WWE Rumors on The Rock's Return, WrestleMania 41 Card; Goldberg Talks Retirement Match

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

Reported Purpose Behind The Rock's SmackDown Return

The Rock shook the wrestling world to its core Thursday when he announced that he would be appearing on Friday night's episode of SmackDown.

While it is anyone's guess what The Final Boss' SmackDown appearance could lead to, some details regarding his return to WWE programming are already making the rounds.

Friday's SmackDown is being held in New Orleans, and according to WrestleVotes, The Rock is expected to announce that next year's WrestleMania 42 will take place in New Orleans.

New Orleans has been the rumored host city for WrestleMania 42 for quite some time, and it makes sense for WWE to have one of its biggest stars and a member of the TKO board of directors in The Rock make the announcement.

Aside from that, it is fair to wonder if there may be another purpose behind The Rock's return, perhaps related to WrestleMania 41.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News) reported that The Rock appearing on SmackDown was a "last-minute" decision.

Meltzer added that while nobody outside WWE's inner circle knows what The Rock's intentions are, it is likely fans will know "for sure" whether The Rock intends to compete at WrestleMania 41 based on what he does Friday.

Last year, The Rock entered the fray shortly after the Royal Rumble and ended up teaming with Roman Reigns against Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 40.

Rock is now coming back within a similar timeframe, which suggests it is in the realm of possibility that he could be on the verge of building toward a WrestleMania 41 match.

Rhodes and Reigns are potential targets for The Rock, and the entire complexion of WrestleMania could potentially change based on what he says and does on SmackDown.

Reported Details Surrounding WrestleMania 41 Card and Build

With WrestleMania 41 about two months away, the card is reportedly starting to take shape.

According to Meltzer (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), many of the top stars in the company have plans in place for WrestleMania, and there are expected to be 13 or 14 matches on the card.

If that is the case, it will fall right in line with last year's WrestleMania 40, which featured 14 matches over the course of two nights.

One of those matches was a Money in the Bank cash-in by Damian Priest on Drew McIntyre, which only lasted for a matter of seconds, so there is likely some wiggle room regarding the exact number of bouts.

WrestleMania has been a two-night event ever since WrestleMania 36, and it has allowed for more Superstars and matches to get on the card than what was possible during the one-night era.

Still, WWE can't overload both nights and fatigue the audience, so head of creative Triple H will likely have some tough decisions to make.

There are already two matches locked in for WrestleMania with Gunther defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Jey Uso and Tiffany Stratton defending the WWE Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair.

Also, WWE champion Cody Rhodes will defend against the winner of the men's Elimination Chamber match and either Rhea Ripley or Iyo Sky will defend the women's world title against the winner of the women's Elimination Chamber.

However, beyond those matches, there are plenty of question marks regarding what the WrestleMania 41 card will look like, which should make for an exciting and unpredictable build.

Goldberg Reveals Plans for WWE Retirement Match

WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg revealed this week that he is planning to have his retirement match over the summer.

Speaking on his CarCast podcast (h/t Aidan Gibbons of Cultaholic), Goldberg discussed his health and the status of his WWE retirement match, saying:

"I feel like a trillion bucks. Whether it's from the stuff that I altered my life prior or the stem cell treatment after a day. I feel like a million bucks, comparatively. You have to be logical, but it's like you're a race horse again, and you're being held in a stall, and you can't come out for a period of time.

"I have a match some time this summer. I don't know exactly when it is, but I know it's coming up and I know at 58 years old I have to be in my underwear in front of everybody and I hold a very high standard of myself. I need to get to work yesterday. The long-term benefit and the benefit for me in the ring will be much more if I just calm my ass down."

Back in November, Goldberg appeared on SEC Network's SEC Nation and announced that he would have his final match in 2025:

That announcement came shortly after he made a surprise appearance at Bad Blood in Atlanta and had a confrontation with Gunther.

No details regarding the date, location or opponent for Goldberg's retirement match have been revealed, but the 58-year-old legend spilled the beans to some degree on his podcast.

Saying the match will be in the summer doesn't necessarily mean it will occur at SummerSlam, but there is likely a decent chance of that being the case since SummerSlam will be a two-night event for the first time ever this year.

That means there will be more spots on the card for something like a Goldberg retirement match, and it would also ensure that Goldberg ends his career on a grand stage since SummerSlam 2025 will emanate from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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