It’s been reported numerous times since last April that WWE wants The Rock to wrestle Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39. Roman Reigns unified the WWE Championship and Universal Championship at WrestleMania 38, which set up a massive dream match between himself and Dwayne Johnson. The Bloodline saga has been the best wrestling storyline in North America for six months, adding even more intrigue to a possible match between The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment and The Tribal Chief. There were even rumblings that The Rock would be at Raw Is 30 on January 23, but that is reportedly not happening.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio this past weekend, Bryan Alvarez asked Dave Meltzer what was happening with The Rock. The longtime wrestling insider shared the following: “Well, anything is possible, and [WWE] certainly could be—he could be keeping everything a secret from all but one or two people. There is that possibility, but the word is that he does not have the time to get in shape—you know, we’ve talked about it from day one. He’s not going to do it, in his mind, if he’s going to put on a bad performance.” Meltzer then explained what it’d take for The Rock to prepare for a WrestleMania match. “All along, it was always ‘if he had the time to do it, he will do it.’ When I say ‘time to do it,’ it doesn’t mean just a schedule break, but the time to get in ring shape to do a legitimate WrestleMania main event. We’re talking 20 minutes plus for a guy who has not done this. He’s not done a real match since; what was it, 2011, 2012? Put it this way: most are of the opinion it’s not happening.“
No Rock Means Anything Could Happen At The Royal Rumble
The lack of The Great One opens up several possibilities for WWE. If The Rock were in the Royal Rumble, it would be to win it. That’d easily set up a match against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39 since he still has both titles. In a way, his absence makes the outcome of the Royal Rumble much less predictable and creates a fun environment heading toward the Show of Shows in April. Several wrestlers could go on to win the Royal Rumble, stamping their ticket to the main event of ‘Mania.
Cody Rhodes will likely enter the match early and put on another gutsy performance. He’ll be the emotional favorite to face Reigns, but that outcome isn’t set in stone either. The American Nightmare, as of Friday, hadn’t been cleared to wrestle yet. That’s a formality based on reporting from Meltzer, but it’s still worth noting. Sami Zayn is another wrestler fans would love to see in a main-event match against Roman Reigns. Especially if his relationship with The Bloodline dissolves in the coming week. Don’t sleep on the possibility of Seth Rollins going over, either. He could slip out of the United States Championship feud after losing a six-man match to determine the No. 1 contender for Theory’s title on last week’s Raw.
WWE could go in any number of directions at the Royal Rumble, and that’s only possible because The Rock doesn’t feel he’ll have enough time to prepare for the event. There’s always the chance that this is an elaborate bit of obfuscation on the company’s part, but as it stands right now, the 50-year-old won’t be wrestling at the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania 39. WWE would need to know if he’s available by now, and Meltzer says it’s most likely not happening.
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Source: Wrestling Observer Radio