Top 5 opponents for The Rock if he returns to WWE

Since facing John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania 29, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s only official in-ring appearance as a WWE Superstar came when he defeated Erick Rowan in six seconds in an impromptu match at WrestleMania 32.

There have been persistent rumours in recent years that “The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment” could return to the ring for one more rivalry and match one day, and the man himself revealed before WrestleMania 30 that he was originally due to face Brock Lesnar at the event.

As recently as January of this year, it was heavily rumoured that WWE was interested in bringing the movie star back to be Ronda Rousey’s tag partner against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 34, but that position was given to Kurt Angle instead.

So, at the age of 46 and with a future Hall of Fame induction still to look forward to, who would be the ideal opponent for “The Great One” if he ever makes a return to the squared circle?

In this article, let’s take a look at five of the top contenders who could realistically still face the eight-time WWE champion.

#5 Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens has proven himself to be one of WWE’s top bad guys ever since he turned heel on his first night in NXT in December 2014.

“The Prizefighter” has gone on to face multiple legends during his time in WWE, including John Cena, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Goldberg, while he is a six-time champion on the main roster (Universal title x1, Intercontinental title x2 and United States title x3).

If he really wants to, Owens can play a likeable bad guy – right now, for example, in his current feud with Braun Strowman – but we all know that KO is at his absolute best when he’s getting booed in and out of buildings, like during his rivalries with Jericho and Shane McMahon.

One imagines that, should he ever feud with The Rock, we’d see a more vicious side to the former NXT champion’s character come out.

#4 Elias

Who wants to see Elias vs. The Rock... in concert?!

Heading into WrestleMania 34, The Rock had appeared at six of the previous seven ‘Mania events and many fans were predicting that he would be involved in a ‘Rock Concert’ segment with WWE’s resident musician, Elias.

However, “The Great One” was nowhere to be seen in New Orleans, while the man formerly known as “The Drifter” was involved in a brief altercation with John Cena prior to The Undertaker’s long-awaited return.

Of course, a match between The Rock and Elias wouldn’t have a lengthy PPV build like many other suggestions on this list, but it’d still be fun to see the two men battle it out in a surprise match on Monday Night Raw or PPV one day.

#3 Brock Lesnar

The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar almost happened at WrestleMania 30

A few months before WrestleMania 30, The Rock said in a Twitter Q&A that the original plan was for him to face Brock Lesnar in a match at the 2014 ‘Mania in New Orleans.

That didn’t happen, of course, and we saw Rock kick off the show in a segment with fellow legends Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin instead, while “The Beast” went on to defeat The Undertaker in one of the most shocking outcomes in WWE history.

It remains to be seen if Lesnar, the current Universal champion, will remain in WWE beyond the end of 2018. If he does, then perhaps there really is a chance that we’ll see Rock vs. Brock again in a WWE ring one day!

#2 Triple H

The — Triple H is a 14-time world champion

Early rumours for WrestleMania 31 suggested that Attitude Era legends The Rock and Triple H would roll back the years by going one-on-one for the final time at that year’s “Show of Shows” in Santa Clara.

However, a singles match between the two men never took place, with “The Game” facing Sting instead, but they were still involved in a segment together later in the show along with Stephanie McMahon and Ronda Rousey.

One imagines that plans for a possible Rock vs. HHH match are now officially dead, especially after Kurt Angle was chosen to be Ronda’s partner at WrestleMania 34, but you can never rule anything out in WWE!

#1 Roman Reigns

Of all the possible match-ups that The Rock could still realistically have in WWE, none would make more sense from a storyline perspective than a battle with Roman Reigns.

The two Samoans are both members of the legendary Anoa'i wrestling family and their heritage has been alluded to on multiple occasions on WWE programming in recent years, most notably when Rock returned to help Reigns win the 2015 Royal Rumble.

Needless to say, “The Big Dog” would benefit massively from a match against the biggest movie star on the planet, and nobody could have any complaints if Rock vs. Reigns headlined WrestleMania one day.