The WWE is primed to make a big announcement, with speculation that the news will be that the next WrestleMania will be hosted in Saudi Arabia. It's going to be very big news if true, and might just get a bit bigger considering the news may also involve Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
The Rock is fresh off of a fifteen-minute standing ovation for his latest movie, The Smashing Machine. The details behind how his WWE appearance could happen are wild, and I have some major concerns.
The Rock Is Reportedly In Talks For WrestleMania Saudi Arabia
The WWE is expected to announce that WrestleMania will be hosted abroad for the first time, with Saudi Arabia as the first location outside of the United States. As is always the case with WrestleMania, there's an expectation that the show will be bigger and better than ever before, but what does this mean for what is allegedly going to be happening at WrestleMania 43?
Saudi Arabia has traditionally pushed for their events to feature older superstars from the Attitude Era, which is precisely why we now have reports that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is advancing in talks to be a part of the event, and maybe even main event it. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio said that the investment company is willing to pay a large sum for Johnson to appear, and even more if he main events (via WrestlingNews.co):
The impression is that the final payment number for the show will be affected by whether or not they get The Rock in the main event. The idea is that the individual payoff for Johnson would be multiple times that of any pro wrestler for any event in history.
It makes sense, especially when this time next year, Dwayne Johnson could legitimately be an Oscar winner for his work in The Smashing Machine. It's wild to think about how the WWE could have its first Academy Award winner. If that happens, it seems logical the wrestling company would want to celebrate that. Where better than the biggest show on the world, on the heels of a major change?
After WrestleMania 41, Can The WWE Trust The Rock To Return?
I get that the WWE wants Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and money is the motivator for a lot of things, but is that enough to entice the TKO partner to lace up for WrestleMania 43? We're not even a full year out from the big debacle in which Johnson was seemingly in the mix to be in the storyline, and Travis Scott was substituted in at the last minute.
With The Rock seemingly leaving the WWE to scramble and figure out a new plan the last time, one has to wonder how ready executives are to make him the linchpin in securing a very lucrative deal with Saudi Arabia. Can they really be sure he's going to be prepared to wrestle by the time the show is ready to go?
Wrestling fans may wonder what it means if Dwayne Johnson commits. As mentioned, there's buzz around his performance in The Smashing Machine, which may mean fewer dates he'll commit to the WWE ahead of WrestleMania 43. He also has a lot of other upcoming movies and projects on the way, so the assumption is this would be a one-and-done type of appearances. Is this where we'll finally see Roman Reigns take on his cousin? We can only wait and see.
SmackDown airs on USA on Fridays at 8:00 p.m. ET, and I would assume more announcements about what is on the way in Saudi Arabia will come out ahead of the show. Tune in to hear more about what is planned, but don't expect to hear anything about The Rock just yet.
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