The Rock To Face Off With Roman Reigns During WWE WrestleMania 2024 Press Event
WWE has announced that The Rock and Roman Reigns will come face-to-face at a public fan and media event ahead of WrestleMania 40 in April. Their match was all but announced after Rock appeared on "WWE SmackDown" and it became clear Cody Rhodes wouldn't be using his Royal Rumble winner's contract to challenge Reigns, effectively stepping aside for the cousins to clash at the "Show of Shows".
WWE will be running a WrestleMania 40 Kickoff show on February 8 in Las Vegas, which will be a non-ticketed event free for any and all to attend. Doors will open at 2:30 PM PT and the event is scheduled to start at 4 PM PT. During which, Rock and Reigns are slated to come face-to-face. The show will be hosted by Michael Cole and Pat McAfee, streaming on WWE's social channels as well as Peacock, and Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, and Rhea Ripley are all due to attend.
.@TheRock and @WWERomanReigns are set for an iconic face-off at The #WrestleMania XL Kickoff, streaming live from @TMobileArena on Feb. 8 at 4pm PT across WWE social platforms and @peacock!https://t.co/GFRRsiFNWC pic.twitter.com/hJoODwONdv
— WWE (@WWE) February 3, 2024
The decision for Rock to supersede Rhodes as Reigns' upcoming WrestleMania challenger has been divisive to say the least. Their segment from "SmackDown" is continuing to rack up dislikes on YouTube, and social media is rife with fans disenfranchised with the last-minute change. Especially considering Rhodes' two-year spanning story based on winning the title held by Reigns, and the fact he had just won back-to-back Royal Rumble matches for the first time since "Stone Cold" Steve Austin managed the feat all the way back in 1997 and 1998.