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Legendary commentator Jim Ross recently gave his take on The Rock's possible storyline direction ahead of a dream WWE match against Roman Reigns.
On the January 1 episode of RAW, The Rock dropped the strongest hint yet that he could face his real-life cousin in the near future. The long-awaited encounter is expected to take place at WrestleMania 40 on April 6-7. However, there has also been talk about the Hollywood star appearing at Elimination Chamber in Perth, Australia, on February 24.
On his Grilling JR podcast, Ross speculated whether The Great One could win a six-man Elimination Chamber match before going one-on-one with Reigns:
"There's gotta be another piece to the journey. There's gotta be another stop-off. Winning the Elimination Chamber is one way of doing that. That means two matches out of The Rock, and is that going to happen? Time will tell, obviously, but getting him to commit to certain times is a win without question." [20:30 – 21:00]
The Rock has not competed in an official match since beating Erick Rowan in six seconds at WrestleMania 32 in 2016. Before that, his last advertised bout ended in defeat against John Cena in the WrestleMania 29 main event in 2013.
Jim Ross on WWE's long-term plan for The Rock
Four weeks before Elimination Chamber, WWE will stage the Royal Rumble on January 27. It is currently unclear whether The Rock will feature on the show.
Regardless of the 51-year-old's availability for the next two premium live events, Jim Ross is sure he will appear on the WrestleMania 40 card:
"Any time you get some time from The Rock, that's a win. How they get to the end result, the end result has gotta be WrestleMania, obviously. It doesn't take a strategist to figure that one out. We'll see how it works out." [19:40 – 19:57]
During his return segment, The Rock mocked Jinder Mahal before hitting the former WWE Champion with a Spinebuster and People's Elbow.
How do you think The Rock should be booked ahead of WrestleMania 40? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Jim Ross' Grilling JR podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
