The Rock Delivers A Message Ahead Of WWE Press Conference
The Great One shares his thoughts after touching down in Las Vegas ahead of Thursday's event.
In what either has to be a masterstroke of genius or a colossal dose of damage control, WWE's WrestleMania 40 press conference on Thursday is one of the most hotly anticipated media availabilities in decades, and The Rock believes it will be the topic of conversation "forever."
In addition to the real-life drama of the Vince McMahon sex trafficking allegations that shocked the wrestling world last month, there is the storyline tension that has unfolded during the past week with Cody Rhodes seemingly abdicating his WrestleMania title shot at Roman Reigns to allow The Rock to step up to the Tribal Chief.
This leads to Thursday's presser in Las Vegas (site of this weekend's Super Bowl LVIII), where all three players (and other wrestlers) will be in attendance to face off. Landing in Vegas Thursday night, Rock had a succinct message for everyone: "Welcome to Vegas. I have a feeling this press conference will be talked about... forever. Signing off... your long-gamer."
The People's Champion has arrived in Las Vegas!@TheRock is ready for an iconic face-off with @WWERomanReigns tomorrow at the #WrestleMania XL Kickoff live from @TMobileArena. pic.twitter.com/RvY5vVNTzb
— WWE (@WWE) February 7, 2024
By now, everyone -- including The Rock -- has seen that the initial fan backlash to Friday's events has not subsided. Fans started a "Rocky sucks!" chant on Raw Monday night, and they booed his daughter, NXT GM Ava, during Vengeance Day on Sunday. WWE personnel have wondered whether the sustained reaction means the company will pivot away from the planned Roman-Rock match at WrestleMania 40, but other reports have indicated that there's a zero-percent chance that happens.
Rock might not particularly care about being the villain in storyline, but if the perception holds that he swooped in as a new member of the TKO board of directors and grabbed the Mania main event from Cody after he won the Royal Rumble, he might not want this press conference to be "talked about forever."
Either Rock knows they have a plan -- whether that has been in place the entire time or was quickly assembled since Friday -- or he's just blinding charging ahead with the dream match against Reigns.