7 months ago
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Last year, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson confirmed there were backstage conversations centered around the idea of him facing Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at WWE WrestleMania 39. Ultimately, those talks were put on hold, with the expectation that WWE and Johnson would reconvene sometime after the merger between WWE and UFC was finalized. While a potential match between him and Reigns has not yet materialized, Johnson returned to WWE programming earlier this year, eventually pinning Cody Rhodes in a WrestleMania 40 tag team match where he and Reigns worked in tandem. At the WrestleMania 40 post-show press conference, Johnson explained why now was the right time for him to come back to WWE.
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"I think between putting the pencils down about a year-and-a-half, two years ago regarding WrestleMania 39, and the actuality of the selling of the company, that kind of became the impetus to really look holistically at the opportunity of doing WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia. A lot of things had to come together," Johnson said. "And sure, the agreement, I'm not worried about that, especially when the negotiations are between myself, [Endeavor CEO] Ari Emanuel, and [WWE President] Nick Khan, both of whom I've known for a very, very long time ... I wasn't concerned about the agreement, moreso, my number one priority was can I come back and add real value this time around? Coming back for hot shots one at a time, maybe I make an appearance one night, that's fun. It's fun for the fans. But I wanted something a lot more substantial, and not only a lot more substantial, but something that we can really build upon."
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After a pivot in direction, WWE charted a course for Johnson and Reigns to wrestle Rhodes and Rollins on night one of WrestleMania 40. With a Johnson-Reigns victory last night, Reigns now has the advantage of Bloodline Rules in his subsequent title defense against Rhodes on night two of WrestleMania.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
