Roman Reigns vs. The Rock is WWE’s can’t-miss moment

WWE is putting on the biggest WrestleMania main event in over a decade, one that can penetrate the mainstream more than any other match the professional wrestling promotion can do.

And some fans are furious about it.

All indications are that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will return for his first legitimate match since 2013 against undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns in the main event of two-night WrestleMania 40 on April 6 or 7 in Philadelphia. Johnson is as recognizable around the world as anyone else on Earth. Reigns has been the face of WWE in this era, is in the midst of a record-breaking title run and, by the way, considers himself Johnson's cousin – even if not by blood.

Reigns vs. The Rock has been teased for years. Reigns' storyline, the best WWE has done in a long time, is called The Bloodline, and revolves around Reigns and his family's wrestling legacy. Johnson fits right into this.

In a vacuum, the match is self-evident. It ticks all the boxes. Still, if the online reaction is any indication, pro wrestling's most ardent fans are coming down hard on it. Or at least that's the timing. As of Sunday night, the full Smackdown segment on WWE's YouTube channel had over 500,000 downvotes, compared to just over 100,000 upvotes.

Their anger might be misguided and misplaced, but it's something WWE needs to keep a close eye on. WWE would be foolish to miss what is likely a small window of time for this match to take place due to Johnson's age – he's 51 now – and his busy schedule. Remember, Johnson is one of Hollywood's most sought-after actors, involved in blockbuster after blockbuster. Waiting another year and hoping Johnson is in ring shape and not involved in a film or TV project might be too risky.

The mainstream attention generated by Reigns vs. Rock trumps any current direction of the storyline, no matter how good it is. According to WWE, there were more than 79 million views on social media for the Johnson segment Friday, Sunday night. Who else can publish these kinds of figures? And a match with Johnson only raises the profile of Reigns, who, while currently the biggest name in professional wrestling, has yet to reach the more casual audience like others before him. No, the match doesn't need the title to be on the line, but that's a small point for the majority of potential viewers.

But let's see why everyone is so angry online.

If Johnson wasn't there, Reigns almost certainly would have faced Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania, a rematch of last year's show that saw Rhodes get the storyline screwed over by Johnson's cousins. Reigns – The Usos and Solo Sikoa – on their way to a heartbreaking loss. In fact, Reigns vs. Rhodes 2 was reportedly planned until very recently.

Rhodes, the son of the legendary Dusty Rhodes, is an excellent professional wrestler and the WWE fanbase is fully invested in his character and arc. Cody Rhodes was named ESPN's 2023 Men's Wrestler of the Year, a well-deserved honor. He returned to WWE in 2022, after being one of the founders of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), as the Prodigal Son. He then vowed to achieve his goal of winning the first WWE Championship, something his father was never able to do.

Over the past two years, Cody Rhodes has battled through a serious torn pectoral, won back-to-back Royal Rumble matches (the first time anyone has done that since “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in 1998), has headlined at WrestleMania 39 and was on the cover of the video game WWE 2K24. Rhodes is the kind of babyface that has always been a staple of WWE programming, dating back to Hulk Hogan. The kids love him and he's a wonderful ambassador for the promotion – handsome, well-dressed and well-spoken – the kind of guy you send to morning and late-night talk shows.

More importantly than all of that, fans are absolutely invested in Rhodes “finishing the story”, meaning winning the first title, which has been his catchphrase since his return to WWE. His status and the manner in which he was booked built impressive goodwill.

That much was clear on Saturday when, just hours after Reigns and Johnson's first showdown, the hashtag #WeWantCody was trending on social platform X. Comments on YouTube for Friday night's SmackDown segment were overwhelmingly negative. Ditto for Johnson's comments on social media, which is weird given how well-liked The Rock is.

This was all strange because the reaction to Reigns vs. Rock, if this had been the obvious direction a few months ago, would have been overwhelming enthusiasm. And let's be clear: the negative reaction could come from a very vocal minority because there is still a lot of buzz around the match, especially among inactive fans and the mainstream media.

If you know the story, you can understand why some WWE fans are irritated. After all, they've seen this before. Fan favorites like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan were sidelined from potential WrestleMania spots years ago by former WWE stars turned Hollywood actors like Johnson and Dave Bautista.

But it's not the same WWE, and Paul “Triple H” Levesque has earned trust as the promotion's creative head, given how much better and more consistent WWE has been since he took over. Succession. Additionally, Punk and Bryan remained incredibly popular despite being sidelined.

All of this is also happening in the shadow of a lawsuit filed against former WWE owner and promoter Vince McMahon, accusing him of sexual misconduct. McMahon resigned as executive chairman of TKO Group (which encompasses WWE and UFC) hours after the Wall Street Journal report was published and other reports indicated that McMahon was under investigation federal.

There has been speculation that Johnson's return for this match against Reigns would be a way for WWE and parent company TKO Group to distract from these allegations. Johnson was just named to the TKO board of directors.

But Johnson and Reigns have been talking publicly about this possible match for years. Long before news of the trial was released. Reigns was asked by ESPN if he should face Johnson at a media event four years ago, and he later pitched the idea of ​​a WrestleMania match to Johnson through the assembled media.

The booking en route to Reigns vs. Rock was far from graceful. This part is true and needs to be mentioned. Rhodes won the Royal Rumble, which supposedly earned him the right to headline WrestleMania against WWE's top champion, Reigns.

Friday on SmackDown, Rhodes came to the ring to face Reigns. He said he always comes for Reigns and the undisputed WWE Universal Title. But he wanted to take everything from Reigns and wouldn't challenge him at WrestleMania. Cue Johnson, who Rhodes called his lawyer. Johnson entered the ring, hugged Rhodes and confronted Reigns as the show ended.

The segment was a bit awkward. That didn't make Rhodes' character look so good, deferring to Johnson. And this can be detrimental to him in the long term. However, if fan reaction is any indication, support for Rhodes is greater than ever. Like Punk and Bryan before him, Rhodes has a chance to turn that resentment into part of the story he's trying to finish. There are potential reasons for Rock's pivot, including CM Punk losing WrestleMania due to injury and Brock Lesnar's reported removal from storylines following his reference in Wall Street Journal articles regarding the lawsuit McMahon.

However, WWE can't test fans' patience for much longer. Some have said that Rhodes should have won the first match against Reigns at WrestleMania last year, which would have avoided this situation. But you can't take back last year.

Rhodes needs to end Reigns' historic title run this year, perhaps even beating Seth Rollins to win the world heavyweight title before unifying the belts with a victory over Reigns. This would be a fitting way for Rhodes to end his story and become the new face of WWE, with Reigns inevitably moving to a part-time role to focus on other projects. Rhodes doesn't need to finish the story at WrestleMania and his eventual victory can still be an epic moment.

Reigns was asked by ESPN last year, before WrestleMania 39, if a possible clash with The Rock was what he wanted.

“At the end of the day, I want what will be the greatest for the fans, because it will reflect what I was able to accomplish,” Reigns said. “And if that’s one of the biggest problems, then let’s do it.”

It's the biggest, there's no doubt about it. The question will be whether the fans in arenas over the coming weeks and months will completely – and vocally – reject him. It started a bit this weekend during a non-televised house show when WWE showed the SmackDown segment on the big screen. Many fans booed. If this continues, it would be disastrous and could somehow force WWE to change their plans.

As it stands, The Rock is headlining the biggest WWE show of the year, despite the somewhat awkward timing and storyline. It won't matter, in the end. Reigns vs. The Rock is undoubtedly the biggest match WWE could put on, the one that will get the most mainstream coverage and potentially sell the most Peacock subscriptions. Remember, WWE has following rights deals for its shows, but not for its premium live events like WrestleMania.

Reigns vs. The Rock will be remembered forever, like Hogan vs. The Rock at WrestleMania 18 in 2002. And there's probably only one chance to make it happen, which is why it has to be at WrestleMania 40.

The Rhodes story will have to wait a little longer, because business comes first.