Styles Wants The Rock; Johnny Knoxville Trolls Sami Zayn; McIntyre Talks WWE Contract

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Styles Wants to Be Heel in Potential Rock Match

AJ Styles has almost seen and done it all during his illustrious career in pro wrestling, but one thing he has yet to check off is a dream match against The Rock.

Speaking this week to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Styles was asked if he would be interested in facing The Rock at some point, and he confirmed that he would be under one condition: "Of course, I'm interested—but only if that means The Rock is turning babyface. I'm not interested in being a mediocre bad guy. I want to bring this to a whole new level."

The Phenomenal One has been a heel in recent months, and it has resulted in some of his best work in years.

Styles had an entertaining feud with LA Knight that led to a match at WrestleMania 40, and he later went on to beat Knight in a rematch to earn a bout against undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes at Backlash.

While Styles was unsuccessful in his attempt to take the title from Rhodes, he and Cody put on a spectacular contest that belongs in the match of the year conversation.

As for The Rock, he also had a feud with Cody, which resulted in him unexpectedly turning heel for the first time in over 20 years.

Dubbing himself The Final Boss, The Rock was consistently one of the best parts of WWE programming leading up to WrestleMania, and fans are already excited for him to eventually return and challenge Rhodes.

Turning The Rock face would be a tough sell right now because of how over he is as a heel, but it could potentially be an option in the future if a match against Styles is on The Great One's radar.

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Knoxville Takes Shots at Zayn on Social Media

Sami Zayn and Jackass star Johnny Knoxville had a wild and memorable match at WrestleMania 38, and it seems as though Knoxville hasn't forgotten about his feud with Sami.

Zayn took to Instagram this week to post a photo of himself holding up the Intercontinental Championship alongside Becky Lynch holding up her Women's World Championship, and while most of the comments were favorable, Knoxville had no interest in playing nice.

Knoxville left several comments under Zayn's post in which he mocked Sami's body hair, build and other elements of his physical appearance:

When Knoxville and Zayn met at WrestleMania 38, Zayn was the heel and Knoxville was the babyface, and the fans took great delight in Knoxville's contraptions causing Sami pain during their match.

Since then, Zayn has once again become one of the most beloved figures in WWE, and he recently has one of the biggest wins of his career, beating Gunther at WrestleMania 40 and ending his record 666-day reign as intercontinental champion.

Given Zayn's popularity, it is likely Knoxville would have to be a heel if the two of them were to ever run it back with a rematch.

There hasn't been any on-screen indication that Zayn vs. Knoxville II is on tap, but Knoxville's Instagram comments could be a sign that their feud is about to be rekindled.

If that does happen, it would allow Zayn to redeem himself after losing at WrestleMania 38, and it would also given WWE another chance to show just how creative it can be.

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McIntyre Talks New WWE Contract

Drew McIntyre recently solidified his future in WWE with a new contract, and The Scottish Warrior seems excited about what it means for him moving forward.

In an interview with Alex McCarthy of the Daily Mail, McIntyre discussed his new deal and the deciding factor in signing it, saying: "Being happy, at this point of my life and career all that matters is I'm happy and I can get time with my family that I've not had for 20 years."

For the better part of a year, rumors and speculation ran rampant regarding McIntyre's standing within WWE and the possibility of him going elsewhere once his contract expired.

Despite constant reports that he hadn't yet signed a new deal, McIntyre became only the second person to beat Cody Rhodes in a singles match since Rhodes' return to WWE, plus he started a rivalry with CM Punk and won an Elimination Chamber match to earn a World Heavyweight Championship bout against Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40.

McIntyre even beat Rollins for the title, although Punk attacked him afterward and Damian Priest successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to become world champ.

Just a few weeks after WrestleMania, The Rock announced in a social media post that Drew had re-signed with WWE:

There was a longstanding belief among fans that McIntyre would re-sign given how he was being presented, and the three-time world champion finally made it official:

It can be argued that the current version of McIntyre is the best one, as he has perhaps established himself as the best heel in the entire wrestling business.

McIntyre's antics on social media and during his in-ring promos have gotten him over in a big way to the point that fans are practically salivating over his eventual match against Punk.

Drew noted that while he can't necessarily fully control his creative direction, wrestlers have been given more leeway under Triple H's leadership, and that has allowed him to flourish.

Now that McIntyre is perfectly cast in his current role and has a contract that will apparently allow him to have an ideal work-life balance, he should be set to go on the best run of his career.

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