The Rock NOT Expected To Return To WWE In The Near Future (WWE News)
WWE's creative team won't be able to count on The Rock's star power at SummerSlam.
Bodyslam.net's Patreon is reporting that The Rock likely won't be part of WWE's plans for SummerSlam 2025 on 2-3 August in New Jersey. The site's internal sources within the company tell them that "there is no indication that The Rock is scheduled to return in the near future". This will come as a huge disappointment to those hoping his 'Final Boss' character would play some sort of role in the build towards one of WWE's biggest annual events.
WWE would've been cutting it a little fine to get Rocky back in the mix, certainly at time of writing. There are only 3 more episodes of top TV to go (2 SmackDowns and 1 Raw) before attention fully turns to MetLife Stadium next weekend. That would've forced a hasty push to cram 'The Great One' into plans, and it has never looked likely.
Bodyslam.net's write up didn't broach the subject of exactly when Rock is set to launch a comeback either. It's possible that he'll become involved again during the typically thrilling Royal Rumble-WrestleMania sprint next year, but nothing is guaranteed. In short, Dwayne Johnson has kept pretty much everyone guessing about his plans for much of 2025.
That's been problematic on the creative front.
Fans Remain Unsatisfied By Storyline Loose Ends
WWE has never offered a satisfactory explanation for how he managed to coax John Cena into a heel turn back at Elimination Chamber Toronto in March. When that blockbuster moment happened, most fans would've been forgiven for thinking they were in for a rollercoaster ride manned by the twin powers of Rock and Cena.
In a word, nope. Bizarrely, John has never really mentioned The Rock during any of his promos sniping at fans - he's been busy feuding with Cody Rhodes (who's barely mentioned the 'Final Boss' outside of a few sly comments on the mic here or there in passing), Randy Orton, R-Truth and CM Punk. Rock hasn't really come back into things, which must be considered a big letdown.
Neither he, Cena, Rhodes nor Triple H's writing team have seemed especially keen to tie up loose ends and justify what happened earlier this year. Now, at press time, we're well over halfway through Cena's retirement tour and the dude who looked set to become his biggest on screen ally has been absent from the story for over 4 months.
In total, it's been 145 days since fans saw Rocky on television in some form or fashion.