Dwayne Johnson Makes Return to WWE and Teases WrestleMania 40 Match with Roman Reigns

Dwayne Johnson.PHOTO: WWE/YOUTUBE

Is it finally happening?

Dwayne Johnson returned to WWE on Monday night and left fans buzzing after he teased that a long-awaited dream match between him and Roman Reigns might finally happen this spring.

Professional wrestling fans have been waiting for years to see Johnson, 51, and Reigns, 38, square off in the ring — a dream matchup that would see the two Anoa’i wrestling family members come face-to-face for the first time.

Johnson, aka “The Rock,” is one of the most successful WWE performers of all-time, winning 10 world championships throughout his career before jumping to Hollywood and becoming one of the highest-grossing movie stars.

Reigns is a six-time WWE world champion and the current WWE Universal Champion, as well as the outright WWE Champion. Reign’s current title run has been ongoing for more than 1,220 days – the fifth longest in WWE history and the longest title reign since Hulk Hogan’s run in the late 1980s.

Johnson and Reigns’ in-ring characters are both members of the Anoa’i pro wrestling dynasty, a family tree of Samoan wrestlers dating back to the early 1900s which includes WWE Hall of Famers like Afa Anoa’i, Sika Anoa’i, and Peter Maivia.

Reigns has referred to himself as “The Head of the Table” throughout his current title run, implying his status as the leader of the Anoa’i family. That claim has left many WWE fans waiting for years to see Johnson return and dispute who might be the greatest wrestler in the family.

Dwayne Johnson and John Cena.RON ELKMAN/SPORTS IMAGERY/GETTY

The long-bubbling feud was even once teased on Johnson’s NBC sitcom The Young Rock during a scene that showed the two cousins watching wrestling together before a young Reigns begs Johnson to wrestle with him.

“The world’s not ready,” Johnson’s character tells Reigns’ character. “A match that big can only happen at WrestleMania.”

Now, Johnson is signaling the anticipated title fight could take place at in Philadelphia at WrestleMania 40 this coming April.

Roman Reigns.ALEX BIERENS DE HAAN/GETTY

On Monday Night Raw, Johnson came out for an appearance and asked the WWE crowd: “Should The Rock sit at the head of the table?”

The crowd erupted into a frenzy and WWE announcer Michael Cole excitedly said Johnson’s question left him with “goosebumps.” Reigns responded on the social media site X with a crying laughing emoji.
Johnson has said in recent months that he’s open to making an in-ring return with WWE. He last wrestled a six-second match against Erik Rowan at WrestleMania 32 in 2016. Before that, his last full-length match was against John Cena at WrestleMania 29 in 2013 for the WWE Championship.

“Me going back to WWE and wrestling a match, it always comes down to the reason why and what can we create that’s never been done before for the fans,” Johnson told Pat McAfee in September.