The Rock made an appearance on this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown, with WWE’s creative team learning about his involvement just days before the show.
During his appearance, The Rock made big announcements, including that WrestleMania 42 will happen in Recent Orleans, he’s targeting Cody Rhodes’ “soul,” and might be at Elimination Chamber 2025 to see if Cody is willing to present it up.
Previously, plans had been in place for Cody Rhodes to face John Cena and for Roman Reigns to face CM Punk, with talks of a possible triple threat match involving Reigns, Punk, and Seth Rollins. As recently as October, WWE’s creative direction was being mapped out under the idea that The Rock wouldn’t be available for WrestleMania. This belief continued up until this past week. One source even joked concerning the event being “on the mercy of Dwayne.”
In response to The Rock’s sudden return, WWE made quick adjustments, including removing Cody Rhodes from the principal event.
While Cristian Scovell wrote the segment and Michael Hayes produced it, The Rock is thought to improvise, resulting in uncertainty concerning the script — especially since he used profanity that was censored throughout the broadcast.
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