The Rock Should Not Return for Potential Match at WrestleMania

The Rock resurfaced on WWE television last week, with reports emerging that the writers may be looking to add “The Great One” to the WrestleMania 31 card next year.

As F4Wonline.com (h/t WrestlingInc) notes, The Rock vs. Triple H is apparently a possibility for the event. Notably, a match between the two was teased on SmackDown when the two exchanged tense words backstage.

It’s easy to understand why the bookers would be so keen to recruit The Rock for the show set to take place in Santa Clara, California.

Thanks to high-grossing movies like Fast & Furious 6 and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, he’s one of the biggest stars in Hollywood right now. With him in the mix, WrestleMania 31 would be virtually guaranteed to get big mainstream publicity.

He’s still a great talker, too, and can make even the most tired creative material sound compelling.

But, really, WWE needs to look beyond the obvious advantages of bringing Rock back for WrestleMania and recognize that it would be a weak booking move that would accomplish little or nothing in the long run.

For one thing, it remains to be seen whether Rock is even physically cut out for one last match. As he noted on his Twitter account, he famously left WrestleMania 29 with a long and painful laundry list of injuries.

This was particularly shocking considering how safely and simply booked his bout with John Cena was. It wasn’t like Vince McMahon told The Rock to go in there and take one crazy bump after another—it was a very normal match.

Credit: WWE.com

If he can’t even get through a basic match without suffering numerous ailments and muscle tears, it might be time for him to give up in-ring competition for good and stick to making one-off appearances on the likes of Raw and SmackDown.

Even putting aside his health issues, bringing the Hollywood actor back would simply be a counterproductive booking move.

At this point, WWE has to strongly focus on building new stars for the future. It needs to throw its full weight behind guys like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose—they’re the ones who will help carry the company going forward. They’re the ones who should have the spotlight right now.

Credit: WWE.com

After spending months and months building up these men, turning around and giving a massive WrestleMania push to a retired wrestler who works a match once every few years is astoundingly unwise.

Sure, bringing The Rock back would get mainstream attention and maybe even pop a decent buyrate, but it wouldn’t do anything for the company’s future.

Following WrestleMania, he would go back to Hollywood and WWE would be in the exact same position—struggling to get new guys over.

There’s also the question of whether people are even clamoring to see the proposed bout between Triple H and The Rock. Frankly, it doesn’t exactly scream “dream match.”

Credit: WWE.com

For one thing, it’s not new. The two faced each other too many times to count during the Attitude Era. If the bookers do insist on bringing The Rock back, you have to wonder why they would go with a match that looks rather dull and uninspiring on paper.

It’s more than time for McMahon and his team of bookers to accept that The Rock can be nothing more at this point than a nostalgia act.

That’s not necessarily a bad role for him—it’s always fun to see him pop up on television and trash talk and embarrass evil heels—but it is a limited one.

Come WrestleMania time, WWE has to realize that it is time to focus firmly on the future and push some new people rather than dwelling on the past and putting an aging, injury-riddled star in the main event.