WWE News: Triple H confirms that he was originally supposed to face the Rock at WrestleMania 32
What's the story?
Just as in life, sometimes the original plans for events like SummerSlam and WrestleMania may often change before a final blueprint is made.
According to Triple H, during an episode of 'WWE Untold' on the WWE Network, the showdown between 'the Game' and the Rock at WrestleMania 31 was originally supposed to lead to the two Attitude Era icons facing off against each other the following year. Fightful.com provided transcripts of quotes from the episode.
In case you missed it ...
In latest WWE NEWS, Triple H makes it a point to compete annually at WrestleMania. He has faced the likes of Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey (alongside his wife Stephanie), and Batista at the last two events. 'The Game' also has matches at special events, like Super ShowDown, Crown Jewel and the upcoming show in Japan.
The heart of the matter
When Triple H and Stephanie McMahon took to the ring during WrestleMania 31, it was apparently done to set up a match the following year between he and the Rock. Instead, 'the King of Kings' ended up facing Sting.
Triple H revealed on Sting's episode of 'WWE Untold' that the confrontation at WrestleMania 31 was intended to set up a match against The Rock, but outside forces, namely Rock's busy schedule, changed things. Due to the alteration of the original plan, WWE officials went with Sting as Triple H's opponent at WrestleMania 32 instead.
“And then the next one he [Sting] threw out I think was me and so, at that point[it] was me going back to Vince and saying, ‘Do we wanna make this happen?’ And Vince was all for it and we were able to make a deal. Part of the impetus with the way things turned out with the Sting thing is because I was already booked to work with The Rock at the following year’s WrestleMania and we’ll build it for more than a year. That was the intent, belief, everything else." Triple H continued, "Just as time went on, Rock’s schedule changed later in the year and we weren’t able to do the match for the following year’s WrestleMania one-on-one against The Rock.”
The Rock is one of the busiest men in Hollywood with numerous movies and TV shows being produced under his watchful eye. The Sting match was just as good an idea due to his place in the history of the business.
What's next?
Sting isn't likely to come back for another match, but the Rock might if Roman Reigns holds a title around 'Mania time next year. The chance for another Rock/Game match has passed, so it's up to Triple H to pick newer stars to help put over.