The Rock Won't Be Wrestling At WrestleMania 32

The Rock won’t be able to wrestle at WrestleMania 32 because of a movie he’s filming next year that would consider him an insurance liability if he wrestled or got injured. While it’s still possible he can appear, it’s unlikely that WWE can work him into a match unless there’s some sort of monster deal in the works where they cover the insurance or something.

WWE has two goals heading into WrestleMania 32: Sell out Jerry’s World, and outdo their previous 93,000-people attendance record from WrestleMania III. At this point, watching them reach that goal is becoming one of the most fascinating real-life dramas in wrestling. WWE is facing major hurdles to get WrestleMania to be a huge event, and it’s unclear how they’ll turn the corner. Undertaker vs. John Cena is a huge marquee match, but they still have to fill out the rest of the card. Orton and Rollins will be hurt. The Rock and Ronda Rousey are no longer going to be available and CM Punk will be recovering from an ass-whooping.

The problem here is that WWE has built the last five WrestleManias around part-time talent, so the audience is conditioned to look at it as a letdown if big mainstream stars don’t headline. Now, it might be hard to get casual fans to buy in to an event that they are used to seeing A-list stars in big-time matches. Furthermore, I can’t for the life of me figure out someone who the company has built up enough to challenge Brock Lesnar and make it believable. There’s Daniel Bryan, but there doesn’t seem to be any indication he’s ever wrestling again, and if he does, I doubt he can ever take a suplex again in his life.

If last year taught me anything, though, it’s that when it comes to WrestleMania, WWE finds a way. I expected a dumpster storm this year, but they turned out one of the most entertaining ‘Manias ever. So, there’s hope. And watching the company get to The Quest for 93k is more interesting than anything going on on-camera.

For better or worse.