MR. TITO: The Ship Has NOT Sailed for The Rock vs. Roman Reigns in the WWE
As the great Rock N Roll band Guns N Roses once sang, “just a little patience, yeah…” After it almost happened during 2024, I know that many online wrestling fans were expecting Rock vs. Roman Reigns to happen during 2025 and more specifically, Wrestlemania 41 in Las Vegas to headline night #2. Yet, if you believe the insider news reports and how WWE Royal Rumble 2025 is shaping up, it appears that the Rock might not even perform at Wrestlemania. Maybe…
See, for me, the new WWE Creative Team led by Triple H does things differently than before. Under Vince McMahon-led creative teams, much of it was very predictable or were total letdowns. Under Triple H, his storylines have twists, unexpected surprises, and causes you to second guess where things are going. That is when wrestling becomes GREAT, as you want your audience to be curious about what happens next or even suspend disbelief.
Honestly for me, I’m no longer writing columns that criticizes WWE’s Creative Team. I believe they are doing a GREAT job and are surprising me with each big show.
With that said, I believe we’ll still see Rock vs. Roman Reigns either to headline SummerSlam 2025 or to headline Wrestlemania 42 during 2026. And that will be 100% acceptable.
EVERYBODY who watched WWE RAW on Netflix on January 6th, 2025 were expecting the Rock to turn on Roman Reigns… Instead, Rock was the one who placed the necklace on Roman’s neck (with Paul Heyman conveniently watching cautiously in the camera shot) and then the Rock just rested and let Roman have his celebratory moment. The Rock appeared, but fooled us all by being friendly with Cody Rhodes and not double-crossing the Rock.
And that is PROOF that WWE has you hook, line, and sinker… Rock’s heel turn is coming, eventually, by the Rock. When it happens, it will be such a gut punch that you’ll be willing to pay any type of dollar to see Rock vs. Roman happen.
And that’s the point…
WWE is milking the eventual turn of the Rock. Last year at Wrestlemania 40, which did NOT feature Rock vs. Roman thanks to many of you online fans demanding that match decision be overturned, the WWE did perfectly fine and had the BEST Wrestlemania gate ever in Philadelphia. Rock vs. Roman didn’t happen, as the Rock/Roman vs. Seth/Cody match and Roman vs. Cody II matches did perfectly fine to draw a huge house there in Philly.
So if you were OK waiting 1 year for the possibility of Rock vs. Roman Reigns happening in 2025, can’t you wait just another year?
Sorry, but I don’t believe Rock vs. Roman Reigns has lost any value yet… The Rock still has that heel turn on Roman in his back pocket that he can pull at the PERFECT time and it will draw massive heat. And to deliver that when fans LEAST expect it will be epic. Then, those same WWE fans will be willing to part with their money to see this match.
And maybe, just maybe, wrestling fans are placing Wrestlemania on a pedestal too much. Yeah, I went there quoting the film 40 Year Old Virgin. I can name you MULTIPLE years where the Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, or even Money in the Bank were BETTER events than Wrestlemania. While Wrestlemania is the biggest namesake and usually pulls in the biggest gate, those other events can draw money too.
BUT, if the WWE had a random “Rock vs. Roman” PLE or even ventured to place it on actual Pay Per View as a full event, YOU’D PAY FOR IT.
Rock vs. Roman does NOT have to headline Wrestlemania… SummerSlam is now a two-night event. Why not there?
WWE has multiple Saturday Night’s Main Event shows now on NBC. Why not there? Yes, it’s giving it away for free, but I’m willing to bet that NBC/Universal would pay extra to have that match featured on a SNME show.
Ditto for Netflix. Folks, WWE RAW displaced the highly popular The Squid Games – Season 2 and that’s bloody insane. That means this show was watched easily by 10-20 million people live while the stored replay is getting insane viewership.
If WWE approached Netflix with a “Rock vs. Roman” special event to air, don’t you think those executives would pony up the cash to feature it on Netflix?
Of course, with my luck, Saudi Arabia will pay $50 million to host that match there.
The point is that many of you are putting WAY too much stock into Rock vs. Roman happening specifically at Wrestlemania 41 this year.
Why? Why not milk it some more? Build up the heel turn that the Rock will do on Roman and make it epic when it happens?
WWE has enough talent and great match-ups to cover Wrestlemania 41. Are you willing to tell me, with a straight face, that John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes and CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns won’t be exciting as Wrestlemania headliners along with a supporting card full of great matches from superstars like Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Rhea Ripley, and many others? Wrestlemania 41 is looking to be MASSIVE show and doesn’t need the Rock to be great.
But I 100% TRUST the Triple H-led WWE Creative Team to entertain me and to present other great storylines and matches while waiting for the Rock to officially turn heel.
And here’s the FACT that nobody wants to mention about having Rock vs. Roman Reigns as a match-up. Once Roman Reigns officially vanquishes the Rock, what else is there for Roman to do? Seriously… Who else is out there for him to wrestle? I suppose getting his win back from Cody Rhodes, but it’s not necessary because he already pulled out 2 great matches out of him.
Roman Reigns has defeated the following in his career:
– John Cena
– Triple H
– Undertaker
– Brock Lesnar
– CM Punk (2014 RAW match)
– Bray Wyatt
– AJ Styles
– Daniel Bryan
– Bill Goldberg
– Edge
– Randy Orton
– Kevin Owens
– Drew McIntyre
What else is there to accomplish once Roman defeats the Rock? Maybe wrestling Gunther, but after Roman defeats the Rock, defeating Gunther isn’t on the same scale afterward.
So milk it… Keep presenting the Rock as a good guy and supportive family member. Keep presenting Rock as wanting to be a babyface again because he just did Disney’s Moana 2 and then the live-action version of Moana.
Make him appear multiple times and literally do nothing offensive to create that DOUBT among wrestling fans that he’ll never turn on Roman Reigns and that Rock vs. Roman won’t happen.
And then BAM, you do it and then Rock vs. Roman is on and it can headline ANY WWE event and draw massive money.
Sure, I understand that the Rock isn’t getting any younger, but LOOK AT HIM. He’s in tremendous physical shape and hitting that gym hard daily (along with saying his prayers and taking his “vitamins”).
However, didn’t Wrestlemania 40 prove that Rock can STILL GO? Holy cow, he was tremendous in that tag match and looked 100% better than his work from 2011-2013 where I thought both of his matches with Punk and both matches with Cena kinda stunk and that was due to him. At Wrestlemania 40, that was THE Rock out there just as you remembered him from the Attitude Era.
Relax, online wrestling fans who have to instantly present their emotional opinions at all times… Rock vs. Roman Reigns is going to happen, eventually… If I were a betting man, I’d say within the next 2 years.
What many of you emotional fans need to do is RELAX and have TRUST with the Triple H-led Creative Team.
Question for all of you online wrestling fans: Was the WWE years 2022-2024 fun to you? Should be a resounding “YES” because in my opinion as a wrestling fan and as a writer covering it, WWE since 2022 has been the BEST it has been since the Attitude Era.
None of you are leaving the WWE anytime soon… While I feel for the older fans who still want to see Rock vs. Roman happen and might be leaving this earth soon (I’m so sorry), much of the fanbase will be around for the next 2 years. Where ya gonna go? You’ll still be watching Raw, Smackdown, and PLEs just has you have been during 2022, 2023, and 2024 when the WWE became GREAT again.
TRUST what the Triple H-led Creative Team will present you… They’ll give you that Rock vs. Roman match, eventually, and it will be worth it when they do.
DO NOT FORGET what The Rock said on the Pat McAfee Show… If he comes back, it has to benefit EVERYONE and not just be a one-off match. Rock vs. Roman was only a possibility for Wrestlemania 40 because of the Vince McMahon lawsuit news that was hitting the fan and that’s why it was rushed… But now, we’re back at the Rock’s plans and for the next year, WWE fans will be anticipating what happens to Cody Rhodes, whom received a note from the Rock on the RAW following Wrestlemania 40, and to Roman Reigns, who calls himself the “Tribal Chief” of a family that the Rock belongs to.
Enjoy the ride, folks… Let Triple H’s WWE Creative Team string you along for a great storyline that will make you hungrier for Rock and Roman to happen more than ever. When the Rock makes that heel turn, it’s going to upset you and make you so emotional that you’ll demand that the WWE take your money.
Remember following Wrestlemania 39 how upset each of you were that Cody didn’t win and then on the RAW following that show when Brock Lesnar attacked him for no good reason? Yeah, your emotions seemed to change when Cody Rhodes vanquished Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2023 and put Cody Rhodes back on track to win the World Title by 2024. Who was overseeing creative back then? Yeah, that was Triple H and he made Brock vs. Cody exciting and paid off strongly in Cody’s favor.
TRUST in Triple H and the WWE system right now…
We’ve NEVER had it this good since the Attitude Era. STOP being Chicken Little and constantly declaring that the ”sky is falling”. It’s not… You’ll get Rock vs. Roman eventually, but in the meantime, WWE is going to deliver you an AWESOME ride getting there.
When the Rock does turn heel on Roman, you’ll feel it in your bones and want to bad for babyface Roman Reigns to finish him off once and for all.
And then sadly, Roman Reigns will have nothing to prove after defeating the Rock and you’ll have to hope that other superstars on the WWE roster are ready to build an impressive resume as Roman has.
I’m not ready for Roman’s peak years to be over with yet… I can wait for Rock vs. Roman just a little while longer. If we go beyond 2026, then yes, the ship has sailed but only because we’re out of Roman Reigns’s peak drawing years and not because Rock got older.
If ya smell what I’m cooking.
Special THANKS to the NoDQ Review crew for discussing the possibility of Rock vs. Roman not happening, which prompted this column idea. I do want to express that the “ship has sailed” quote was used several times on this show, but this column is NOT and I repeat NOT calling out anyone on that show. They were all great yesterday and I strongly recommend checking out NoDQ Review at 7pm EST on Thursdays on YouTube.
Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ