, meaning a full training camp to get into the best wrestling and cosmetic shape he can get in, or not in. “The story is simply his schedule got too heavy, he couldn’t commit to doing it right.”
Like a lot of Rock appearances and updates, fans now have more questions than answers. Will The Rock really miss WrestleMania? If so when will he face Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes? Will he become the WWE Champion once more?
While it looks doubtful that The Final Boss would compete at any other event than WrestleMania, few could have predicted what else has happened throughout the year. Truthfully, the only person who knows the answer to the question is the man himself.
Featured image: WWE
