WWE Rumors: Reported Original Plans For The Rock At Royal Rumble & WrestleMania

WWE reportedly had a plan for The Rock at Royal Rumble and WrestleMania!

As we approach the closing of 2018, that means the build to the Royal Rumble in January and then WrestleMania in April is about to begin for the WWE Universe.

The company’s two most anticipated shows each year are always surrounded by loads of rumors, speculation and news regarding WWE’s plans, especially when it comes to who will win the Royal Rumble matches and earn their ticket for a title shot at WrestleMania. However, the planning for this year’s events has most assuredly seen changes due to a rash of injuries and unfortunate circumstances. For example, Triple H’s recent surgery (read more on that here) and Roman Reigns’ leukemia diagnosis.

Of course, Roman was the Universal Champion at the time of his announcement and according to a report by the WrestleVotes Twitter account, he would have likely held onto that title going into WrestleMania 35 or at the very least, would have been champion again by then.

According to WrestleVotes, WWE’s original plans for Reigns would have included a big showdown against his cousin, The Rock, who has not competed in a WWE ring since a very brief match against Erick Rowan at WrestleMania 32. Reportedly, the plan was for ‘The Great One’ to be a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble Match, which he would have won, then gone on to face Roman for the championship at WrestleMania:

Rumble tidbit: Plan at one point was for The Rock to win the Royal Rumble & face Roman Reigns at Mania. That’s obviously not happening. Can Rock still win it & face Lesnar? I guess. Depends what kind of agreement Rock and WWE have. Once plans changed, Rock may have reconsidered.

— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) December 8, 2018

EA’s Take: I think a lot of fans actually thought this was going to be the plan and quite frankly, I think they would have crapped all over it. Still would have been fun though. Now the odd thing is, I don’t think they needed Rock for WrestleMania and because of injuries or other circumstances, they do need him and may not be able to get him. I’m not sure if the lure of a Brock Lesnar match would bring Rock back, although it’s certainly a big name bout, so maybe that could entice him. The problem would be, I don’t think there’s a good way to book that where fans will be okay with it. Either way, you’d still have a part-time champion.

Would you be interested in Brock vs. The Rock at WrestleMania? Let us know on social media @theCHAIRSHOTcom and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!