It’s been almost eight years since The Rock wrestled a match, but all signs point to The Great One fulfilling plans from last year and gracing the ring once again at WrestleMania 40.
Following CM Punk’s injury, Cody Rhodes opening the door for The Rock’s return, and Drew McIntyre hovering in the background, anything could be on the table for the also injured Seth Rollins when it comes to his WrestleMania match.
While The Rock is the name snatching headlines and we wait for further clarity at Thursday’s press conference on what exactly is going to happen at WrestleMania, the WWE World Heavyweight Champion turned a bit of the spotlight back on himself during an appearance on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football.
“We don’t need ya, we’d love to have ya but we don’t need ya big guy.”
— World Champion Seth Rollins on The Rock#WrestleMania
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) February 7, 2024
“Hey look man, if The Rock wants to jump on the bandwagon, ride my coattails into WrestleMania, that’s totally fine with me, man. That’s fine with me. Look, I get it; WWE is as hot as it’s ever been. We are selling out arenas, stadiums, any place we go is huge. We just inked two massive deals, SmackDown to USA Network and RAW — my show, which I’ve been anchoring for the last decade — just signed the most lucrative television deal in the history — in the history — of professional wrestling with Netflix, which is going to be a game changer starting next year,” Rollins said. (H/T Wrestlezone)
“So we are living life right now, we are huge. And for The Rock to want to come on board now, jump on my Wrestlemania, get his toes wet? I get it, I get it. So mad respect to him and everything he’s done outside of here and everything he’s done in our industry. So I’ve got no problem with The Rock jumping on and doing his business for us. We appreciate having him. But like I said, he’s riding my coattails, he just needs to remember that.”
Rollins is right, the product is red hot and WWE has been selling out arenas left and right. Even before The Rock showed up on Friday Night Smackdown, WrestleMania was moving toward a sell out.
The reaction to both Rhodes’ potential WrestleMania plans being derailed and The Rock’s return, however, has certainly moved the needle in a way WWE hasn’t felt in a long time.