"No Scenario" Where The Rock Vs. Roman Reigns Doesn't Happen At WWE WrestleMania XL

The Rock is "100% performing in the ring" at WrestleMania XL against Roman Reigns.

by Andrew Pollard
The Rock Roman Reigns
WWE.com

With plenty of chatter over where WWE will ultimately take things at WrestleMania XL where it pertains to Roman Reigns, The Rock, and Cody Rhodes, the belief is that Roman vs. Rock is absolutely locked in for this year's Showcase of the Immortals.

Via PWInsider, multiple sources have stated how the Great One is "100% performing in the ring" at WrestleMania XL, and that there is "no scenario" where The Rock isn't wrestling Roman Reigns at the Premium Live Event - barring any unforeseen circumstances, such as an injury.

The match against the Tribal Chief is understood to have been a part of Dwayne Johnson's recent deal to join the TKO Board of Directors. As such, this contest appears that it's happening at WrestleMania XL, regardless of whatever fan backlash there is between now and the Granddaddy of Them All.

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Of course, since Cody Rhodes seemingly stepped aside on last week's SmackDown to allow The Rock to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania XL, there's been quite the vocal, negative reaction amongst fans. For example, that Rhodes/Rock/Roman segment quickly became the most disliked video in the 17-year history of WWE's YouTube channel, the segment was booed during a WWE live event over the weekend, and poor Ava - as in, The Rock's daughter and the current NXT General Manager - has even received death threats over the matter.

WWE has taken notice of the wider reaction to all of this, with some in the company looking to lean into that reaction in order to make Cody a bigger babyface. There has never been a plan to turn Rock heel as part of this situation, and those within WWE think they'll be able to adjust plans on a weekly basis to "make it make sense" in the build to WrestleMania. It's also noted how the American Nightmare is viewed as being extremely important to WWE, and that nobody in the creative side of WWE wants to dilute Rhodes' standing.

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Where things go from here remain to be seen, but this PWInsider report also reiterates that Dwayne Johnson's long-time collaborator and former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz will be at all major WWE events moving forward, including the Elimination Chamber in Perth, Australia later this month.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.