The new Netflix documentary, “WWE: Unreal,” premiered on July 29. Episode four revealed that Kevin Owens, and not John Cena, was originally pitched to align with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson at Elimination Chamber.
The alliance would have seen The Rock order an impromptu WWE Championship match after Cody Rhodes told him to “go f*** yourself”. A match that Owens would have won to earn his first WWE Championship.
How Kevin Owens Almost Aligned With The Rock
Former WWE Head Writer and Senior Vice President of Seven Bucks Productions, Brian Gewirtz, stated the following: “We proposed at Elimination Chamber, Cody turning down The Final Boss, and that was gonna lead to The Final Boss making an impromptu title match… that resulted in Kevin Owens, who had been in a storyline with Cody during that time, leaving with the championship.”
Owens had been embroiled in a feud with Rhodes since the Bad Blood Premium Live Event in October. Two WWE Championship matches would take place as a result. A match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December, and a ladder match at The Royal Rumble in February – both of which Rhodes won.
The feud halted after the Royal Rumble as Owens started a small program with long-time frenemy Sami Zayn. The pair would wrestle an unsanctioned match at Elimination Chamber in their home country of Canada.
Why Kevin Owens Becoming WWE Champion Did Not Happen
WWE SVP Ed Koskey explained the issue behind the original proposal. “The one issue we had was changing the championship that close to WrestleMania.”
Owens walking into WrestleMania 41 as champion would have presented a multitude of challenges. The idea of Cena vs. Owens was not as desired a WrestleMania main event as Rhodes vs. Cena.
Rhodes not being involved in the main event would have been problematic. A returning Randy Orton would have also been left without a scheduled opponent for the Showcase of the Immortals. Something that, unfortunately, did happen. Owens would not win the championship as Gewirtz ultimately admitted that “Owens winning the title wasn’t the end goal.”
Instead, John Cena, two months into his farewell tour, would turn heel at the end of Elimination Chamber. This was a moment that most WWE fans could not foresee, despite clamoring for a Cena heel turn for over a decade.
Owens, unfortunately, wrestled his last match to date against Zayn. The former Universal Champion would miss WrestleMania altogether due to a lingering neck issue. He underwent successful surgery on July 18, according to Fightful Select.
“WWE: Unreal” is currently streaming on Netflix and covers the behind-the-scenes workings of the company, primarily during the early portion of 2025. The five-part doc is something that any professional wrestling fan should be desperate to watch.
WWE: UNREAL is now playing.
Get an unprecedented look at what it takes to produce one of the most secretive shows in the world — from inside the writer's room to inside the homes of WWE's Superstars. pic.twitter.com/S4NRVWXz1c
— Netflix (@netflix) July 29, 2025
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