Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is heading to WrestleMania and has Roman Reigns in his sight.
WWE made the match all but official Friday night on SmackDown as the two cousins came face to face for the first time during Reigns’ historic 1,200-plus day world championship reign.
The two didn’t say a word, but WWE teased a WrestleMania 40 press conference for Thursday in Las Vegas.
It’s a dream encounter, as the two have never had a match together and now likely will main event Night 2 of the two-night WrestleMania at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on April 6-7.
It wasn’t immediately announced if Reigns’ championship will be on the line.
The Rock was a surprise for SmackDown, which advertised back-to-back Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes making his decision about who he will face at WrestleMania — either a rematch from last year’s show with Reigns, the Undisputed WWE Universal champion, or World Heavyweight champion Seth Rollins.
Rhodes, who pointed to Reigns after winning the Royal Rumble last week, had some doubt planted in his mind by Rollins earlier this week on Raw.
Rollins told him he should go after his title — the workhorse title that his dad, Dusty Rhodes, had won.
Rhodes said one of the people he sought council with over his decision was The Rock, whose music then hits.
It allowed WWE to have Rhodes in the storyline graciously bow out of facing Reigns and make it seem like this was all his idea to the fans who wanted to see him beat The Tribal Chief and “finish the story” by winning the title his dad never won.
It’s unclear if this was an audible WWE called after Rollins’ rumored opponent, CM Punk, tore his right triceps during the Royal Rumble and will have to miss WrestleMania.
But WWE felt on this path with Reigns and Rock after the Hollywood star asked if he should “sit at the head of the table” on SmackDown in January.
The 51-year-old Rock, who just became a board member of WWE’s parent company TKO, hasn’t wrestled a true match since he lost to John Cena at WrestleMania 29 at MetLife Stadium in 2013.
He and Reigns have a history in Philadelphia.
The Rock raised Reigns’ hand after he won the Royal Rumble at the Wells Fargo Center in 2015 in an ill-received segment during Reigns’ failed babyface push.
All of this is happening during a tumultuous two weeks for WWE after a bombshell civil suit was filed against former boss Vince McMahon with ex-company employee, Janel Grant, accusing him of sexual assault and sex trafficking
After news of the lawsuit broke, McMahon resigned his role as executive chairman of TKO’s board, and he is also under a federal investigation over the allegations, according to the Wall Street Journal.