Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: dwayne johnson, Roman Reigns, the rock, wwe

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Discusses Dream Match With Roman Reigns

Published Mon, 20 Apr 2020 16:55:41 -0500

Global entertainment superstar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson took to Instagram Live this week to answer a question about what many WWE fans would consider the ultimate dream match. Wait, did we say dream match? We meant a nightmare. Johnson discussed facing off against his cousin, Roman Reigns.

"I think anything is possible," The Rock said, as transcribed by Wrestling Inc. "Sure, of course, I'm always open. That's the cool thing about professional wrestling; there is an adaptability to wrestling. You never say never in the world of pro wrestling."

Johnson's platitude is more correct than even he probably realizes. Vince McMahon has never been willing to say never about Roman Reigns, who the company spent years trying unsuccessfully to push as the face of WWE despite fans rejecting Reigns. It was nothing personal. It's just that after a decade of John Cena winning match after match as the ultimate babyface despite fans often booing him out of the building, they were determined to cut Vince off this time before he could get started with the Big Dog.

That didn't stop WWE from putting Reigns over in ways which, ironically, only served to make fans resent his push even more. There was having Reigns win the Royal Rumble instead of Daniel Bryan, for example, or having Reigns beat the Undertaker, a move which earned Reigns boos the likes of which hadn't been seen since Hulk Hogan was revealed to be the third member of the NWO, except, in this case, fans were supposed to cheer. Ultimately, it took Reigns' Leukemia coming back for fans to remember they actually liked Reigns as a person and cheer him, if only for a little while. The fact is that Roman Reigns is a likable, talented, and charismatic superstar who WWE had do work extra hard to make fans hate, but WWE is always up to that kind of challenge.

That takes us back to the last time WWE tried to use the Rock to get Roman Reigns over. It was during that aforementioned Royal Rumble win, where The Rock, a superstar literally beloved by WWE fans, came to the ring to help Reigns overcome the odds and win the match. Afterward, The Rock posed with Reigns, trying to get the crowd to cheer him. The look on his face when the crowd boos him mercilessly says it all.

Not even The Rock can get fans to cheer Roman Reigns at the 2015 Royal Rumble. Screencap from Royal Rumble, image credit to WWE.

Of course, The Rock isn't a stupid man, as he goes to point out that he'll need to be paid very handsomely to ruin his reputation by shilling for Reigns further, family or not. "You never say never to Vince McMahon, who has been one of my mentors in the business for a very long time. Very, very close friend and confidant. You never say no. For something like that to happen, I think the venue would have to be right. The business model would have be right. But I'm very close with Roman, he's family to me, so we will see."

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