Speculation on the long-rumored possibility of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Roman Reigns facing off has reached an all-time high following Johnson’s latest WWE appearance. In his surprise return to the company during the Day 1 special of WWE Raw last week, The Rock laid the SmackDown on Jinder Mahal before telling fans he planned to go out to a restaurant after the show and asked if he should sit “at the Head of the Table” – a clear jab at Reigns who has used the phrase for several years now.
While the long-awaited clash between the two Anoa’i family members seems destined for WWE’s ‘Grandest Stage of Them All’ WrestleMania, especially with the 40th iteration of the event coming this April, rumors that The Great One may compete at Elimination Chamber in Perth, Australia next month have been floating around since last fall. Last month, it was reported that Australian tourism officials posed the idea of The Rock appearing at the Premium Live Event to WWE – lending further credence to the idea that Rock and Reigns’ dream match could take place down under.
However, a new report appears to have shot down that possibility. Writing in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reports that not only are there no plans for Reigns and The Rock to clash at the Premium Live Event, but Reigns himself isn’t even scheduled to appear at the show, much less compete. This follows a trend of the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion missing the company’s international PLEs, aside from Clash At The Castle and Money In The Bank 2023, both of which were held in the UK, as well as his annual title defenses at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.
The Rock, meanwhile, has not competed inside a WWE ring in almost eight years. At WrestleMania 32 back in 2016, he competed for a mere six seconds, handily defeating Erick Rowan with just a single Rock Bottom at the event. His last proper match, however, was over a decade ago in the main event of 2013’s WrestleMania 29 where John Cena defeated him for the WWE Championship after just under 24 minutes.