The Rock Shrugs Off Fan Complaints Over His WWE Return But Live Crowds Are Already Turning On Him

The Rock Shrugs Off Fan Complaints Over His WWE Return But Live Crowds Are Already Turning On Him

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson isn't letting the overwhelmingly negative response to his WWE return get to him, though there are signs live crowds are turning on the actor just as much as those on social media.

By JoshWilding - Feb 05, 2024 06:02 AM EST
Filed Under: WWE

During Friday night's episode of SmackDown, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson returned to WWE and stole Cody Rhodes' spot at WrestleMania. This wasn't a storyline swerve either; Johnson has used his influence as a member of the TKO Holdings Group board to insert himself into the Show of Shows. 

The Rock believes only he can "save" WrestleMania in the wake of those Vince McMahon allegations and CM Punk's recent injury, but in doing so, he's derailed a two-year storyline which was set to see The American Nightmare finally dethrone Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. 

Now, The Rock will face his cousin and Rhodes will "finish the story" by likely winning the World Heavyweight Championship, a title he's repeatedly said he doesn't want in interviews. 

#WeWantCody has trended worldwide ever since and The Rock's return has received a record number of dislikes on YouTube. 

Despite that, Johnson - who convinced himself DC fans loved Black Adam even if critics didn't - appears to be shrugging off the complaints. In a recent Instagram post, he concluded by saying, "ps, tough skin, love the passion." He'd later follow that up with, "This is gonna be so much fun. Long game."

Rumour has it the "long game" could be Rhodes challenging the winner of The Rock vs. Reigns at SummerSlam in a title unification match.

However, it's now apparent Johnson has no awareness of how much WWE fans don't want this match to rob them of Rhodes vs Reigns II at the Show of Shows. In fact, both he and longtime collaborator/former WWE writer Brian Gerwitz seem to have dismissed the backlash as little more than a vocal minority on social media (Johnson, ignoring the backlash, has shared a handful of positive fan reactions on Instagram). 

They may be right and it won't be until tonight's RAW - and Thursday's planned match announcement - that we see whether live crowds feel the same way. At a live event over the weekend, images of The Rock were booed by fans and the same happened last night during NXT Vengeance Day.

It's not quite at the level of the Yes Movement in 2014, though, and short of crowds hijacking shows to support Rhodes, The Rock vs. Reigns will almost certainly go ahead at WrestleMania as planned. The match is one fans have spent years demanding; it's just a shame it had to happen at Cody's expense. 

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