4 Ways The Rock's absence may have affected WWE's WrestleMania 41 plans

The Rock is, without a shadow of a doubt, the biggest star available to WWE today. Whether you love John Cena or acknowledge Roman Reigns, it's hard to deny that when The Final Boss arrives, everything goes up a level or two. After his well-received contributions to WrestleMania XL, fan excitement and expectations for The Great One at WrestleMania 41 were through the roof.

Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns were The Great One's potential opponents in Las Vegas, with the latter having unfinished business with both. However, the road to The Show of Shows thus far strongly suggests that the 52-year-old Hollywood megastar will not compete at Allegiant Stadium. Should this be the case, several stars' original plans might be much different than initially anticipated.

Here are four ways The Rock's potential WrestleMania 41 absence could have affected WWE's plans for The Show of Shows.

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#4 The Rock's likely WWE WrestleMania 41 absence could have been the catalyst for Jey Uso's Royal Rumble win

As of late last year, The Rock was a strong candidate to be Cody Rhodes' WrestleMania 41 opponent. The Final Boss had declared that his story with The American Nightmare was "just beginning" on the RAW after WrestleMania XL, indicating that they would lock horns soon.

The abovementioned interaction made Rocky an early favorite to win the 2025 Royal Rumble match and challenge the Undisputed WWE Champion at Allegiant Stadium. The Final Boss' potential unavailability for the Las Vegas spectacle could explain why Jey Uso won the Rumble instead.

With The Final Boss unable to compete, Main Event Jey might have been the breakout star chosen for that spot as a pivot. Given his choice of champion, The Yeet Master might not have been the only one affected by this potential pivot.

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#3 John Cena's original WrestleMania 41 opponent may have been reshuffled due to The Rock's potential absence

The 16-time World Champion was expected to face The Ring General at WrestleMania 41 [Images: wwe.com]

Along with speculation about The Rock facing Cody Rhodes, Gunther was heavily rumored to take on John Cena at WrestleMania 41. The Ring General seemed set to take on the 16-time WWE World champion as the latter sought his record-breaking 17th title. This would have potentially led to a career-defining win for the Imperium leader, turning him into an even bigger heel.

With The Final Boss' absence potentially influencing Jey Uso's Royal Rumble win, it may have also changed the fate of The Franchise Player. Given The Yeet Master's stronger rivalry with the World Heavyweight Champion than The American Nightmare, Triple H and Co. might have decided to book The Cenation Leader against the Undisputed WWE Champion.

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#2 The Rock missing WrestleMania 41 may have accelerated WWE's breakup plans for Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu

Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu seem to be on a collision course before WWE WrestleMania 41 as a result of the former's failures as The Tribal Chief. The dynamics between The Street Champ and The Samoan Werewolf have flipped on their head following Sikoa's Ula Fala loss to Roman Reigns, with Fatu breaking out of his Enforcer role. Sooner or later, a betrayal seems inevitable.

This may not have been the original plan, though, if The Rock had returned for the road to The Show Of Shows. One feels that Sikoa and his group would have stayed together to do The Final Boss' bidding against Cody Rhodes or Roman Reigns. Their breakup would have then happened post-Mania, allowing them to carry the main event torch toward SummerSlam as they did in 2024.

With The Great One away, the young guns of The Bloodline may have been thrust into the limelight a little bit sooner.

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#1 The Rock's absence from WrestleMania 41 could have forced WWE to bring forward Roman Reigns' dream rematch with Seth Rollins

Towards the end of 2024, a section of the WWE Universe had a pretty clear idea of what it wanted the WrestleMania 41 card to be. Headlined by The Rock vs. Roman Reigns, the Las Vegas event was expected to have other dream bouts like Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes, John Cena vs. Gunther, and CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins. However, along the way, those anticipations began to evolve.

Punk vs. Rollins was instead brought forward to the main event of RAW's Netflix debut. The Visionary's focus thereafter shifted towards The Tribal Chief. Many fans believe this will lead to the former Shield brothers battling one-on-one at The Show of Shows, which has been a dream match for many since the faction split up.

The question is, what will The Voice of the Voiceless do? Will he be inserted into Rollins vs. Reigns to make it a Triple Threat showdown? Will he win the Chamber and go after The American Nightmare? What about Drew McIntyre and his "Bloodline Hunter" storyline? The Rock potentially missing WrestleMania 41 may have caused a domino effect that altered all these superstars' destinies.