WWE was expected to make The Rock vs. Roman Reigns official for WrestleMania 40 this April when they had them face off at an open-to-the-public fan and media event on Thursday night from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The event
Triple H, Cody Rhodes, World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, and Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley also appeared.
While the event did see them face off, they didn’t make the match official. Instead, Cody Rhodes announced he would be challenging Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title at WrestleMania 40.
Overestimated
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE booked the venue because they figured they would have a big turnout with The Rock appearing and booked the building weeks ago.
Meltzer wrote, “As it turned out, they greatly overshot. Even with it being free and Johnson being there, the estimate was only 2,000 to 3,000 people were there, but they were very vocal.”
Although there was some speculation WWE would announce WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, that didn’t happen as it was likely due to the strong media presence in town for the Super Bowl and was trying to capitalize on that.
