The Rock Vs. Roman Reigns Was “Locked In” For WrestleMania 39
The Rock explained why a match between himself and Roman Reigns was scrapped after being “locked in” for WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles.
For years, fans have clamored for a dream match between Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Roman Reigns on the Grandest Stage of Them All. Not only would the bout be a natural evolution of Roman’s story with The Bloodline, it would pit the top stars of two generations against one another.
Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, Johnson revealed that fans were close to getting the match; in fact, he says it was “locked in.”
“Alright, so The Rock headlining WrestleMania with Roman Reigns, SoFi Stadium, that was locked. That was locked in; we were doing it. We were doing it, but let me just tell you.”
The Rock went on to explain how the idea of having a bout with Roman Reigns came about, revealing that Nick Khan orchestrated a meeting between themselves and Vince McMahon.
“So in the beginning of 2022, Nick Khan, who we know, shoutout to Nick, very good friend, longtime friend for years, he’s the man. He was very instrumental in bringing Vince and I together. We all flew to LA, we met, we sat. This is beginning in 2022.
And we broke out the Teremana, we toasted life, toasted the business we love, and about an hour later we started talking about the potential of what this match could be between myself and Roman Reigns, headlining WrestleMania at SoFi. And we shook hands, we hugged right there, the three of us at the table and said ‘let’s do this.’”
Continuing, The Rock explained that he wanted to do something bigger than a match with his fellow Anoa’i family member; he wanted to create something “unprecedented.”
“And so the North Star though… so then we had a year to really think about this. So the North Star thought was ‘let’s not do something good, let’s not do something great, let’s do something unprecedented.’ And it was in ‘what can we create for the fans that has never been done before?’
A match? Great. Roman, incredible athlete. He’s gonna be on Mount Rushmore. Super handsome, good dude, my cousin, family, amazing. We can have the match, but the bigger thought was ‘what can we do for the fans in this business that we love where WrestleMania isn’t the end of something, it’s actually the beginning of something bigger.’”
Why Didn’t The Rock Face Roman Reigns At WrestleMania 39?
As fans know, a bout between Rock and Reigns never came to pass. Instead, Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 39 to retain his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
When Pat McAfee asked what happened and why the bout never took place, Rock explained before teasing that a Roman Reigns bout could still be on the horizon:
“So we got really really close, but we couldn’t actually nail what that thing was, so we decided to put our pencils down, and then we agreed, hey listen. There’s a merger coming up, eventually that will happen. There’s WrestleMania in Philadelphia… [crowd reacts as Rock raises his eyebrow]
McAfee asked Rock what he was saying, and the Hollywood megastar said he’s “open” to competing at WrestleMania 40.
“I’m saying that’s a potential too. I’m open, I’m open, but again, let’s figure out what that is because the fans deserve something just incredible, unprecedented, and not only that, but I also want to deliver to the locker room, to the boys and the girls back there working their a**es off. What can we do to put them in a position where they’re part of something that is a new change, a new era in this world of pro wrestling.”
If you use any quotes from this transcription, please credit The Pat McAfee Show and link back to this article with a h/t to TJR Wrestling.