The Rock’s WWE return was not a direct counter to recent controversy, according to a new report.
January 26th saw Vince McMahon accused of sex trafficking and multiple instances of sexual assault, with numerous executives and a top-level talent also implicated. The allegations cast a dark cloud over the company and forced Vince McMahon to resign while still being adamant that the allegations were false. Additionally, plans for the Royal Rumble were forcibly changed as a result of the contents of the lawsuit and Triple H was heavily criticised for his responses at the WWE press conference.
8 days after the scandal became public knowledge, The Rock would make a surprise appearance on SmackDown to confront Roman Reigns after Cody Rhodes stated that he would not be challenging Reigns in Philadelphia.
The move caused backlash online with many being angered by Rock seemingly taking away Rhodes’ opportunity at another WrestleMania main event. With the SmackDown segment being a major talking point over the weekend, some had speculated that this was an emergency move by WWE to provide a major distraction from the McMahon controversy. According to a recent report, Rock’s appearance was always the plan.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that Rock coming back for WrestleMania dated all the way back to the start of the year and was not an emergency response by the company:
I’ve said this before. The idea of the story that Dwayne was brought back after the lawsuit, and they did not know of the lawsuit going in, the date it was released or anything. Were there people who knew the allegations? I mean, I would hope that the upper management and the board knew. I mean, they knew some of it, but they didn’t know when the thing was going to break. But Dwayne coming back has nothing to do with the lawsuit.
As far as people who were saying that the way that the storyline has gone with Cody as a way to divert from that thing, I mean, it’s possible that played into it. I couldn’t say that it didn’t, because it all happened afterwards. And I’m sure WWE is thrilled that people are focusing on hating Dwayne Johnson, as opposed to thinking about Vince McMahon and kind of being repulsed by the company. I mean, it was fortuitous in its weird way. But it wasn’t like the timing [was] oh, man, we’re in trouble, we got to call Rock. We’re gonna put Rock in this match. And then we started another problem. That wasn’t the timeline.
Meltzer continued, noting that the idea of a showdown in Saudi Arabia was previously pitched so that Rhodes would still face Reigns at Mania, but Rock wanted it to take place in Philadephia:
The timeline with Dwayne and Roman Reigns and all that was January 3. It was very clear that so few people knew because everybody knew that Roman Reigns was wrestling Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania. That was not a secret. Once Dwayne did that promo, the first time when he mentioned Roman [on January 1st] I mean, you knew that that’s where they were going. It’s just a question of when? And Dwayne wanted it to be Mania, and that’s true. There are people who thought it might be better on another show. I know people who, again, suggested the idea of Saudi Arabia for Dwayne, and Cody for Wrestlemania. But Dwayne wanted Wrestlemania.
The Rock Arrives For WrestleMania Press Conference
With WrestleMania plans remaining unclear, all eyes will be on the WrestleMania press conference in Las Vegan on February 8th, which will be headlined by Rock and Reigns going face to face once more. Arriving in Vegas the night before, The Rock made a bold prediction about the event.
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