The Rock's WWE Raw Return Was Extremely Weird
Dwayne Johnson bulldozes teased Cody Rhodes storyline in babyface WWE Raw Netflix return.
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson returned to WWE for Raw's Netflix premiere on Monday, playing a babyface hype man for the heavily-promoted show rather than the heel 'Final Boss.'
Rock, who announced his intended appearance via social media on Sunday, entered after a rah-rah speech from WWE Chief Content Officer Paul 'Triple H' Levesque. Rather than reprising his recent heel character and building to WrestleMania 41, however, his appearance suggested that perhaps he won't be in Las Vegas this April after all.
Carrying his People's Championship to the ring and embracing executives from WWE's parent company, Endeavor, Rock brought little of storyline substance to the table. He pushed Raw as WWE's highest-grossing arena show over, pumped the company up, and upon setting his sights on rumoured WrestleMania opponent Cody Rhodes, put the 'American Nightmare' over as well.
The Rock congratulated Cody on carrying the company on his back for a year. "Say hello to Mama Rhodes for me" was as close as he came to a barb, but this was laughed off. Finally, when Rock exited, he and Cody shared a hug.
Not exactly the tense face-off the duo had on the Raw after WrestleMania XL, when Rock handed Cody a still-unknown item, teasing more from their feud.
Rock appeared later in the first hour, congratulating cousin Roman Reigns after his Tribal Combat win over Solo Sikoa. Though the duo had a stare-off after Rock placed the ula fala on Reigns, they soon embraced.
Several outlets, including the Wrestling Observer, have reported that Rock isn't currently set for WrestleMania 41. Last night's Raw certainly gave that impression. While he could ultimately claim the one-night babyface performance was a ruse and revert to the 'Final Boss', The Rock's pleasantries with Cody Rhodes in particular poured cold water over his teased creative.
Whether or not Rock makes WrestleMania 41 ultimately depends on Johnson himself. As a TKO Group executive and the biggest wrestling star WWE could conceivably book, he holds a great deal of power, surpassing even Levesque. At the very least, Raw felt like a soft 'out.'