Backstage Update On The Rock's WWE WrestleMania 39 Status

The Great One's pencilled in for a major role at next year's Showcase of the Immortals.

by Andrew Pollard
The Rock
WWE

While The Rock is not advertised to be at WrestleMania 38 this coming weekend, it looks like big plans are in the works for the Great One in a year's time.

Speaking on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said the current plan is for The Rock to headline WrestleMania 39 against Roman Reigns.

Dwayne Johnson himself is keen to do the match, WWE is clearly keen to have Johnson involved in any 'Mania in any capacity, and the company has been making loose plans for this huge contest in recent months. Added to that, Reigns has also regularly talked up facing The Rock should the opportunity ever arise - with the Universal Champion's Head of the Table moniker and persona clearly a natural fit for the People's Champion to go up against.

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Of course, Rock and Roman are real-life cousins, which makes the Head of the Table schtick all the more relevant. Dwayne Johnson's grandfather Peter Maivia and Roman's grandfather Amituanai Anoa'i were brothers, and Rock's mother Lia and Reigns' father Sika are first cousins.

Since turning heel in late-2020, Roman Reigns has declared himself as the High Chief, the Head of the Table, and has talked about how its his responsibility to feed the family. With that, there's the perfect setup already waiting should The Rock be able to make an in-ring return.

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While the hope is to do Reigns vs. Rock at WrestleMania 39, any such tentative plans could be thrown sideways should Dwayne Johnson's ever-busy schedule change. In addition to being arguably the biggest movie star on the planet these days, Johnson has several different business interests and is also due to relaunch the XFL next year.

In terms of the last time The Rock competed in a WWE ring, that was the super-brief 'match' against Erick Rowan at WrestleMania 32. Prior to that, Johnson's last contest saw him lose the WWE Title to John Cena at WrestleMania XXIX back in 2013.

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For Roman Reigns, he'll face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38 this Sunday in a Winner Takes All bout for the WWE Title and Universal Title.

Senior Writer
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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.