Making the Case For and Against The Rock Confronting Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39

For a long time, it felt like one of the most obvious endpoints of the Roman Reigns and Bloodline saga was a showdown with The Rock at WrestleMania 39.

Those times are over.

The Royal Rumble is done, and Rock didn't show up to kick off The Road to WrestleMania. Instead, fans got a continuation of one of the best-ever pro wrestling storylines with Sami Zayn's plight against and within The Bloodline.

At the same time, Cody Rhodes won the men's Rumble match to set up a contest with Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the main event at The Show of Shows.

These developments don't necessarily mean The Great One won't make an appearance at WrestleMania 39—and that could always include a confrontation with Reigns anyway.

Question is, does it need to happen? Does 'Mania need Rock? Does the story around Reigns need it? Between Zayn, Rhodes and the jaw-dropping work of The Tribal Chief and those around him, how many fans have even clamored for The People's Champion?

Let's make the case for and against The Rock showing up in Reigns' orbit at all this year at WrestleMania.

Case For: It's The Rock

"It's the Rock" might seem like a bit of a cop-out, yet it's the truth.

No matter what happens with Reigns in the main event, The Great One's music hitting would make even the most exhausted of audiences pop in a major way.

Not only that, WWE loves earning that mainstream attention that isn't exactly within the pro-wrestling sphere. A movie star like Dwayne Johnson earns a ton of that and more than most on the planet are capable of doing.

It also just feels like the final frontier for Reigns regardless of whether he's still holding the unified titles. He has demanded acknowledgment at every turn, only for legends like John Cena and Brock Lesnar to interrupt. Rock doing so while intertwining with the family-based storyline would be a fitting end.

And again, Rock being Rock, that makes a plenty strong case on its lonesome.

Case Against: It Would Feel Rushed and Messy

One of the strengths of this all-timer of a storyline featuring Reigns, The Bloodline and newer addition Sami Zayn is the careful navigation of character development and long-form storytelling.

The Rock just showing up without a hint and what would feel like on short notice might cheapen things in a dramatic way.

It is, after all, nearly mid-February and time for the Elimination Chamber event in Montreal, Quebec. The logical return point for Rock was the Royal Rumble.

It's hard to imagine WWE would spoil Zayn's moment, win or lose his title shot against Reigns in front of his hometown crowd, for the sake of getting a Rock pop.

That leaves 'Mania, where at the very best, fans should probably hope for a promo and maybe a pre-recorded one filmed from afar.

As a bonus, if the ending of the story is Zayn breaking up The Bloodline, and The Usos and Reigns going their separate ways, Rock then choosing to confront the (former?) unified champion wouldn't feel great.

If this was going to happen, it needed to have weaved naturally into the splendid long-term storytelling by now.

Case For: It's Versatile

The Rock is a very busy man in Hollywood, with Triple H even confirming after the Royal Rumble that talks were held but the actor's schedule was too busy.

Ironically, though, his return to confront Reigns classifies as being rather versatile.

Say, for instance, The Tribal Chief shocks everyone and retains the unified titles at WrestleMania. Rock is the last guy in the family storyline who makes sense as a challenger unless Jey Uso gets that nod (which one could argue he 100 percent should).

However, if Reigns loses the titles and starts transitioning into a Brock Lesnar-esque part-timer role with a reduced workload, what better first opponent for him than The Rock?

A part-timer battle slated for a marquee event such as SummerSlam that doesn't get in the way of the main event scene would be fantastic for everyone, with the first seeds planted at WrestleMania on April 1-2.

No matter how it plays out, a Rock confrontation with Reigns would prepare the ground for an entertaining few months while allowing WWE to get massive hype for its big summer events.

Case Against: The Story Hasn't Needed It and Never Will

Think back to that stunning Royal Rumble main event and its aftermath. At any point did a wrestling fan truly think it needed The Rock added to it?

The answer is an emphatic "No!"

Zayn betraying Reigns, Jey walking out on his family and all of the fallout since has been downright captivating in a way most pro-wrestling storylines just aren't.

Sit non-wrestling fans in front of that post-main event sequence and it's a safe bet they would be totally drawn in and wanting to know more, too.

At this point, adding The Great One into the fray in any capacity might just feel inauthentic. It might feel like something reserved for past creative leads in the company, not this new era.

Regardless of whether Reigns wins or loses at 'Mania, there's bound to be noteworthy fallout between himself and The Usos, plus Zayn and Paul Heyman.

The story is already layered, carefully plotted and mesmerising without The Rock.

Verdict

The verdict isn't hard to figure out: Hard pass.

One could maybe see the logic in the idea that if The Rock doesn't want to wrestle, he could at least be a special guest referee for Rhodes-Reigns.

However, that's also pushing things to a limit and might feel more like a letdown than anything for those fans still clamoring for The Great One to actually wrestle his cousin.

The reality is that had Zayn never been introduced into the Bloodline storyline, Rock getting in the mix would have made sense. The storyline was dragging hard and fans were starting to question the long-term reaction to Reigns' GOAT-making run.

Zayn's addition to the fray and the stunning tale told since have necessitated that all other outsiders stay away. It's a testament to the job done by the performers beyond actual wrestling and an exemplary showcase of pro wrestling at its peak.

These days, WWE has its massive global reach at big events such as WrestleMania thanks to the likes of Logan Paul, Bad Bunny and others.

Rock is a draw, of course, but dipping into that well and watering down storylines with outsiders is a ship that has sailed, especially when outsiders such as Paul have been so shockingly good at this pro wrestling thing lately, anyway.

There's little reason to have The Rock confront Reigns at WrestleMania, and the fact that this might be the first time fans have even considered it as an option in a long time is just further proof of that.