The Rock’s previously planned WrestleMania 41 match reportedly stands canceled amid rumors of John Cena replacing him
A new report suggests that WWE isn't moving forward with what they had initially discussed for The Rock at WrestleMania 41.
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The Rock performing a Rock Bottom on John Cena at WrestleMania XL [via- WWE]
It’s January already, and WWE still doesn’t know if The Rock will compete at WrestleMania 41 or even be at the two-night spectacle for that matter. On Raw after WrestleMania XL, The Great One affirmed that he’d go after Cody Rhodes‘ Undisputed WWE title once he does return. The fans were all but convinced that Rock vs. Rhodes was a done deal.
However, that match is now off, per Dave Meltzer via the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The tenured journo noted that the Black Adam star originally wanted to take on Cody for both the WWE Championship and the People’s Championship that was gifted to The Rock by Muhammed Ali‘s widow.
Meltzer continued by saying that he still expects the 52-year-old icon to be a part of WrestleMania in Las Vegas in some capacity. As far as his in-ring status is concerned, Dave affirmed that some WWE higher-ups are hopeful of that as well. Commenting on Rock’s potential appearance on the Netflix premiere of Raw, he believes there’s a good shot of it.
Maybe that’ll answer if he’s WrestleMania-bound or not. As of now, John Cena is expected to replace the Jumanji actor against Cody Rhodes. As PWInsider stated, that’d change too if Rock informs WWE about his involvement. The creative plans would then be reworked to fit into his vision.
A new tidbit from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful clarifies that Cena vs. Rhodes at WrestleMania 2025 was the working plan since November last year after WWE had become aware of Rock’s uncertainty for the show.
For Cena, the company wanted him to be in contention for a record-breaking 17th world title reign. If John ends up facing Cody, the Peacemaker star may actually pip The American Nightmare for the gold and script history.
Why did WWE revise The Rock’s WrestleMania 40 plans?
When The Rock made a surprise return on the first Raw of 2024, it was to set up his long-awaited encounter with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. However, after the fans realized that it’d totally sabotage Cody Rhodes’ then-ongoing story with The OTC, they voiced their concerns.
After an unprecedented uproar, WWE had to pivot back to Rhodes vs. Reigns. In hindsight, it was the most satisfying payoff the WWE Universe could’ve hoped for. Not only did their hero in Cody finish his story, but Rock embraced a villainous on-screen persona, which was quite reminiscent of his Attitude Era gigs.
The Great One did admit in an interview that he felt like he rubbed off a certain section of fans the wrong way after he took Cody’s WrestleMania spot. He had to right that wrong anyhow.
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