The Rock's initial plan for returning to WWE ahead of WrestleMania XL revealed by business partner

Former WWE writer and The Rock's business partner, Brian Gewirtz, recently revealed The Final Boss' initial plan for returning to the company.

In a promo on the Day 1 episode of Monday Night RAW this past January, The Rock teased a square-off between him and his cousin, Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, for the first time on WWE TV. Although he was seemingly heading towards a match with The Tribal Chief at WrestleMania XL, the company changed direction reportedly due to fan backlash over Cody Rhodes seemingly forfeiting his spot to The Final Boss.

In a recent interview with ESPN, Gewirtz confirmed that The Rock's initial plan upon returning to the Stamford-based company was to have a one-on-one match against his cousin. However, he pointed out that The Final Boss understands that plans can always change in wrestling.

"Obviously it's not his first rodeo, so he knows very well of the old axiom, 'Card subject to change.' I think he went into this with Rock vs. Roman, we have like 95 pages of merchandise and all these kinds of things. But also we had a meeting that day on Jan. 1 with Triple H, Nick Khan, myself and Rock. We talked about it, it's like one of those things where WWE needs to do what WWE needs to do," he said.

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The Rock will wrestle in a tag team match at WWE WrestleMania XL

After the fans' reaction to Cody Rhodes seemingly giving up his spot to The Rock, the latter turned heel and joined The Bloodline. The Final Boss will now team up with his cousin, Roman Reigns, in a tag team match against The American Nightmare and World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins on night one of WrestleMania XL.

The Final Boss last competed in an official match eight years ago when he defeated The Wyatt Family's Erick Rowan in a one-on-one fight at WrestleMania 32 in only six seconds.

The Rock has engaged in physical brawls with Cody Rhodes over the last two weeks on RAW. However, wrestling veteran Stevie Richards is concerned The Final Boss could suffer an injury during his tag team match at The Show of Shows due to being too muscular. It would be interesting to see if The Bloodline member would be in ring shape at WrestleMania.

Would you have preferred to see The Rock vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania XL? Hit the discuss button and sound off.