The Rock Returning For WWE WrestleMania 35?
Apparently the man simply isn't busy enough.
It has been over two years now since The Rock was seen inside a WWE ring, when he hit Erik Rowan with the Rock Bottom for the what remains the quickest victory in WrestleMania history; a bank-busting 6 seconds.
However, news coming out today is that we might be getting him back in WWE, and for an actual match, within the next 12 months. According to Wrestler Observer Radio, there have been tentative discussions about the idea of booking him in a WrestleMania match against Roman Reigns.
The story goes, as it so often tends to do, that WWE is still looking to cement Reigns as the top man in the company and a bonafide main event star. They believe that a match against The Rock, presumably where he beats him, is seen as a way to do that. In their eyes it worked for Cena, and they believe it can work for Reigns.
Reaction to this is likely to be mixed, given that it could be seen that WWE are just bringing him back purely to push Roman - just as they did at the 2015 Royal Rumble - but the allure of seeing The Rock in a wrestling ring again is likely to overpower any cynicism, at least initially.
The Observer's Dave Meltzer said:
“Knowing The Rock’s mentality, I feel that it could be something that would be appealing to him. For Roman Reigns, if they’re trying to get Roman Reigns over, The Rock will do the job for him, that’s not even questioned. In their minds, if they want to get Roman Reigns over as this big Superstar, that’s a match that makes sense from everyone’s perspective".
Being as far away as it is there’s currently nothing really substantiated about WWE’s WrestleMania 35 plans but it's safe to assume that Reigns is going to be carrying a belt of some description into it. Whatever the reaction to it is, him defending, say, the Universal Championship against The Rock is a huge match. From a business perspective it's a no-brainer for WWE.
The only real obstacle to this is The Rock's current schedule. In 2019 he could be filming Hobbs and Shaw, Jumanji 2, Red Notice, San Andreas 2, Big Trouble in Little China, and Black Adam, as well as having a potential appearance in Suicide Squad 2 and a host of other commitments that have not yet been announced.