What if Roman Reigns takes on The Rock at WrestleMania 35?

Last year, the rumor mill got buzzing about The Rock potentially looking to return to WWE, and the most likely scenario of him facing off with his cousin Roman Reigns. The pairing would make sense enough in WWE’s ongoing mission to get Reigns over at the highest level. Additionally, Reigns is one of the very few stars who is both of stature to reasonably challenge The Great One, and also still benefit from the rub (whereas talents like The Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena, and Brock Lesnar wouldn’t get the same benefit to their standing).

Ideas of Rock vs. Reigns, and indeed Rock working a match at ‘Mania at all, fizzled after Reigns announced he had to take time away to battle leukemia, and after as rumors emerged that The Rock wasn’t interested in a proposed transition to working Lesnar.

However, now that Reigns is back on the WWE landscape and has returned just in time for WrestleMania, it seems likely he’ll ride his first major wave of popularity to a match at ‘Mania. If that’s the case, might we get Reigns vs. The Rock after all? This article takes a look at what that might mean.

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#5 Face vs. Face

The Rock and Roman Reigns would inevitably both get face reactions at WrestleMania 35.

Face versus face matches can be difficult for the awkward dynamic of fans not being sure whom to root for, no one being able to work a proper heat segment, and the risk of damaging whichever wrestler becomes the de facto heel. Just the same, The Rock vs. Roman Reigns would represent a unique set of circumstances.

Reigns has fan support like never before right now, based on beating back leukemia in real life and his inspirational return to the squared circle. For the first time, WWE probably couldn’t garner a heel response for him even if they wanted to (which probably wouldn’t make any sense now anyway).

Meanwhile, The Rock is the biggest megastar to come out of wrestling, emerging as a bona fide Hollywood star. While he can play the heel effectively, and some fans are inclined to boo him, he’s nonetheless a big enough star that it would be difficult for WWE to cast him as a villain out of the gate. Moreover, Batista already seems to have cornered the market on returning legends playing the bad guy. With all of these factors in consideration, the only logical conclusion is that Reigns and Rock would both play faces.

#4 Reigns wins

Roman Reigns isn't losing at WrestleMania 35.

At WrestleMania 28, The Rock pulled off a bit of an upset when he beat John Cena. It wasn’t so much an upset based on talent or star power, as the prevailing theory that The Brahma Bull was there primarily to put over Cena. At the time, most fans didn’t expect that this was just the first chapter in their story, and they’d square off again the following year.

As Rock’s acting career only gets busier, and as the man himself doesn’t get any younger, it’s less and less likely he’ll be on board for multi-year storylines. If Rock were to wrestle at WrestleMania 35, it’s safe to assume it’s a one-off and so he would be putting over Reigns right then and there.

To improve matters, with the momentum of his return, this is a rare moment when fans would not only accept, but welcome Reigns defeating The Great One cleanly in a one on one match.

#3 A short match

Not unlike the short, explosive Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg matches, Reigns-Rock might be a sprint.

Given that Roman Reigns is just returning from his fight with leukemia, it’s unclear if he’s ready to go full tilt with his wrestling career again just yet. Sure, it looks like he’s cleared given that he already got physical on this past Monday’s Raw, but even at his best he wasn’t known for marathon performances, and indeed did some of his best work in shorter sprints.

Meanwhile, The Rock hasn’t wrestled a real, full-fledged match since WrestleMania 29 and if he were to be added to WrestleMania now, wouldn’t have the benefit of a long period to train. Despite remaining in superficially outstanding shape, maintaining action hero looks is different from the cardio that goes with working in the ring.

So, in recognition of each man’s condition and prep time, as well as the practical matter of what would deliver the best, most fan-pleasing match, we could expect this bout to stay short, more along the lines of Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 33 or Lesnar vs. Reigns at SummerSlam 2018 than a more traditional match with this kind of star power.

# The women’s main event potentially deferred

A women's main event is expected to close WrestleMania, but Rock-Reigns might trump that.

At this point, most pundits agree that we’re going to get the first women’s main event at a WrestleMania this year. The stars have aligned to see arguably the most famous crossover star in the business, Ronda Rousey, arguably the hottest insurgent star among the regular fan base, Becky Lynch, and previously established top star of the division Charlotte Flair converge with a hot storyline and the potential for a very good match between them.

However, The Rock is the kind of star who can quite feasibly command an immediate main event booking. Placing him opposite the Roman Reigns of 2018 would only reinforce that likelihood; booking him opposite 2019 Reigns back from leukemia only pushes the needle further. To be fair, if this is booked as a sprint or more spectacle than match, WWE may choose not to have it close the show, but if it is a more full-fledged WWE main event style bout, there’s reason to think it would usurp the women’s triple threat.

#1 Reigns goes on to win the Universal Championship

Roman Reigns will be back on track to win the Universal Championship after WrestleMania.

One of the fastest ways to potentially turn a vocal segment of fans back against Roman Reigns would be for him to be inserted into or replace Seth Rollins in the Universal Championship match at WrestleMania (barring an injury that forced out the King Slayer, in which case Reigns would be a reasonable enough substitute). However, if Reigns were to ride his current momentum to blockbuster draw of a WrestleMania match with The Rock, it’s fair to guess that that would set the stage for him to return to the throne in the months to follow as Universal Champion.

Would Reigns as champ hit the reset button on where WWE was this fall? Perhaps, but for the very first time hardcore, casual, and all fans in between might well reach a consensus that they’re happy to see him with the strap, kicking off episodes of Raw as the face of WWE.