In some measure of coincidence between today’s news and current storylines, The Rock is teasing his next big appearance in the WWE. Goldberg and Brock Lesnar are set to tangle this Sunday at Survivor Series in a rematch from their controversial match 12 years ago at WrestleMania XX . That, too, was The Rock’s final WrestleMania appearance until seven years later when made his long-awaited return to host WrestleMania 27 .
Counting that show in Atlanta in 2011, The Rock has made a string of six straight WrestleMania appearances through this past April in Dallas. He famously battled John Cena in back-to-back years in 2012 and 2013, kicked off WrestleMania 30 in a segment with Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin, recruited Ronda Rousey the following year in Santa Clara, and provided fans with a memorable moment this year along with Cena and The Wyatt Family.
Could The Great One make it seven straight? Well, take this one with a grain of salt, but The Rock was being interviewed by WSVN-TV entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet during this weekend’s press junket to promote his animated film, Moana , during which the two had the following exchange (as covered by Wrestling Inc. ) after the cameras stopped rolling.
“Van Vliet asked Rock, ‘So we’ll see you in April? Orlando?’
Rock replied, ‘What’s in Orlando?’
Van Vliet responded, ‘A little thing called WrestleMania.’
Rock said, ‘Sure, ya I’ll see you there.’”
The tone of the interview was extremely casual and light-hearted, with both The Rock and Van Vliet making jokes throughout their brief session, so it’s difficult to ascertain whether The Rock was being serious or not when the subject of WrestleMania was brought up, especially since it wasn’t captured on tape.
If you recall back in April, just two weeks after WrestleMania 32 ended, the Inquisitr reported how Vince McMahon was irate with how The Rock and Brock Lesnar were booked for the event. Vince desperately wanted the two to square off and felt not enough convincing was done to make the match happen. Too many circumstances prevented it, including clauses in The Rock’s Hollywood contracts and Lesnar’s eventual commitment to the UFC.
Vince was telling everyone in the show’s aftermath that he wanted everything possible to be done to ensure the match would take place the following year in Orlando. However, that too appears unlikely. The Rock has become the world’s hottest movie star, while Shane McMahon has emerged as Lesnar’s potential opponent for the big event.
Earlier Monday, we reported on how the Undertaker is scheduled to announce his intentions for WrestleMania 33 in what many have speculated would be his final match ever. It’s unclear how many matches The Rock has left, but it’s extremely unlikely Vince and the WWE would book two farewell matches, especially of that magnitude, on one show. Whether that means The Rock will or won’t wrestle is not known.
During the interview alluded to above, The Rock was asked, interestingly enough, about why he left the WWE in the first place to pursue an acting career.
“I wanted to challenge myself. And I wanted to be better. And I didn’t want to settle. I was really fortunate to accomplish what I accomplished in wrestling. I loved it. There’s nothing like wrestling. That crowd, I love it. But I also wanted more and there’s that interesting thing when you’re lucky enough to get that little bit of success and then you want to do something else that’s not your forte, that clearly is not, but you’re willing to take the challenge on, you’re met with a lot of cynicism. You gotta fight through that and you gotta listen to the voice inside and then you gotta bring it.”
We’ll just have to wait and see whether People’s latest Sexiest Man Alive will listen to the voice inside and bring it to WrestleMania 33 .
[Featured Image by WWE]