The Rock certainly made his way back to the wrestling industry on time, ahead of WrestleMania XL. However, his road to the global event was unfortunately filled with unexpected twists and turns. Despite laying the groundwork for a showdown with Roman Reigns, Dwayne Johnson lost the opportunity to Cody Rhodes.
But hold on, in the lead-up to WrestleMania XL, a fascinating idea was circulating within the WWE walls. According to reports, a storyline was pitched for The Rock, where he would emerge victorious over Roman Reigns, only to relinquish the title and return to Hollywood. Thankfully, this storyline never came to fruition. For many believe, it would have doomed the franchise forever.
WWE’s Reported Storyline for The Rock
Ever since The Rock’s WWE comeback, the wrestling industry has been planning for Rock vs. Roman Reigns. Initially, it was decided that Dwayne Johnson would get the opportunity for a showdown with Reigns during WrestleMania XL. Unfortunately for him, as Cody Rhodes won the 30-man Royal Rumble match and decided to challenge Reigns, things changed for Johnson.
Eventually, The Rock decided to make a heel turn and form an alliance with The Bloodline, which laid the foundation for Rock and Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins at WrestleMania XL night one. Although, at the end of WrestleMania XL Rhodes came out victorious, WWE continued plans for Rock vs. Reigns.
Meanwhile, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter via EWrestlingNews, Dave Meltzer disclosed a fascinating pitch that was allegedly crafted for The Rock. While it was always in the cards for Cody Rhodes to win, no matter what, Dwayne Johnson had a rather hellish storyline ready for him.
“Rhodes was always going to get the title, even after all this went down, but for a time it would not have been at Mania… At one point there was an idea that Rock would win the title from Reigns, and then give up the title to go to Hollywood and end the streak, but always call himself ‘The People’s Champion,’ which is where that idea and belt came in, which was long before the Hall of Fame ceremony.”
It seems that according to the alleged storyline disclosed by Dave Meltzer, WWE had plans to send The Rock back to Hollywood. But that’s not all, Meltzer later revealed information that clarified how the storyline could have ruined the franchise forever.
Issues that Could Have Emerged from the Storyline
In the report, Dave Meltzer stated that many people within WWE were fighting against the idea because they believed that it would ruin Cody Rhodes‘ eventual win. And since Rhodes was anyway going to be the guy who was destined to carry the company, going forward, people believed that the storyline might affect his reputation.
“The idea that many were fighting against was the title win, and then Reigns after losing getting it back and then losing again to Rhodes, feeling that would greatly hurt Rhodes’ eventual win, and Rhodes was the guy who was going to have to carry the company in 2024 and 2025.”
Although this concept would have added a fresh layer of storytelling to The Rock’s already impressive WWE legacy, people seemingly disagreed with the plan. Even fans took to social media to address how it would have prevented Cody Rhodes from having a grand conclusion to His Story.
Thank god that didn't happen pic.twitter.com/6Y0Bo7oLUd
— Ghostmalone90 (@Pankow90) May 3, 2024
the worst idea possible, Roman should have just broken Hogan's WWE title record
— AJ (@PrestigePrince9) May 3, 2024
A very terrible idea it's would have been cos they would have denied Cody a grand conclusion to His Story and still wasted the Rocky/Roman/Bloodline Story.
— Folusho ⚓ (@FlushyBuzzz) May 3, 2024
Beat him then give it up, would have been one of the worst ways to see that reign come to an end
— 💄Kiki💎 (@PunksWorldd) May 3, 2024
Yeah, I'm glad this didn't happen and that the Rock was savvy enough to switch it up with him joining the Bloodline.
— 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕌𝕞𝕓𝕣𝕒 (@UmbraInfinite) May 3, 2024
Lmao if this happened then it would've been a huge insult for Roman's historic title run
— Jᴀʜɪɴ Kʜɪʟᴀᴅɪ (@Jahhhin_Cena) May 3, 2024
Further, netizens commented that this storyline could have been a huge insult to Roman Reigns’ historic title run. Eventually, people are just glad that WWE didn’t execute this storyline, which could have significantly sabotaged the franchise’s future.
