The Rock heaped praise on Dolph Ziggler.
On September 21st WWE released a number of Superstars across the main roster and NXT. The releases were expected following the company’s merger with UFC and came just hours after a monster new television deal with the USA Network was announced.
The timing of the releases caused frustration with some main roster stars within the company.
The highest-profile star to be released during the cuts was Dolph Ziggler who has been with the company for almost 20 years and is a former World Champion.
Posting on social media, The Rock paid tribute to Ziggler and sent a message to all those who were released.
Just seeing all these releases now. These days so f’n tough for the ones who gave their all to our crazy world of pro wrestling. Like @HEELZiggler.
What a decorated @WWE career and I’ll always be a supporter and fan. Can’t wait to see what he (and everyone) does next… #onward
The Rock Recently Made WWE Return
The talent cuts came after WWE had already cut more than 100 jobs behind the scenes following the merger with UFC. Nick Khan had previously stated that the company planned to be aggressive with cost-cutting and planned to save more than $50 million.
Against this backdrop, The Rock made a surprise return to WWE SmackDown on September 15th. The return drew an impressive rating for the blue brand and was viewed over 103 million times on social media.
The Rock has since shared his own special behind-the-scenes look at his comeback.
In a new interview in 2024, Dolph Ziggler has gone into detail about his WWE release.