The Rock's film calendar could seriously complicate the possibility of him participating in a match during WrestleMania 43. The next big WWE event is scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and there is a perception that the Saudi organizers want Dwayne Johnson in the ring. However, one of his most important film commitments could overlap with the crucial stage of preparation for the show, making a match difficult to carry out.
Vin Diesel recently told Variety that Fast Forever, the movie that will close the Fast & Furious franchise, would begin filming in December. The Rock is set to appear in that production, which would extend over several months. This schedule would have Johnson working on the film during the period when he would normally have to train and physically prepare for a WrestleMania match.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed the situation on Wrestling Observer Radio and pointed out that The Rock could still travel to Saudi Arabia for an appearance, but his participation in a match seems much less likely. "Since that movie is going to take months to film, if he participates, and it is expected that he will, his WrestleMania match would be ruled out. Could he fly to Saudi Arabia and appear? Of course, he could always do that," Meltzer explained.
The journalist added that the Saudi organizers would be very interested in having The Rock wrestle at the event and that a sufficiently high economic offer could open up some possibilities. However, the main problem would be finding time to train properly while working on a film of that size. Meltzer recalled that Johnson has too much professional pride to step into the ring without the necessary preparation and deliver a half-hearted performance. "Every time he has returned, he has trained a lot," he stated.
Meltzer believes, therefore, that a special appearance would fit better into The Rock's schedule than a full match. "I don't see him wrestling a match. As for showing up, that could happen," he noted. He also pointed out that getting Johnson to participate at this stage of his career, especially in Saudi Arabia, would require a huge amount of money, although even that would not completely resolve the scheduling conflict. The Rock's last appearance in WWE programming took place at Elimination Chamber 2025, held in Toronto.
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