Fans have been pining to see an Anoi'i family throwdown between Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Roman Reigns for literally years.

From WrestleMania 37, which didn't have fans due to Covid, to WrestleMania 38, which took place in the very not Dwane “The Rock” Johnson city of Tampa Bay, to WrestleMania 39 in the very Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson city of Hollywood, California – read: Inglewood – and now WrestleMania 40, aka WrestleMania XL live from the home of the Philadelphia Eagles, Lincoln Financial Field.

On paper, the pairing makes sense, right? Johnson was one of the best professional wrestlers of his generation, and Reigns is one of the best professional wrestlers of his generation; throw the familial relationship into the equation – even though the duo share no actual blood relation – and the results should be nothing short of magic, right?

Speaking to Pat McAfee and company on his namesake show in a surprisingly tough interview with “The Great One,” Johnson reveals just how close he came to wrestling at the “Showcase of the Immortals” at SoFi Stadium and whether or not he'd be down to mix it up with his cousin in the ring at some point in the future.

“The Rock headlining WrestleMania with Roman Reigns, SoFi Stadium, that was locked. We were doing it. But let me just tell you, so about, in the beginning of 2022, Nick Khan, very good friend, he's the man, he was very instrumental in bringing Vinttyce and I together,” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said via Fightful. “We all flew to LA, we met, we sat. This was the beginning of 2022. We broke out the Teremana, we toasted life, we toasted the business we love, and about an hour later, we started talking about the potential of what this match could be between myself and Roman Reigns headlining WrestleMania at SoFi. We shook hands and we hugged right there, all three of us at the table, and said, ‘Let's do this.' So then we had a year to really think about this. So the north star thought was, ‘Okay, let's not do something good. Let's not do something great. Let's do something unprecedented.' It was in, what can we create for the fans that has never been done before? A match, great. Roman, incredible athlete. He's gonna be on Mount Rushmore. Super handsome, good dude, my cousin, family. Amazing. We can have the match. But the bigger thought was, what can do for the fans and the business that love, where WrestleMania isn't the end of something, it's actually the beginning of something bigger.”

Whoa, now that is some news to just casually drop on ESPN on a random Friday afternoon. And the best part? Johnson had more to say on the topic too that will have fans hyped as you-know-what moving forward.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is open to a match at WrestleMania 40.

Continuing his conversation with the former All-Pro punter, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson let it be known that he got “really, really” close to a match at WrestleMania 39, but ultimately pulled back, decided that a future opportunity at, say, WrestleMania 40 may prove even more valuable for WWE fans.

“So we got really, really close, but we couldn't actually nail what that thing was,” Johnson noted. “So we decided to put our pencils down. We agreed, hey, listen, there's a merger coming up, eventually that will happen. There's WrestleMania in Philadelphia. [Raises his eyebrow] I'm saying that's a potential too. I'm open. I'm open. But again, let's figure out what that is because the fans deserve something just incredible and unprecedented. Not only that but I also want to deliver to the locker room and the boys and the girls back there who are working their a**es off. What can we do to put them in a position where they're part of something that is a new change, an era, in this world of pro wrestling? Vince is a big-picture thinker, as you know. This is why we've gotten along for years, just trying to think big picture. So we'll see.”

Will outlets around the world run with this headline? Yes, as you are reading right now, this is a pretty darn big news story but it is not, however, a certified signed contract for a match between the “Head of the Table” and the “Most Entertaining Man in Sports Entertainment.” No, until Johnson shows up on SmackDown, stares down the “Tribal Chief,” and demands a match, this still feels like Cody Rhodes' story to tell, especially if he does get traded to the Blue Brand.