5 dream matches for The Rock in AEW
The Rock is recognized by the world as both a legend of the professional wrestling industry and at the Hollywood Box Office. Wrestling fans first laid eyes on The Rock 25 years ago at WWE Survivor Series 1996.
The People's Champion has since carved a wrestling career filled with championships, marquee matches and iconic moments, naturally making demand for The Great One's return at an all-time high.
It makes all too much sense for any wrestling return for The Rock to be staged with WWE, given his history and lineage with the company, and considering the prolonged dominance of his Bloodline kin, Roman Reigns and The Usos.
However, the landscape of wrestling has undergone such a significant shift in his absence, and no longer is WWE the sole destination for returning legends.
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AEW has emerged as the primary WWE alternative for both fans and wrestlers alike, and has demonstrated this with acquisitions like Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose), Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan), and CM Punk.
With the emergence of an alternative product comes the emergence of alternative opportunities, however remote they may seem. While embracing some heavy fantasy, let's take a look at 5 dream opponents for The Rock should we ever see The Great One cross the border to AEW.
#5 The Rock vs CM Punk
While AEW represents an entirely new pool of competitors for the Rock, there is one foe from the past that lies awaiting. Following his return and not-so-aptly named Once in a Lifetime collision with John Cena, The Rock defeated CM Punk for the WWE Championship at the 2013 Royal Rumble event, retaining the title at the Elimination Chamber show.
Their eventual championship feud was years in the making, with Punk's infamous "Pipebomb" promo and mic-work following targeting The Rock as a reason for his discontent within the company.
Fans have since grown accustomed to the pair's knack for poking fun at one another; The Rock even called CM Punk during a dark segment on RAW three years after Punk walked away from the company.
Putting their history aside, The Rock and CM Punk represent two much-respected talents in the industry, both in-ring and on the mic.
A clash between The Rock and CM Punk within AEW would serve well as a conclusion to their trilogy, free of the directional boundaries they were stuck with owing to the scheduled Rock-Cena rematch at WM 29.