The other day, it was announced that The Rock will be showing up at WrestleMania 32, but at what capacity he’ll be involved is still a mystery to us. With the Royal Rumble not even taking shape yet and a whole month to lead up to that event, let alone the two that follow before WrestleMania, there’s plenty of time to speculate on what will happen, but why not just get a head start on that?
For this 3-Count, I figured it would be good to look at the three most likely options that we could see happen at the grandest stage of them all.
Option 1) Match
What most people would probably choose if given the opportunity is for The Rock to wrestle in a match of some sort. Sadly, this is the least likely thing to happen. With The Rock’s filming schedule getting busier and busier as his star power rises in Hollywood, it becomes more and more difficult for someone like him to set aside the time to properly train, make appearances to build the feud, and then wrestle the match (much to the fear of his insurance companies).
However, if we’re lucky enough to get him in the ring, who could he go up against? Last year, it seemed like a major possibility was for him to team with Ronda Rousey to face Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Now that Triple H is involved in a feud with Roman Reigns, that’s not out of the realm of possibility, but the inclusion of Ronda Rousey is highly suspect and adds even more doubt that this would happen.
There’s always the fallback of him facing Brock Lesnar, but is that preferred over someone else like Kevin Owens taking that spot? I wouldn’t bet money on The Rock facing The Undertaker, nor would I think this is the time for him to fight Roman Reigns. Outside of the Triple H scenario, the only thing I could consider being realistic would be for The Rock to team with The Usos to fight The New Day, or if they could add a fourth member to their team, The Wyatt Family or The League of Nations.
Option 2) Host
He’s done it before, so why not do it again? Having The Rock as a master of ceremonies for the evening makes a lot of sense and is much more reasonable to expect than for him to wrestle a match. Advertising his appearance in advance will only help the event, which will be lacking in bankable names due to all of these injuries that have taken place.
The biggest upside to this is that he doesn’t need to take more than a day or so off his filming schedule to be able to do it, nor does he need to worry about getting injured. There’s always the possibility that he could give someone the Rock Bottom by the end of the night, but that’s one move to someone like Bo Dallas, not an entire match. Mostly, he would be kicking off the show to pump the crowd up and having some backstage segments to pepper in here and there for some laughs.
Option 3) A One-Shot Appearance
At the very least, we know we’re getting a promo from him. If by some chance WWE doesn’t want or isn’t able to get him to wrestle or be the host of the entire event, his mere presence means he’ll undoubtedly grab a microphone at some point. Having him come out at WrestleMania to do nothing but raise Roman Reigns’ hand at the end of the night like at the 2015 Royal Rumble is just not going to happen, so for those who are worried about that, you can breathe a sigh of relief.
What would that promo be, though? Would he just be included in the annual backstage menagerie of goofballs that eat up some time midway through the card to give people a chance to use the bathroom? Would he come out to the ring to have another moment with legends like Stone Cold (noticeably absent: Hulk Hogan)? My guess is he’d do something where he was clearly the focal point and that he would be able to spit out his catch phrases to a heel that is the butt of the joke, such as The Miz. Alternatively, though, this could be something as simple as him accompanying Roman Reigns down to the ring and being in his corner for his match against whomever he’s facing. Perhaps that’s where the Triple H situation comes into play, with the main event being Roman Reigns along with The Rock facing off against Triple H who brings along Vince McMahon to be in his corner?
As previously stated, it’s far too early for us to have any concrete evidence as to what The Rock will be doing, but it will be interesting to see what developments happen over time. Until we know more, what do you think we’ll end up seeing him do? For that matter, what would you prefer if you had the option to set him up for anything you wanted?
Tell us your thoughts and predictions in the comments below!
