Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and WWE Accused of Big Leaguing Each Other Prior to WrestleMania 40

The Rock's training for his WrestleMania 40 match with Gallus was delayed by a day because of him and WWE allegedly big-timing each other.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and WWE Accused of Big Leaguing Each Other Prior to WrestleMania 40

The Rock and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania XL [via- WWE]

WrestleMania XL was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson‘s first full-time commitment to a WWE match since 2013. He did compete at WrestleMania 32 against Erick Rowan; it was merely a six-second squash. As such, last year’s WrestleMania saw The Great One team up with his cousin Roman Reigns against the duo of Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.

It clocked 44:35 minutes as the official runtime that saw The Bloodline reign supreme over its counterparts. However, Rock, who had years of ring rust in his then 52-year-old frame, underwent an arduous 12-week training camp to be ring-ready. There was a hint of a falling out between the Hollywood mogul and WWE before The Final Boss could even get his preparations underway.

Wolfgang, a former NXT star, helped Rock with his in-ring sessions along with his Gallus stablemates. He recently told Tom Campbell of Cultaholic Wrestling that day one of their scheduled in-ring sessions with Johnson was called off due to a situation that arose between the Black Adam star and WWE.

To be honest, I think it was just someone big leaguing the other one. I think it was a case of, ‘No, I don’t drive to you. You collect me.’ That’s the way I like to think it was.

Wolfgang on The Rock and WWE via Cultaholic Wrestling

The company officials thought that Rock would arrive in Los Angeles in his private jet. Whereas Johnson thought WWE would send him one to make the distance. The ex-Gallus member, quoted as speaking above, said it seemed to him that the involved parties were big-leaguing each other. However, after the opening-day hiccup, things went by the book.

The Final Boss had later thanked the entire Gallus trio for their efforts. Rock came out of WrestleMania without any injury, albeit minor bruises couldn’t be avoided. He also went on to declare Rollins as the MVP of Mania. The Visionary had wrestled on both nights with an injured knee.

Despite heavy hope, The Rock ended up doing nothing at WrestleMania 41

Days after delivering an overwhelming performance at WrestleMania XL, The Rock explicitly confirmed his presence for WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas. However, as everyone saw how it turned out, The Brahma Bull skipped the event last month, and it resulted in widespread rancor. There were numerous pitches made in 2024 for him to compete again at The Show of Shows.

Dwayne The Rock Johnson
Dwayne The Rock Johnson [via- WWE]

At one point, the Jumanji actor was lined up to take on Cody Rhodes in a title vs. title match, something that was the brainchild of Mr. Johnson himself. As some more months passed, The Great One had reportedly informed WWE about his limited involvement at WrestleMania 41, with the word making the rounds that he wouldn’t be wrestling at all.

In November, a month after Rock’s surprise appearance at Bad Blood, WWE had to replace Rock with John Cena, who ended up as Rhodes’ challenger at The Showcase of the Immortals. Cena’s shocking heel turn just weeks before Mania’ 25 was orchestrated by Johnson.

It led to everyone believing that The Final Boss would definitely be in the corner of The Cenation Leader at the grandest stage. But none of that ever came to fruition. This made this year’s WrestleMania somewhat lackluster.

What was The Rock’s explanation for skipping WrestleMania this year?

Having been dumped on enough by the WWE Universe for his no-show at WrestleMania 41, The Rock went on Pat McAfee‘s show to explain his side of the story. Why didn’t he get involved in the ending of John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes? As per Rock, it wouldn’t have made sense because of his further unavailability to advance the storyline.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson [via- WWE]

The former 10-time world champion mentioned that he had other commitments to take care of as well. Moreover, Rock said he pulled himself back from being a part of the finish that saw Travis Scott helping Cena out because he wanted the spotlight to be completely on the 17-time world champion.

The Great One also talked briefly about his seeking of the soul of Rhodes, which Rock affirmed could be revisited in the future. The Smashing Machine actor revealed that he got text messages from some of the top WWE stars about their willingness to accept Rock’s offer.

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