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WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray feels that The Rock could be a great surprise entrant at the Royal Rumble. He believes that the fan-favorite should win the bout and proceed to challenge Roman Reigns.
The People's Champion has won the WWE Royal Rumble match once, back in 2000, when he entered at #24 and eliminated four Superstars. He last competed in the free-for-all bout in 2001, where he was one of the final few men standing.
On a recent episode of Busted Open, Bully Ray discussed the possibility of The Rock returning at next year's Royal Rumble. The Hall of Famer thinks that The Great One could be a surprise entrant in the Battle Royal, as he could use the win to set up a match with Roman Reigns:
"Rock comes back, wins the Rumble, gets his shot at 'Mania," said Bully Ray/ "It's pretty simple. Keep it simple, stupid. Slow and steady wins the race. Win the Rumble, build, build, build to 'Mania. Yeah, I don't see any other way."
The veteran elaborated by saying that The Great One could be a finalist in the bout alongside stars like Randy Orton. This outcome would create an unpredictable conclusion to the contest. Ray also made it clear that, if The Rock is available, WWE should capitalize.
"And I would love to see the Rumble this year come down to some real heavy-hitters - maybe the last four in the ring [could be] The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton - some real strong talent where it's like, 'Wow, anybody could win this one.' Any one of these last three or four men could main event WrestleMania against Roman Reigns. If The Rock's calendar is free for the first quarter of 2023, hopefully the WWE is going to maximize that and milk everything that they can out of The Rock for a huge WrestleMania next year," Bully Ray continued. [From 14:20 to 15:18]
Additionally, Bully Ray stated that The Rock appearing at the Rumble would be "one hell of a surprise".
The Rock's schedule could be free for a WWE return
A recent report from Bryan Alvarez of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter has indicated that The People's Champ's Hollywood schedule has cleared up for the first quarter of 2023.
This means that The Rock could have his long-awaited match against reigning world champion Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39.
If the Fast & Furious star does return at next year's Royal Rumble, it will be his first WWE match in seven years. As of this writing, he hasn't wrestled since WrestleMania 32 in 2016.
Some will argue that The Rock does not have to win the Rumble match to guarantee his shot against Reigns, so it will be interesting to see what WWE does going forward.
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If you use any of the above quotes, please credit Busted Open and H/T Sportskeeda.
