It’s never too early to discuss the latest on Rock-WrestleMania 40 news, plus what’s Santana’s AEW status.
Latest On Rock-WrestleMania 40
Fan have been hoping to see The Great One back on the Grandest Stage, but it has not happened. Already, we have the latest on The Rock-WrestleMania 40 possibilities.
And…spoiler alert…don’t get your hopes up.
A year ago, we were so certain that we’d be getting a WrestleMania 39 main event of The Rock and Roman Reigns.
As we know now…that didn’t happen. Even in Hollywood, we didn’t even get a Rock cameo.
Simply put, the man is quite busy in Hollywood, so, it is understandable.
So, with one WrestleMania recently behind us…what is the latest on Rock-WrestleMania 40?
Now, take this with a grain of salt as it comes from the Wrestling Observer, but per Meltzer, WrestleMania 40 in Philly is not looking too good for The Rock.
Throughout 2023, there have been a number of reports about The Rock pertaining to WrestleMania.
Especially after we knew we weren’t getting Roman Reigns and The Rock in Hollywood.
One report claimed that The Rock was not confident that he could be in ring shape for a proper WrestleMania main event performance.
Fans were critical of that, considering that Rock cited timing, and most of the wrestling world had expected Rock-Reigns since sometime in 2022.
Another more recent report indicated that any talk of Rock-WrestleMania main event status, especially for Hollywood, was a Vince McMahon dream.
And, until very recently, Vince McMahon was on the outside of the creative process finally.
While I would imagine Triple H would be open to a Rock-Reigns clash if and when it made sense…Hunter has shown a willingness to push current talent more.
Something else to consider: Cody Rhodes is still the hottest babyface in WWE, and fans were not happy he didn’t finish his story this year. Could he in Philly?
And, per an interview with ESPN…Reigns and Rollins want to headline WrestleMania 40, too.
In a perfect world, somehow or other, either Reigns defends one belt per night, or the titles are split before Philadelphia.
Otherwise…the headline options are crowded, and frankly, I’d rather see Rhodes, Rollins or even someone like GUNTHER face Reigns for the titles before The Rock.
I might be in the minority there, but seeing The Rock win gold doesn’t do much for me now.
Santana’s AEW Status
His mood was a hot topic in 2022, but what is Santana’s AEW status now?
The AEW talent has not been seen in quite some time, even since he suffered a knee injury.
But, according to reports, he remains under contract and being paid by AEW.
This is nice news, but probably not what Santana wants.
Fans may remember that, before his injury, Santana was having a too-public tiff with tag partner Ortiz.
So much so that Santana was said to be counting down the days until his AEW contract expired.
At the time, it was believed that his AEW contract status had Santana becoming a free agent in September of 2022.
However…there was that major knee injury, which has kept him off television.
And as we know from other AEW stars who have suffered injuries…Tony Khan will tack on time at the end of the contract.
As much as Khan wants to be the opposite of Vince McMahon’s WWE methods, this is one contract trick he is happy to make use of.
In the grand scheme, I can’t blame Tony Khan, or any other promoter, for wanting to get their money’s worth from a star.
If you sign up for 3 years of matches from a given talent, and they spend a year rehabbing? I don’t blame you for keeping them on the payroll, but using contract language to extend the end date by a year.
So, Santana remains an AEW talent, and appears to be sticking around a bit longer.
