The Rock has left the door open for WWE Wrestlemania match against Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 40. The 50-year old former WWE Champion was rumoured to be returning for a match this year but it has since been reported that he will not take place in the event.
With Wrestlemania 39 taking place on April 1st and 2nd 2023 in Hollywood, California. However, the deal to secure him for a bout vs Roman Reigns was done too late and left The Rock with not enough time to get in ring shape.
He suffered injuries in both of his Wrestlemania matches against John Cena, the second of which caused him to delay the filming of Hercules and cost the production millions of dollars. He may not want to take that risk this year, with a number of projects currently in the pipeline for Dwayne Johnson.
While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed The Rock is keeping the door open for a match at Wrestlemania 40, with Roman Reigns his likely opponent for that bout.
“The same goes for Dwayne [The Rock]. Dwayne could be there in some way or fashion. There are people going, ‘Oh, don’t you think it’s a swerve they keep saying,’ it’s not a swerve. I’ve been told this for a while. There’s always the maybe it’s a secret like the Pat McAfee thing right? (Royal Rumble surprise return). Only a few people know. We’re past that point, Cody Rhodes won the Royal Rumble. He’s getting the championship match. It ain’t’ Dwayne anymore. Dwayne’s not wrestling anybody else unless it’s a three-second match….He did not feel that he had the time to get in the shape that he needed to be in to do a Wrestlemania-caliber main event and he left the door open for next year,”
The Rock was rumoured to appear at the 2023 Royal Rumble to challenge Roman Reigns. However, he did not make an appearance at the event. Instead, Cody Rhodes won the Royal Rumble match and will challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Wrestlemania 39 in the main event of Night 2, on April 2nd, 2023.
h/t to WrestlingNews.co for transciption