3 Final WWE opponents for The Rock after bombshell announcement

According to WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, the fans are yet to see more of The Rock, aka Tha Final Boss. This comes as a massive revelation from Cody, as The Rock hasn't made any appearance for the past eight months. After leading a heel turn for Cena at Elimination Chamber 2025, he vanished and didn't appear even at WrestleMania 41.

However, Cody Rhodes has said that what we have seen so far from The Rock, as a heel, is just the surface. There could be more from The Rock which the fans could witness.

“He came back to a very tumultuous WWE, year or so ago, and decided no ‘I’m not gonna deal with, instead I’m gonna create a new character even though I’m already one of the greatest characters ever,’ that being the Final Boss, and we’ve just scratched the surface on the Final Boss. There’s something incredibly special there," Cody Rhodes said on All the Smoke podcast recently.

While we don't exactly know what The American Nightmare actually means here, we can speculate what he is indicating. It could involve The Rock facing a few big names for his epic retirement match, which could take place at WrestleMania.

In this listicle, we shall name three opponents who could face The Rock at WrestleMania 42.

#3 Cody Rhodes

The first name is obviously Cody Rhodes. There wouldn't be a better opponent for the WWE Champion at WrestleMania next year than The Rock. It could be the retirement match for The Final Boss, in which he can put over Cody and then announce his retirement. That would also be a babyface turn for The Brahma Bull, after playing a heel for the past one and a half years.

#2 Former WWE Champion, Roman Reigns

The Rock and Roman Reigns' match is something that every WWE fan wants to witness. In fact, Rock returned last year in January only to have a match against Roman Reigns. But that came at the cost of him replacing Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40. The fans vehemently protested this booking, and the creative team pivoted from this point.

Rock turned heel and joined forces with Roman Reigns in the battle against Cody Rhodes. However, times have changed now. Roman Reigns is a babyface, while The Rock is still a heel. A clash can happen at Mania next year.

The two can lock horns in a final match, and the Final Boss can put over Reigns. He can then announce his subsequent retirement from in-ring wrestling thereafter.

#1 Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre could also be an opponent The Rock could face at Mania next year. In fact, The Scottish Warrior is also in the good books of The Rock as one of the most talented superstars in the roster.

Last year, it was The Rock who had sent a Scottish Claymore Sword gift to McIntyre, along with a new WWE contract. Being one of the members of the board of directors of the TKO group, Rock has all the faith in Drew McIntyre.

Therefore, there are chances that he can face McInyre in an epic clash at Mania next year and put him over, ultimately passing the torch to him. It now remains to be seen how WWE books The Rock's return to the company.

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Edited by Mohammad Bilal