What If... The Rock Didn't Go To Hollywood?

Had Rocky stuck around, ‘The Big Dog’s’ emergence may have coincided with his cousin riding off into the sunset. Johnson was 41 years old when The Shield split in 2014. If he wasn’t already on a part-time schedule, he’d probably be looking at either transitioning to one or retiring outright, setting him up for a potential “passing the torch” programme with Reigns

There’s no way WWE wouldn’t use Rock’s rub to try and get Roman over as a babyface, as they did at the 2015 Royal Rumble, but would fans have been more receptive to the divisive star through a lengthier programme with his revered relative?

Much of Reigns’ backlash came from his perceived shortcomings as a performer. Not even Rocky’s magic wand could have transformed these, and he’d have still had to contend with the rise of Daniel Bryan (whose career would’ve probably panned out as it did without Rocky around, as his surge was a rebellion against his booking). This suggests he’d flop regardless.

But if Cena had never risen as such a resentful figure, and audiences weren’t already sick to death of WWE’s “top guy” being presented as a new era Hulk Hogan, maybe - just maybe - there’d be hope for Roman.

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