10 Early Reasons To Be Worried About WWE Royal Rumble 2023

…if not Cody Rhodes, then The Rock.

That’s the two shouts for the 2023 men’s Royal Rumble winner.

The Rock’s status for WrestleMania 39, never mind the Royal Rumble, is reportedly still very much up in the air at the moment. Dave Meltzer confirmed as such in a Wrestling Observer Newsletter publication, writing that the eight-time WWE Champion’s absence from ‘The Showcase of the Immortals’ is a “very real possibility”:-

“Regarding WrestleMania, Paul Levesque has made a decision on the Roman Reigns direction for WrestleMania in the event it is not Dwayne Johnson, which is a very real possibility. I don’t know that direction although Cody Rhodes would be the betting line favorite for those on the outside right now. So it’s not like there are multiple ideas for that match, only maybe two, Johnson and whoever the other plan would be with.

There remains a lot of talk of creating a second title for Raw (or Smackdown if they switch brands with Reigns or if someone beats Reigns) in 2023. But I’ve been told the story going around of that title being created with Rhodes, Rollins or McIntyre on night one of Mania this year is not the plan as of this week.”

Though it certainly doesn’t require either the WWE or Universal Championships to be defended at ‘Mania itself, Roman Reigns vs. The Rock remains the biggest match WWE could promote for the event, so much so, in fact, that it now feels as if the bout has to happen. It’s a sticky situation for WWE, truth be told.

If The Rock wants to do the match, then it’ll happen. If not, WWE officials must hope their purported backup plan does the trick.