Hollywood megastar and wrestling icon Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stands a chance of coming to Perth as part of the WWE event heading Down Under.
Johnson is one of the most bankable celebrities on the planet with a net worth of about $800 million.
His acting career — which includes roles in huge movie franchises such as Jumanji and Fast & Furious — was launched after he started out professional wrestling with the WWE.
He’s a 10-time world champion but hasn’t wrestled at a main event for a number of years.
However, there is growing speculation that could be about to change.
The current world champion, Roman Reigns, has held the championship belt for more than 1000 days.
And it’s long been theorised that only The Rock — who comes from the same famous Samoan wrestling family as Reigns — is a big enough superstar to take the belt from the current champ.
Adding to the speculation is the fact that WWE was recently sold to Endeavor.
There is a strong suggestion the company, which also owns the UFC, wants its first Wrestlemania in charge to be an absolute showstopper.
As a result there is talk The Rock might very well wrestle in Perth at the Elimination Chamber in February on his way to Wrestlemania to face Reigns two months later.
It would be one of the biggest wrestling matches of all time.
The Sunday Times revealed on Sunday that another legendary wrestler, The Undertaker, would be bringing his stage show to Perth as part of the lead-up to the Elimination Chamber.
And Australia’s Rhea Ripley, a WWE star hailing from Adelaide, will also be coming to Perth for the event, which will be broadcast live to as many as a billion homes.
“I’m beyond proud to represent Australia every single time I step inside a WWE ring and to bring a Premium Live Event to Perth is a dream come true,” Ripley said this week.
“Get ready Australia, because Mami is coming home.”
Premier Roger Cook said it was “now evident that Western Australia is becoming a major events capital for Australia and South-East Asia”.
“This is another shot in the arm for our economy, our local businesses and really puts Western Australia on the world stage,” Mr Cook said.
UFC 284 in Perth in February was a major hit, with 9000 of the 14,000 people who packed into RAC Arena travelling from outside of WA.
Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti said Perth would host a four-day wrestling showcase, culminating in the main event at Optus Stadium.
She said the ticket sales target was 50,000 and the stadium would likely be configured to include seats on the playing field – which boosts the maximum capacity of the venue to 65,000 – but the final layout would be confirmed closer to the date.
Ms Saffioti said WWE coming to Perth was a “huge opportunity”.
“WWE has millions and millions of loyal followers right around the globe,” she said.