WWE News: The Rock Nearly Teamed With Ray Lewis At A ‘Wrestlemania’

While promoting his new television series Ballers, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson revealed that he and NFL legend and good friend Ray Lewis came close to teaming up for a tag team match at a Wrestlemania.

Calling into the Dan Patrick Show, Johnson claimed that during the Attitude Era, there were discussions of bringing in possibly Lewis and Warren Sapp for a headlining match at the biggest stage that wrestling has to offer. According to Rock, the scenario would have seen Rock team with Lewis to face two top heels in the company.

“There was a time when WWE was its height during a certain era, what we call now the Attitude Era, when I was there, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and guys like that. There was a time where we were actually recruiting both those guys (Lewis and Warren Sapp) to come in and have a big match, and we’d gotten very close with having a big match, bringing in Ray Lewis. And we were gonna have a big tag team match with myself, Ray Lewis, as a tag team partners against whoever the top heels were at the time, probably Triple, I think, and somebody else. It was gonna be a big Wrestlemania but we could never….it had nothing to do with the creative, just more-so scheduling, but we were very, very excited. We came very close to that. But those guys would’ve done great in the ring. And they’re just really, really exceptional athletes.”

If that match did come to pass, it would not have been the first time that NFL players stepped off the gridiron and into the squared circle to get physical. The main event of Wrestlemania 11 was Bam Bam Bigelow going up against legendary former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor. During Wrestlemania II, former defensive lineman William “The Refrigerator” Perry competed in a battle royal.

Ironically, as Johnson mentioned, that tag team match with Lewis would have likely seen the duo face off against “The Game” Triple and another partner. Fast forward a decade and a half later, there are rumors that Johnson will be at Wrestlemania 32 next year in Dallas in a wrestling capacity. And who is his rumored opponent?

Triple H.

With the WWE looking to sell out the enormous AT&T Stadium, a match with two of the biggest stars from the Attitude Era is expected to tackle the all-time attendance record at a Wrestlemania.

[Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]