Once again, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson returned to WWE with a bang, but this time, few fans were ecstatic.
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and 2024 Royal Rumble champion Cody Rhodes met on “Smackdown,” where Rhodes appeared to announce his intention to challenge Reigns for the championship at WrestleMania 40. Rhodes explained that “completing the story” would deprive Reigns of everything and that he still desires to defeat him for the WWE championship, but “not at WrestleMania.”
When Rhodes stated that he had spoken with an individual who is “very familiar” with Reigns, The Rock’s music began to play.
As soon as The Rock entered the ring, he engaged Reigns in a minute-long staredown. The Rock addressed the audience following the conclusion of “Smackdown” and discussed the historic event that occurred on Friday night.
Why is Everyone So Upset Over the Rock’s Comeback?
Social media users expressed their displeasure with Rhodes’ return, saying it ruins the narrative the corporation has been constructing between Rhodes and Reigns for the previous two years. The opportunity to capture the title at WrestleMania 40 would cap off a decades-long journey for the illustrious Rhodes family, who came dangerously close to doing it in WrestleMania 39. However, it throws out the narrative for what would probably be The Rock’s only bout of the year since he will now most likely face Reigns at WrestleMania.
Negative remarks about Rhodes’ Royal Rumble victory and how a star like him is being wasted for a big name who won’t compete in as many matches as him were commonplace in WWE’s social media replies. Terms like “We want Cody” were also trending. Others pointed out that CM Punk was in the same predicament in 2013 when The Rock was selected to headline WrestleMania instead of him.
Additionally, YouTube has received negative feedback; the entire segment from “Smackdown” has garnered over 200,000 dislikes in contrast to 71,000 likes.
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The Rock vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania is expected to be unveiled Thursday night at the WrestleMania 40 kickoff press conference in Las Vegas, although the announcement has not yet been made official.
WWE Busy to Respond to Lawsuit Against Vince McMahon?
Watching the post-Raw Rumble press conference made it clear that the WWE had no idea how to respond to the most recent lawsuit against Vince McMahon, its four-decade leader, which accused him of yet more heinous sexual misbehavior. (Just before the show, McMahon resigned as executive chairman as sponsors threatened to withhold payment.) As head of creative, Paul Levesque, a.k.a. Triple H while he wrestled, fielded questions from reporters and personalities in niche media following the event.
Some of the questions were the same old, boring ones that dot these exchanges, but Levesque was completely unprepared for the ones concerning his father-in-law and former boss. “It’s an amazing week for us,” Levesque said, adding, “I don’t even want to get bogged down in the negatives of it.” He acknowledged that he had not read the case.