The Rock May Win Royal Rumble, Challenge Lesnar At Wrestlemania 35

GettyImages-995673550 — Dwayne Johnson may reportedly show up at the WWE Royal Rumble and punch his ticket to Wrestlemania 35 against Brock Lesnar for the Universal title. Pictured: Dwayne Johnson attends the premiere of 'Skyscraper' on July 10, 2018 in New York City. Getty Images/Kena Betancur

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson remains busy with his Hollywood commitments, but a potential return to the WWE scene has not been totally discounted. In fact, word out is that he may be returning at the WWE Royal Rumble, which would set the stage for a Wrestlemania 35 appearance.

Unfortunately, the alleged plans suffered a bit of a blow. According to WrestleVotes, the plan was to see Johnson return at the Royal Rumble and eventually win it all. Johnson is a past Royal Rumble winner, ruling the event way back in 2000.

Rumble tidbit: Plan at one point was for The Rock to win the Royal Rumble & face Roman Reigns at Mania. That’s obviously not happening. Can Rock still win it & face Lesnar? I guess. Depends what kind of agreement Rock and WWE have. Once plans changed, Rock may have reconsidered.
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) December 8, 2018

From there, The Rock’s target would be the Universal title, previously held by Roman Reigns. It would have been a match for the ages until disaster struck. As most know by now, Reigns had to relinquish the title due to leukemia, and there is no timetable yet on when Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoaʻi can return.

The Universal title is now held by Brock Lesnar, having won the belt at WWE Crown Jewel. At the moment, WWE writers seem to be building on a Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman storyline, one that could officially kick off at WWE TLC set for Sunday, Dec. 16 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

As discussed in a previous post, Strowman will be facing Baron Corbin in one of the cards. A win by the Monster Among Men would give him the opportunity to challenge Lesnar for the Universal title at the WWE Royal Rumble. Strowman is allegedly injured, an added twist that could navigate who Lesnar would be defending the title from at the Rumble in January.

As for the Rock, it will be interesting if the temporary departure of Reigns will affect the supposed plans. According to Comicbook.com, this may have forced Johnson to change his mind unless the WWE finds someone that he trusts and works with.

With plenty of Hollywood commitments, one thing that The Rock and the WWE will have to look out for is potential injuries. In Wrestlemania 29, Johnson suffered a serious injury when he faced John Cena. This caused a lot of problems ranging from scheduling to insurance problems tied up to his Hollywood career. That concern could get elevated seeing how Lesnar’s power could cause some serious physical damage.

Any plans to have The Rock return to the WWE scene would be grand although with extra caution. A sequel to The Rock vs. Brock showdown at SummerSlam in 2002 is something to look forward too and making it happen will need a lot of deliberation and fine-tuning.