The Rock Says He Had A Handshake Deal To Compete At WrestleMania 39 In Place, Open To WrestleMania 40

The Rock says he had a handshake deal to work WrestleMania 39.

There were many rumors about The Rock in the lead up to WrestleMania 39, and some suggested that he was never committed to a match at WrestleMania. However, now there has been a correction on that front.

Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, The Rock was asked how close a match with Reigns at WrestleMania 39 was to happening. The Rock stated he was working on a handshake deal with the company.

“The Rock headlining WrestleMania with Roman Reigns, SoFi Stadium, that was locked. We were doing it. But let me just tell you, so about, in the beginning of 2022, Nick Khan, very good friend, he’s the man, he was very instrumental in bringing Vince and I together. We all flew to LA, we met, we sat. This was the beginning of 2022. We broke out the Teremana, we toasted life, we toasted the business we love, and about an hour later, we started talking about the potential of what this match could be between myself and Roman Reigns headlining WrestleMania at SoFi. We shook hands and we hugged right there, all three of us at the table, and said, ‘Let’s do this.’ So then we had a year to really think about this. So the north star thought was, ‘Okay, let’s not do something good. Let’s not do something great. Let’s do something unprecedented.’ It was in, what can we create for the fans that has never been done before? A match, great. Roman, incredible athlete. He’s gonna be on Mount Rushmore. Super handsome, good dude, my cousin, family. Amazing. We can have the match. But the bigger thought was, what can do for the fans and the business that love, where WrestleMania isn’t the end of something, it’s actually the beginning of something bigger,” 

“So we got really, really close, but we couldn’t actually nail what that thing was. So we decided to put our pencils down. We agreed, hey, listen, there’s a merger coming up, eventually that will happen. There’s WrestleMania in Philadelphia. [Raises his eyebrow] I’m saying that’s a potential too. I’m open. I’m open. But again let’s figure out what that is because the fans deserve something just incredible and unprecedented. Not only that but I also want to deliver to the locker room and the boys and the girls back there who are working their asses off. What can we do to put them in a position where they’re part of something that is a new change, an era, in this world of pro wrestling. Vince is a big picture thinker, as you know. This is why we’ve gotten along for years, just trying to think big picture. So we’ll see,”

The Rock

We will have to wait and see if The Rock will end up facing off with Reigns at WrestleMania 40, or if Cody Rhodes will be able to Finish The Story.

H/T to Fightful

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