WWE Wrestlemania 39: Backup opponent for Roman Reigns in The Rock’s absence

Bengaluru, June 13: Under the bright lights of Hollywood, WWE will host Wrestlemania 39 on two separate nights - April 1 and 2 in 2023. Big name stars are obviously needed to sell out the show set to emanate from the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Los Angeles, California.

For a long time now, The Rock is being rumoured to be the headliner of the show since he’s the biggest box office attraction in the Hollywood market that WWE can possibly expect to have performing at the event.

WWE wants to book him in a dream match against his cousin Roman Reigns. However, until and unless The Brahma Bull can free up some time from his busy filming schedule, the match cannot be confirmed and WWE is very aware of this uncertain situation. In case Rock is not available, the officials have a backup option for the marquee match.

As per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, in case WWE is not able to book The Rock vs. Roman Reigns next year then they will have Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title as the main event of Wrestlemania 39.

Cody is expected to be out of action for six months following his surgery to fix a torn pec muscle. In a heroic attempt, he wrestled with this injury and defeated Seth Rollins in the main event of Hell in a Cell.

Per the report, the top Raw Superstar is likely to return around Royal Rumble 2023 and whenever that happens he’d be treated as a massive fan favorite. So, it makes sense that WWE would move towards a top babyface vs. top heel storyline for the biggest event of the year.

"He will likely be out about six months, which makes the Royal Rumble probably the smart time frame for a return," Meltzer wrote in his report. "If Dwayne Johnson doesn’t wrestle Roman Reigns, it'd make the returning Rhodes vs. Reigns as the most likely biggest of next year’s Mania."

The Rock had his last full-length match in WWE at WrestleMania 29 in 2013, where he lost the WWE Championship to John Cena. On that night, he picked up a hernia injury that resulted in a long delay in the production of his Hercules movie.

The Great One never wrestled a proper match in WWE after that since movie insurances didn't allow him to take bumps in a WWE ring, moving forward.

The good thing is that The Rock’s movie schedule for the early-2023 timespan is clear and it might have been intentionally done so that he could make appearances on WWE TV on the Road to WrestleMania 39.