Ever since, well, pretty much since he returned to WWE in the summer of 2020, fans have been clamouring to see one match above all others: Roman Reigns versus The Rock.
That's right, before Paul “Triple H” Levesque took over creative control of the promotion, before Bray Wyatt, the man he defeated for the Universal Championship at Payback, was released from WWE, and even before Cody Rhodes decided to leave AEW for his former home, fans were petitioning to see the new “Tribal Chief” wrestle his cousin in a true dream match for the ages.
Almost four years later, fans were afforded the next best thing, as, after having their planned tag team match blown up by Cody Rhodes, the cousins teamed up to teach the “American Nightmare” and Seth Rollins a lesson in the main event of Night 1.
Discussing what it was like to finally share the ring with The Rock after a career of waiting at the post-WrestleMania 40 press conference, the “Head of the Table” celebrated the pairing, especially since The Rock pursued him, instead of the other way around.
“I feel like what we did tonight started in August of 2020. In order to attract a global superstar like my cousin, you gotta have your s**t together, you gotta be on the up, and up, you gotta have something special going on because he always has something special being offered, so this had to be something even greater than even Hollywood could offer, and he does all kinds of stuff now, he's that successful, so for him to pay attention to us and want to be involved with what we're doing, it just speaks to how special the Bloodline is and how we primed this place and made this place a destination for everybody. There is no question now, this is the place to be, and it's because of us, through the most turbulent times, COVID, no fans, everything that has gone on, ‘Tribal Chief' and the ‘Wise Man' keep it steady around here,” Roman Reigns told reporters via 411 Mania.
“This is what I've been dreaming my whole life. When I got in the business, I didn't even think, it wasn't even a thought it would be possible, because either he has moved on, or it was going to be more of an appearance-based situation, but I've used the same mindset the whole time, in the high tide I lift up everybody, and the first thing I wanted to do was lift my family, the Usos, Solo, and Dwayne is no different. We primed this thing perfectly, we set the launchpad, and we placed The Rock in it and now we took off. Everything we do doesn't happen if we don't get to this point and if I don't make the choice to, because I could have easily been like, man, we got it, we don't need anybody, but we chose to put the Usos in a spotlight, we chose to put Solo in the spotlight, we chose to lift everybody up, that's my M-O man, I'm not messing around with this Bloodline thing, it's for real to me.”
Would it be nice to see Reigns wrestle Rocky in a true singles match regardless of whether or not there's a title on the line? Sure thing, that match would main event pretty much any show from any promotion in the world, even over the most choice World Championship match. Considering The Rock noted there are probably more matches left for him to wrestle before he calls it a career, it's safe to say the dream is very much still alive.
Roman Reigns is proud of how he changed professional wrestling.
Elsewhere in his post-WrestleMania 40 press conference, Roman Reigns discussed how he was able to change the professional wrestling business forever with his unique style of storytelling, one of the few innovations the pandemic produced in pro wrestling. While some fans may quibble with his dramatic presentation, in Reigns' opinion, using silence and palace drama in his long-term storytelling created a masterful story for the Game of Thrones generation.
“When we were in the middle of the pandemic, we hadn't even gone into the Thunderdome, and I'm watching these guys in an empty warehouse, and I'm like, they're wrestling the same, they're trying to do the same thing,” Roman Reigns explained. “I had the advantage of being on the sideline at the time, but I knew exactly what I needed to do, it was time to change the game, to use this silence, and allow your voice to be boosted, allow yourself to take it into different dialogue, you don't just have to be sitting in the middle of the ring shouting above people chanting. Now we can tell stories, now we can get into deeper dialogue, Game of Thrones style, you better pay attention, you better listen up, because next week more info is coming, and we said it from the very beginning, we didn't stumble upon this, we knew exactly what we were doing, pay attention because layers are coming, information is coming.”
Has professional wrestling fully stepped away from its bombastic roots to become the Sports Entertainment equivalent of HBO drama? No, there are still larger-than-life characters who are massively over, including the other three men in his Night 1 match at WrestleMania 40. Still, when Reigns' legacy is written, this innovation will be among his crowning achievements.
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