The groundwork of the dream match between Roman Reigns and The Rock was finally laid on Tuesday when The Rock returned at the first RAW – Day 1 – of the 2024 and made a blockbuster announcement. The People’s Champion did not directly challenge Roman Reigns, although whatever he said was enough to ensure that the dream match is now closer to reality than ever.
The Rock, real name Dwayne Johnson, interrupted a promo from Jinder Mahal, and after laying the smack down both verbally and physically on the former WWE champions, he went down to business. The Rock dropped an explosive hint about colliding with the WWE Undisputed Universal Champion when he addressed the people of San Diego, California when he said the following.
“The Rock is going out. I’m gonna go get something to eat. Should The Rock sit in a booth? Or should The Rock sit at the bar? Or, should I sit at the Head of the Table?” as the crowd erupted. They knew they were in for something special. Certain storylines in the WWE are a thing of beauty, so The Rock mentioning Roman Reigns is a clear-cut indication which direction the creative is going in. The Rock vs Roman Reigns is now a sealed deal. Just when and where it’ll take place remains to be seen.
The Rock vs Roman Reigns: All you need to know
The Rock and Roman Reigns, real name, Leati Joseph Anoa’I, are real-life cousins, and the idea of the two biggest superstars of the Samoan Anoa’I family has been on the wishlist of many. Roman has been WWE Champion for over 1000 days and pinned only once in the last three years. No one can even come close to dethroning the Tribal Chief, and even though the likes of John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Edge and Sami Zayn came close, they all fell. There is no clarity whether The Rock vs Roman Reigns will be for the WWE title, but even if it’s not, it won’t take anything away from the magnitude of this feud. Battling for the ultimate honour in the Samoan dynasty of the WWE is a huge draw in itself.
Roman reacted to the announcement and shared ‘tears of laughter flowing down face’ emoji on his handle on X, enough to confirm that the rivalry is on. The idea of the WWE planning Roman Reigns vs The Rock was earlier pitched at last year’s WrestleMania, but could not come to fruition. The Rock himself admitted that it was a ‘lock’ for Mania 39 but didn’t work out.
With two of the Big Four WWE PPVs lined up in January and April, The Rock vs Roman is likely to take place at WrestleMania 40. The eight-time WWE Champion is probably the only WWE legend Roman hasn’t been able to put down. Will he finally conquer The Great One, or will the ‘most electrifying man in sports entertainment’ be the man to end The Tribal Chief’s reign? The next two months will reveal a lot.