10 Booking Steps For The Rock's WWE Return
9. Tries To Show Respect For Roman On Smackdown But Gets Nothing
On the subsequent Smackdown, The Rock should open the show and cut a promo about how much the brand means to him. There should be stories from the glory days of Smackdown, the matches and the moments that he most cherishes having on the blue brand, before he brings it back to Roman's current accomplishments as Smackdown's World Champion.
The Rock praises his cousin for holding the Universal Championship for over a year, for vanquishing Cena and for becoming the Head of the Table, and wants to show him some respect; two titans of the industry and the family working together as leaders. When Roman comes out to massive boos, he refuses to speak, making silent eye contact with his older cousin before grabbing his championship and turning away.
It is clear that he is infuriated by The Rock's lack of submission and doesn't want him to be able to be an equal or undermine his authority in any way. The Rock's jovial tone switches to something harsher as he grabs Roman's shoulder and tells him about the consequences of not accepting his hand. Both need to be established firmly as alpha males who will not tolerate disrespect from within the family.