Why did Dwayne Johnson Return to WWE- Is The Rock Going To Face Roman Reigns?
Former professional wrestler Dwayne Johnson, often known as The Rock, is now well-known for his roles in films like the Jumanji and Fast & Furious series, among others. The Rock is frequently referred to by his admirers, particularly those who have seen him compete in the ring, as the actor who has succeeded for himself in the business.
As one of the best professional wrestlers of all time, Johnson played a crucial role in the growth and success of World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE, during the Attitude Era. The former wrestler spent eight years in the ring before switching to acting. He is now one of the highest-grossing and highest-paid actors in the industry. But will The Rock return to the ring again?
Dwayne Johnson steps into the WWE ring
Friday’s WWE SmackDown episode started with a surprise as Pat McAfee appeared in the ring to promote his show and was soon interrupted by Austin Theory. The two of them had a banter in which they said it was ‘the people’s show’ and suddenly, then, The Rock’s If You Smell started playing, which sent the fans into a frenzy. Dwayne Johnson appeared to have one of the loudest roars in recent WWE memory.
One of Dwayne Johnson’s nicknames while he was in WWE was The People’s Champ and one of his iconic and signature moves was known to be The People’s Elbow. As the former wrestler appeared for the first time since 2019, the fans could not control their emotions and similarly, Johnson let himself soak in all the love he witnessed.
The Rock’s appearance on Friday’s SmackDown show was the first time he had entered the ring since he appeared in 2019 for the 20th anniversary of SmackDown and his second televised appearance since 2016.
Dwayne Johnson revealed ‘locked’ plans to face WWE Universal Champion
The actor who had appeared on The Pat McAfee Show, revealed that for WWE WrestleMania 39, they had locked a match between him and the undisputed WWE universal champion, Roman Reigns. He said,
“The Rock headlining WrestleMania with Roman Reigns, SoFi Stadium, that was locked. We were doing it. In the beginning of 2022, (WWE CEO) Nick Khan was very instrumental in bringing Vince and I together. We all flew to LA. We met. We sat. We broke out the Teremana, and about an hour later we started talking about the potential of what this match could be. Myself and Roman Reigns headlining WrestleMania at SoFi. We shook hands and we hugged right there and said, ‘Let’s do this.'”
The Jumanji actor continued that the idea of the two of them facing each other in the ring was to be thought about carefully to make it like something that had not been done, before adding that it needed a beginning hook. He shared with McAfee,
“The north star thought was let’s not do something good, let’s not do something great, let’s do something unprecedented. A match? Great. Roman’s an incredible athlete. He’s going to be on Mount Rushmore. The bigger thought was what can we do for the fans where WrestleMania isn’t the end of something, it’s actually the beginning of something bigger.”
Dwayne Johnson, however, concluded that even though they got close to getting everything executed, they couldn’t nail what that thing was.
Dwayne Johnson hints at a possible match against Roman Reigns
In the conversation, the actor, who is one of the most celebrated WWE wrestlers, said that WWE WrestleMania 40 which is scheduled for April 2024 at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, could witness him take on Roman Reigns.
Johnson said,
“We agreed, there is a merger coming up, there’s WrestleMania in Philadelphia. I’m saying that’s a potential. I’m open. Let’s figure out what that is.”
It was also reported that Philadelphia played host to The Rock’s first WrestleMania main event when he faced Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 15 headliner.
During the conversation, the actor was asked about the reason why he has not returned to the in-ring competition, to which he said that it’s not the injury he is worried about but his going back to WWE always comes down to the reason why, and what can they create that’s never been done for the fans.
Source: Fox News
