How Is WWE Handling Negative Reactions To The Rock?

A new report details WWE‘s reaction to fans not embracing The Rock‘s return.

When Cody Rhodes won the men’s Royal Rumble on January 27th, it seemed clear that he would finally get a chance to finish his story with Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 40. He pointed at Reigns on the night, saying that he was coming for the Tribal Chief.

However, on the February 2nd episode of SmackDown, Rhodes declared to Reigns that he would not be coming for him at WrestleMania after all and introduced a faceoff between Reigns and The Rock.

While fans have long awaited a dream match between Rock and Reigns, the overwhelming reaction to this latest move has been one of criticism from fans who believe the real-life Dwayne Johnson was taking the spot Rhodes rightfully earned with his Royal Rumble win and a year of storyline build. The decision has also been panned backstage.

Fans have booed when videos of Rock are shown at WWE live events, and signs in support of Rhodes were evident at NXT Vengeance Day and on Monday Night Raw. Fans even chanted “Rocky sucks” during Cody Rhodes’ match on Raw, a reaction that reportedly came as a surprise to those in WWE.

WWE Is Not Attempting To Curb Fans’ Reactions To The Rock

On February 6th, Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE is intentionally focusing on the support Rhodes has received as a way to work fans into a situation mirroring Daniel Bryan’s rise to the main event of WrestleMania 30. Rhodes did not confirm his WrestleMania plans on Raw, leading to some belief that he may be facing Roman Reigns after all. WWE also made it clear that The Rock vs. Roman Reigns had not been made official.

Now, a report from Fightful Select indicates that there was no official mandate backstage in WWE when it comes to how to handle negative reactions to The Rock and these reactions are being taken on a case by case basis. During NXT, the lead producer was said to be making the call on how to handle crowd chants, which were reportedly muted for NXT GM Ava.

Ava, who is Dwayne Johnson’s real life daughter, recently revealed that she’s received death threats from WWE fans and has since deleted her Twitter account.

Preparing for the epic press conference, The Rock recently made a bold prediction.