Hot Take: Road to WWE WrestleMania 41 is Being Damaged By The Rock

Right now, pro wrestling fans are likely experiencing a deep sense of deja vu. 

It’s WrestleMania season, and here comes The Rock to make things as confusing as possible, dashing what should be a straightforward build to the biggest show of the year with understandable payoffs. 

A year ago, Rock was involved in the Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns story to the point of shockingly attempting to take the former’s Royal Rumble win (which WWE would like if you forgot, thank you very much). Everyone backpedaled after serious fan backlash, Rock was involved in a confusing tag match at ‘Mania and then disappeared, only to return occasionally and slap his goosebumps. 

Fast-forward to now: Rock appeared to retcon and end ongoing storylines during the first episode of Raw on Netflix, only to return in mid-February and give what was, frankly, one of the most confusing promos by a major name in modern wrestling history.

No really, take a brief gander:

No amount of elite editing and classic WWE revisionist history can make that one better. 

It feels—with a huge emphasis on feels—like Rock wanted to create a manipulative corporate heel character who convinces Rhodes to sell out and become his fighting champion. It's almost like a new, modern take on, say, evil boss Vince McMahon and Steve Austin or something. 

But it came off as an awkward, line-toeing tapdance from a part-timer worried about his real-world PR reputation in Hollywood while trying to play a heel, but also leaving wiggle room for babyface classics if the crowd didn’t like the segment. 

That’s messy because it was all messy. Rock came out to announce a ‘Mania location, sang a song, got mad when fans sang a song and endlessly praised Rhodes, and said he wants Rhodes’ soul. And that’s to briefly summarize.

The point is that WWE could be doing so much more with all involved. The Royal Rumble win questionably went to Jey Uso and that’s going to set up a match retread fans have already seen. One has to wonder if that only happened because Rock was looming in the background as a player for the story around Rhodes’ title. 

Not only that, the likes of Seth Rollins, CM Punk and even Reigns are sidelined into weird territory again. The Bloodline story has apparently been shut down, too, which is odd given some of the epic ways it could have gone (ie, Rock vs. Reigns, etc.).

This one might anger some fans, but making all this even more unfortunate? 

Cody already is the corporate champion. He has the belt. He won it as predictably as it could get after climbing the mountain, and now he puts over WWE’s growing international brand in as many ways as possible, 24/7, 365. 

Now, that said, there is an obvious pivot—Rhodes tells Rock “no thanks” and keeps being the lovable babyface instead of that long-awaited Homelander-type heel. That leaves room for, say, a Corporate Punk to come through and attempt to take him down. 

But…one problem. Even a Corporate Punk will get cheered over Rhodes in that scenario. What makes a build great in pro wrestling, especially going into ‘Mania, is the chase. Punk would be the one doing the chasing and frankly, there’s never anything he could do to actually get booed by fans—he’s the guy who dumped Paul Bearer's ashes, remember? 

Usually, we can handwave problems like this with “it’s pro wrestling!” and call it a day. There’s always room for a pivot or change to stories and yes, there is still time to fix this. 

But the problem is the Rock. If he bows out again because this is getting middling reactions, the Superstars left have to scramble to pick up the pieces. If he stays, there’s no good option. If he inserts himself into a match, fans know how that will go. If he doesn’t and someone becomes his handpicked “champion,” it would feel unnecessary, given what was already happening with the characters. 

This is 2025, too, so fans are bound to wonder if somebody on the board like Rock is self-inserting himself into things for the “betterment” of ratings and attention in the mainstream media, spoiling ongoing plans in the process. There’s a meta thing going on in this way that won’t turn out well if Rock’s promo is any sign of where things are going. 

Just look at the Elimination Chamber poster now:

Somewhere in all the above, there’s an idea to keep Rhodes fresh now that his “story” is told while perhaps boosting Reigns’ status as a babyface. But ‘Mania before Rock’s insertion was looking just fine, even if we were simply trending toward Rhodes vs. John Cena and Punk vs. Reigns. 

There’s an apt metaphor about a rock smashing something when thrown that feels like it would fit here. Right now, the rock is the man, though, and the smashed thing is the ‘Mania outlook for a second year in a row.