We've seen a lot of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in WWE lately. The Brahma Bull joined the TKO board earlier this year and, until the vocal online backlash, had been planning to main event WrestleMania in a match with his cousin, Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
Instead, The Rock and Reigns will now join forces in a tag team bout to face Cody Rhodes and World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins.
Despite his recent appearances on SmackDown, it looks like The Rock isn't going to put Hollywood on the back burner for his in-ring comeback. According to PWInsider, Johnson will be shooting his next movie The Smashing Machine between May and August.
While he won't necessarily be needed on set the entire time, it's thought this could result in him being unable to compete at SummerSlam or the next Saudi Arabia PPV (due to insurance issues and the like).
The movie is based on the 2002 documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Mark Kerr and tells the story of former UFC fighter and collegiate wrestler Mark Kerr. Johnson plays Kerr, with Emily Blunt set to star as his wife, Dawn Staples. Benny Safdie directs.
When The Rock wrestles at WrestleMania next month, it will be his first match since 2013 (unless you count his six-second bout with Erick Rowan in 2016).
Johnson recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and had the following exchange with the host about his WWE return:
Kimmel: I think this is really interesting because, and you know this, you’re one of the most well-loved people in the world. And yet, in the wrestling world you have gone back to being a heel, to being a villain in the thing — to the point where you are actually antagonizing people in the local cities that you visit. This is your visit to Phoenix, Arizona and how you greeted...
Johnson: Phoenix, Arizona by the way... did a little research and what I’m saying is the truth.
Kimmel: I looked it up to, it is true.
Johnson: It is the best to go back to WWE in this ‘Rock 10.0’ version where I can become a heel and say the things that people want to say...
Kimmel: And they still love you after you say them.
Johnson: And I went in, it’s the number one city and you cactus-loving crackheads, and then what I also said was, ‘And every woman in here wants to go one-on-one with The Rock’, and all the women go crazy, and I said, ‘Now settle down you crackhead Karens’ [laughs] and then they all cheered again. They were like ‘Yay’.