The Rock Reported to Receive the Biggest Wrestling Payday Ever to Work WrestleMania 43

WWE legend and Hollywood mogul Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is reportedly set to receive the biggest deal ever made for anyone to be involved in a pro-wrestling event.

The Rock Reported to Receive the Biggest Wrestling Payday Ever to Work WrestleMania 43

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson (via- WWE)

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While the Saudi Arabian officials are constantly pushing for The Rock‘s involvement at WrestleMania 43 in Riyadh, a new report has emerged on that front. As per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the Attitude Era megastar is reportedly going to be offered the biggest payday ever for doing a pro wrestling event. And it couldn’t have been any other way.

‘The Final Boss’ recently shared what negotiations he’s had with the concerned authorities. Saying he’s excited for the brand of WrestleMania and WWE wrestlers getting to be a part of such a global event, Dwayne Johnson hinted that his talks with the Saudi officials have been all good up until now.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the 53-year-old Hollywood mogul does seem highly likely to at least make an appearance, if not have a match, at next year’s WrestleMania. ‘The Great One’ last competed at WrestleMania XL in a tag team match, joining forces with his cousin Roman Reigns to oust Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.

Johnson was heavily expected to return to the ring at WrestleMania 41 as well, with multiple pitches being made in the meantime. By the time 2025 kicked in, ‘The Final Boss’ had reportedly alerted WWE about his unavailability for WrestleMania, primarily due to the reshoots of Moana.

At one point, The Rock was expected to battle Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE title at the Showcase of the Immortals last year. However, by late November, WWE had replaced John Cena with ‘The People’s Champ’, as the latter had informed the company about his decision to sit out WrestleMania 41.

Rock then got involved with Cena’s heel turn angle and didn’t follow up at all. That move struck a nerve with the core WWE audience, which heavily criticized the Fast & Furious star for abandoning such a high-profile storyline. Rock hasn’t returned to WWE programming in almost a year, with last year’s Elimination Chamber being the last time he was on TV.

Could WrestleMania 43 finally stage the long-awaited Roman Reigns vs. The Rock dream match?

WrestleMania in Saudi Arabia is, in all likelihood, the last realistic destination to hold that long-pending dream match between The Rock and Roman Reigns. ‘The Great One’ is already in his mid-50s and doesn’t have much left in the tank. He also shed a considerable amount of weight for the biopic of Mark Kerr—The Smashing Machine.

Roman Reigns and The Rock
Roman Reigns and The Rock [via- BR Wrestling]

Moreover, the ‘Brahma Bull’ will play the role of a 70-year-old character known as Chicken Man in Benny Safdie‘s live-action adaptation of Lizard Music. The 10-time world champion is also set to star in Martin Scorsese‘s untitled Hawaii-set crime drama movie. In essence, The Rock is booked through the majority of 2026 in Hollywood.

If he were to return to WWE for WrestleMania 43, it might only be possible in the early stages of 2027. At this point, it’d be akin to shooting in the dark to comment on whether a world title would be involved in a feud as gigantic as Rock and Reigns.

A number of stars would have to align for these Anoa’i clan stalwarts to stand across from each other in the ring. It was supposed to happen at WrestleMania 40. However, the timing of it was totally off, as Cody Rhodes was on his redemption arc against ‘The OTC’, having the crowd by his side.

WWE forcefully inserting The Rock in Rhodes’ position triggered an unprecedented outrage among fans, which ultimately made WWE pivot back to ‘The American Nightmare’ being the one opposing ‘The Tribal Chief’. As far as Rock vs. Reigns is concerned, next year might genuinely become a now-or-never for it to happen.

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