It’s December. That means the end of the year is upon us, and a WWE pay-per-view has begun to loom large in the calendar. That pay-per-view is the Royal Rumble. It’s a fans’ favourite, and it starts the road that leads to WrestleMania every year. There have been hot rumours about who could be in the Royal Rumble this year, including the idea that a returning Cody Rhodes could win the whole thing and go on to WrestleMania to challenge Roman Reigns for one or both of his titles. That would be big – but it wouldn’t be the biggest main event that WWE could put together for us this time around. In fact, it wouldn’t even be one of the top two.

The problem that WWE has with its two-day WrestleMania – if you can call it a problem – is that two separate main events are required. That’s an issue if you don’t have two matches of equal prestige to headline a card because one of the nights will be more of an attraction than the other, potentially affecting viewing figures and ticket sales. The only star on the current roster who’s truly over enough to headline a WrestleMania card is Roman Reigns. He holds two titles, so he could headline both nights – but we think we have a better idea. We can think of a pair of matches that would draw fans in their thousands – and potentially break every WrestleMania record going in terms of viewership.

A double main event

The concept of having two-day WrestleManias is still quite new, having happened for the first time for logistical reasons in 2020 before being repeated in 2021 and 2022. For each of those events, WWE has used the term “double main event” to describe the final matches of each show. It doesn’t matter which way around the matches we’re thinking of happen, so let’s say, for argument’s sake, that WWE decides to use Roman Reigns on WrestleMania Saturday. There’s a match involving Reigns that’s been rumoured for some time, and 2023 might be the year that WWE pulls the trigger on it. As you might already have guessed, we’re talking about the prospect of Roman Reigns taking on The Rock.

The story for this match writes itself. The Rock and Roman Reigns are related. For over two years, Reigns has described himself as “the head of the table” within the family. That’s something that The Rock could theoretically take offence to and return to the ring to deal with, and it makes a lot of sense for it to happen at WrestleMania 39. For one, the event is taking place in Los Angeles and is billed as “WrestleMania Goes Hollywood.” Nothing says “Hollywood” like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who’s the highest-paid action movie star working in the industry today. He’s a Hollywood attraction for a Hollywood event and would attract millions of viewers who might otherwise have no interest in watching the show.

Would The Rock do it? Based on the hints he’s been dropping in the press recently, that’s a strong “maybe.” He’s said in the past that a match with Reigns is the only thing it would make sense for him to come back for. He’s now fifty years old, so the window is closing on his prospects of returning to the ring. If it doesn’t happen this time, it probably won’t ever happen at all. It’s a perfect match, and one that should end with Reigns defeating his cousin to cement his status as the Head of the Table.

The second-night surprise

Our idea for the second match is a dream match – perhaps the biggest dream match out there that could plausibly still happen. Last year, we saw “Stone Cold” Steve Austin return to active competition for the first time in nearly two decades to take on Kevin Owens, shocking everybody by wrestling a long match and showing that he’s barely lost a step in all the years he’s been away. Since then, it’s been rumoured that he enjoyed the experience of being back in the ring so much that he’d be willing to do it again. Some sources even suggest that Triple H has contacted the Texas Rattlesnake to offer him another match. We don’t know who he’s been offered as an opponent – but there’s someone we think would be the perfect candidate.

WrestleMania 38 this year was conspicuous for the absence of John Cena. It was the first WrestleMania that Cena had missed for years, and the fact he wasn’t there was a surprise. We’re sure that he won’t want to miss another one. Like The Rock, Cena is a movie star now. Also like The Rock, time is not on Cena’s side. He’s forty-five years old and probably doesn’t have many matches left. Despite that, he’s confirmed several times that he doesn’t consider himself to be retired and intends to get back in the ring again one day when his schedule allows it. Cena ought to clear his schedule for WrestleMania season, because Steve Austin vs John Cena would be a once-in-a-lifetime dream match that would sell tickets like nothing else.

If you have any doubt that John Cena is still a draw, just look at how much merchandise he still shifts and look at the WWE products he still appears in. Cena is one of only five WWE stars to appear in the recently-released WWE: Clash of the Wilds online slots game, which was released to casinos in early November. Websites that monitor and compare casino sites, like Sister Site, have noted that the game is more popular with players than its predecessor WWE Legends: Link and Win, and some of that popularity might be down to the presence of Cena. If his image can persuade people to play casino games, his presence can surely still draw people to WrestleMania.

We realise that not everyone will be enamoured with these ideas. Giving three of the four main event WrestleMania spots to older performers who aren’t part of the regular roster might seem like a slap in the face to the wrestlers who stick around all year, but our counter-argument is that we’re not talking about Goldberg here. We’re talking about John Cena, The Rock, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. They’re exceptional names, and this might be the last chance ever to have them all appear at the same WrestleMania. It would be a moment in history – and it’s within WWE’s power to make it happen.