[anyclip-media thumbnail=”https://cdn5.anyclip.com/ZpTIf44BryGQQZjYWatT/1711541202325_248x140_thumbnail.jpg” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIGRhdGEtcGxpZD0ibGp5ZmlzbGdncTJlZTR0emk1aXZjd3RrbGZsd2M1Y3UiIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMzMCI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]
It’s hard to overstate how impressive it is that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has thrown himself into the buildup to WrestleMania 40 the way he has. Between his regular Raw and SmackDown appearances and lengthy video promos, he’s clearly enjoying his villainous turn as a member of The Bloodline.
Johnson also keeps himself looking like he’s been chiseled out of stone, a point that was really driven home on the March 25 episode of Raw, when he spent the last few minutes of the show beating Cody Rhodes bloody. The American Nightmare is not a small man, but The Rock looked huge in comparison.
That said, there’s a difference between clanging and banging in the gym and taking part in a full-on WWE wrestling match. The Rock will be doing that on night 1 of WrestleMania 40, when he teams with Roman Reigns to battle Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a match that will decide if The Bloodline can mess with Cody or not when he has his rematch with Roman on night 2.
All of that begs the question: Just when exactly was The Rock’s last WWE match?
Officially, for whatever that designation means in the world of WWE, his most recent match came at WrestleMania 32. The Rock defeated Erick Rowan at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, but it was in an impromptu match that only lasted as long as it took Johnson to hit a Rock Bottom on Rowan and pin him.
The last time The Rock was really in a WWE bout came three years earlier at WrestleMania 29. Despite the fact that their meeting the previous year was billed as “Once in a Lifetime,” The Rock battled John Cena at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, dropping the WWE Championship in the main event. That was a legitimate full-length match by anyone’s standards, clocking in at just under 24 minutes from bell to bell.
So when The Rock tags with Reigns in Philly, it will be more than a decade since his last WWE match. That’s raised some obvious questions about his stamina, made even more noteworthy by rumors that one of the things that kept him from a potential WrestleMania 39 bout was a lack of time to get in the best possible ring shape.
One presumes Johnson has had that opportunity this time, and he certainly cares about his legacy in the business enough that he’ll be ready to put on a top notch performance. The fact that it’s a tag team match will also help, since he won’t have to work the whole thing.
But it certainly has been a long time since The People’s Champion did his thing in the ring. That could make night 1 of WrestleMania 40 all the more special when it arrives on April 6.
[lawrence-related id=47261]