In early 2024, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson made a dramatic return to WWE, joining the TKO Board of Directors in addition to making occasional appearances on TV. The initial months following his comeback were a little rough, but it resulted in a storyline that fans wound up enjoying, with Cody Rhodes finally defeating Roman Reigns for the company's top title. Since that point, however, The Rock's involvement has been difficult to make sense of for many fans. So how did we get here?
The night after last year's WrestleMania 40, The Rock made an appearance on "WWE Raw" and whispered some unknown words into the ear of Rhodes before disappearing for months. Then in October, Johnson returned again at WWE Bad Blood, signaling an ominous warning to Rhodes and Reigns, but both plot threads were left unaddressed through the rest of the year. All the while, reports were emerging that The Rock would not be appearing at WrestleMania 41, but Johnson took to social media and warned fans not to believe everything they read online.
In January, with "WWE Raw" debuting on Netflix, "The Final Boss" showed up once again this time seemingly presenting himself as a babyface who was friends with Rhodes behind the scenes, with no hint of his previous heel character. After fans expressed confusion over this promo, The Rock appeared on "WWE NXT" the following night to tease further developments; rather than clearing up any of the confusion, however, the disjointed promo only served to muddy the waters further.
A short time later, during the lead-up to WWE Elimination Chamber, The Rock finally reverted back to his heel persona, making a proposal to Cody Rhodes for the WWE Champion's soul. When Rhodes turned him down, Johnson's threat from Bad Blood finally paid off he made the same throat-cutting gesture, inducing John Cena to turn heel and attack Rhodes, with rapper Travis Scott joining in on the beatdown. The angle itself received almost unanimous praise from fans and pundits. However, The Rock once again disappeared after the event. As the storyline between Cena and Rhodes progressed to WrestleMania, The Rock was barely even mentioned, despite playing such a key role in the beginning of the rivalry. Many fans believed, however, that he would have to be part of the match between Cena and Rhodes at WrestleMania 41.
Instead, WrestleMania came and went without any sign of The Rock's involvement, though Scott interfered in the main event, helping ensure Cena's title victory. The storyline was heavily criticized in the days that followed, with Johnson even making an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" to offer an explanation. Johnson said he was never planning to appear at WrestleMania this year, as he didn't want to take attention away from Rhodes and Cena, and his involvement was simply meant to serve as a way to transition Rhodes into this storyline.
Fans weren't having it, however. If The Rock's true goal was to ensure the audience boos him upon his next return, he may have succeeded, as a sizable portion of fans seem to have turned against him.
