Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

WrestleMania 41 Plans for The Rock Reportedly Unclear

After making his in-ring return last year at WrestleMania 40, it reportedly isn't yet known what The Rock will do at WrestleMania 41.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlePurists), original plans called for The Rock to face Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41, however, different plans are now in place for The American Nightmare.

Meltzer noted that WWE is moving toward Rhodes vs. the returning John Cena on the Grandest Stage of Them All, leaving The Rock without a clear direction.

Despite that, Meltzer added that there is a "belief" within WWE that The Rock will be part of WrestleMania in some way.

The Rock returned to the WWE fold in January 2024 after becoming part of the TKO board of directors, and while it initially looked like he was going to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, he instead turned heel and aligned himself with Reigns against Rhodes and Seth Rollins.

In the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 40, The Rock and Reigns beat Rhodes and Rollins in a tag team match, but Rhodes went on to defeat Reigns for the WWE Championship in the main event of Night 2.

The next night on Raw, The Rock and Rhodes had a confrontation, and Rock seemed to foreshadow a future match between them.

Although there has been no confirmation that The Final Boss will be on the first episode of Raw on Netflix on Monday, but Meltzer said there is a "good shot" of it happening.

Should The Rock appear, the plans for him leading up to WrestleMania 41 could become much clearer.

Cena vs. Rhodes Reportedly in Works for WrestleMania 41

John Cena is set to embark on his final year as an in-ring competitor, and there are seemingly already some huge plans in place.

According to Meltzer (h/t WrestlePurists), Cena vs. Cody Rhodes is scheduled for WrestleMania 41, which suggests Cena could potentially win his third career Royal Rumble match and challenge for the WWE Championship.

Cena is currently tied with Ric Flair for the most career world title reigns with 16, but beating Rhodes at WrestleMania would give him the record all to himself.

Per Fightful Select (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), WWE is going to "very heavily" involve Cena in major storylines this year with an eye toward giving him a proper sendoff.

Cena announced last year at Money in the Bank that 2025 would be his final year as an active wrestler. He noted that he would compete at his final Royal Rumble and WrestleMania as part of that run.

Given his status as one of the all-time greats and biggest stars in WWE history, it seemed likely from the time of his announcement that the 47-year-old Cena would be a big-time factor in 2025.

A match against Rhodes on the Grandest Stage of Them All would be significant for many reasons, including the fact that Rhodes is WWE's biggest current star along with Roman Reigns.

Also, Cena and Rhodes are good friends outside the ring, so the match would undoubtedly be meaningful to both of them.

Cena is being advertised for Raw's debut episode on Netflix, and it seems likely that he will announce his intentions on the show.

Matt Hardy Talks Possible Hardy Boyz WWE Appearance in 2025

With WWE and TNA entering into a working relationship over the past several months, Matt Hardy has his sights set on a WWE appearance in 2025.

Speaking this week on his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), the former WWE star discussed a potential return to his old stomping grounds, saying: "I think that the Hardys are going to have a match in WWE in 2025. I don't know when that would happen, and I don't know where it would happen, but I feel pretty good about it."

Matt and his brother, Jeff Hardy, first rose to prominence in WWE as the Hardy Boyz. They officially signed with WWE in 1998 and teamed together until 2005 when they went their separate ways and embarked on singles careers.

After Jeff left WWE in 2009 and Matt departed in 2010, they both enjoyed success in multiple other wrestling companies, including TNA and ROH.

The Hardy Boyz made their surprise return to WWE at WrestleMania 33 in 2017, and after teaming together for a time, they were separated again. Matt left WWE in 2019 and signed with AEW in 2020, and Jeff joined him in 2022.

Jeff's DUI arrest in June 2022 and subsequent suspension stalled the momentum of the team, though, and they never got back on track even once Jeff returned.

Both Matt and Jeff left AEW for TNA last year, an they are the reigning TNA world tag team champions.

Given that Matt and Jeff won nine tag team titles together as a legendary duo in WWE and that WWE and TNA have been engaging in a talent exchange, it would make sense for the Hardy Boyz to cross over at some point.

Both Matt and Jeff would be prime candidates to enter the Royal Rumble as surprises in February, and if that happens, perhaps it could lead to them making even more appearances and having additional matches with WWE in the future.

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