WWE pulled a little bit of a pump fake this week on Raw, with Seth Rollins approaching Cody Rhodes with a well thought-out explanation as to why the American Nightmare should challenge him for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40 instead of pursuing a rematch with Roman Reigns. We’ll likely learn if there was anything to that on the Feb. 2 episode of SmackDown, with Dave Meltzer saying “the answer to that question is about to be revealed sooner than later.”
Let’s assume for now that Rhodes vs. Reigns is still the plan for Philadelphia. The Rock appears more committed than ever to having his own match with Reigns, one that’s been theorized for several years. Would WWE really wait all the way until WrestleMania 41 in 2025 to put on that bout?
Perhaps not. In his latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required), Meltzer offers another possibility: that Rock vs. Roman would take place on one of WWE’s upcoming Saudi Arabia shows instead.
As late as last week, Reigns vs. Rock was not out of play. Rock wanted it and even said so in media interviews. We were told he was heavily pushing for it. But at that point, as late as after the Rumble, the plan was for Reigns vs. Rhodes and to do Reigns vs. Rock at some point in the future. Saudi Arabia was talked about for that match from a company standpoint with the idea of doing the match they had spent a year plus building toward, with the idea that perhaps having Reigns vs. Rock in Saudi Arabia would get the government to kick in more money both for the company and Rock.
It’s certainly not out of the question that the Saudis would pay to have The Rock on one of their shows. Perth, Australia, the site of the upcoming Elimination Chamber premium live event, was reported to have inquired about what it would take to have him appear on that show.
The question is whether The Rock would go along with that idea or feel that a match with Reigns should only take place at WrestleMania. He’s gone on record several times over the past few weeks with his feeling that a Rock-Roman main event could help anchor the biggest WrestleMania of all time (though WWE is so hot right now, that might be true regardless).
WWE has yet to reveal when its two Saudi shows for 2024 will take place. Last year, the first of them was in late May at Night of Champions, with the other in early November. Rock vs. Reigns could comfortably slot into either of those windows while keeping Rhodes vs. Reigns intact since they are both after WrestleMania. It should become clear pretty quickly if that might be in the cards.
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