The Rock made an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show today, where he gave some insight into a potential match with Roman Reigns, why he hasn’t wrestled since 2013, where he put over John Cena at WrestleMania 29, and more.
As previously noted, although WWE wanted to do Reigns vs. The Rock at WrestleMania 39 this year, The Rock felt he couldn’t get into good enough ring shape in time for a WrestleMania main event.
The Rock noted in this appearance that he tore his abdomen during his match with Cena, but that’s not the reason he hasn’t wrestled again. He said it’s not his schedule either, as it comes down to what they can do for the fans.
He noted that heading into WrestleMania 39, the match was locked in and they were doing it. He confirmed he made a handshake deal to do it after a meeting with WWE in LA. He said that he’s open to a match with Reigns at WrestleMania 40 next year in Philadelphia.
Why he hasn’t wrestled again:
“Honestly, brother, it’s not it’s not the injury that I’m concerned about because that’s just part of it. It’s just part of the game. You sign up for it, you get hurt. We all get hurt. That’s just the way it is. It’s not even the schedule because I could control the schedule to a large degree. It always comes to me going back to WWE and wrestling a match always comes down to the reason why and what we can create that’s never been done before for the fans. So that’s that. That’s the idea.”
How close he came to the Reigns match:
“All right, so The Rock headlining WrestleMania with Roman Reigns. Sofi Stadium, that was locked [in]. What we were doing, the way we were doing it, we knew we were doing it. We were doing it. But let me just tell you, so about in the beginning of 2022, Nick Khan, who we know…..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 the beginning in 2022, and we broke out the Teramana. 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 So Fi and we shook hands and we hugged right there, all three of us at the table and said, Let’s do this. And so the North Star, though. So then we had a year to really think about this. So the North Star thought was, okay, let’s not do something good. Let’s not do something great. Let’s do something unprecedented. And it was in what we can create for the fans that has never been done before. A match. Great. Roman is, an incredible athlete. He’s going to be on Mount Rushmore. Good dude, my cousin’s 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 that will where WrestleMania isn’t the end of something, it’s actually the beginning of something bigger.”
Rock continued, “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.’
I’m saying that’s a potential, too. I’m open. But again, let’s figure out what that is because the fans deserve something just incredible and unprecedented. And not only that, but I also want to deliver to the locker room and the boys and the girls back there who are working their asses off. What can we do to put them in a position where they’re part of something that is a new change in era in this world of pro wrestling? Again, Vince is a big-picture thinker, as you know. And this is why we’ve gotten along for years. Just trying to think big picture.”
The Rock mentioned taking a Rock Bottom from John Cena at WrestleMania in NY and thinking a bone came through his skin and he got numb from the waist down with about 25 minutes to go. He tore his abdomen later when he took the FU off the top. (The Pat McAfee Show) pic.twitter.com/SocnTFQRHd
— Wrestling News (@WrestlingNewsCo) September 15, 2023
The Rock on not appearing in WWE more often, he says it's not the schedule. He says it comes down to the "reason why and what can we create for the fans."
(The Pat McAfee Show) pic.twitter.com/4p9AwAHqKu— Wrestling News (@WrestlingNewsCo) September 15, 2023
The Rock says that headling WrestleMania in SoFi Stadium was locked. "We were doing it." He says he met with WWE in L.A. to talk about the match and there was a handshake. (The Pat McAfee Show) pic.twitter.com/YTEh5O53ht
— Wrestling News (@WrestlingNewsCo) September 15, 2023
The Rock says 'There's WrestleMania in Philadelphia" in regards to a match with Roman Reigns. "I'm open"
He says the fans deserve something incredible and unprecedented.
(The Pat McAfee Show) pic.twitter.com/GyldGD1AKp
— Wrestling News (@WrestlingNewsCo) September 15, 2023
The Rock confirms that a match with Roman Reigns was locked in for WrestleMania 39. He hints that it could happen in Philadelphia. https://t.co/o6miUSdofD
— Wrestling News (@WrestlingNewsCo) September 15, 2023
