During last Friday's episode of SmackDown, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson returned to WWE and offered Cody Rhodes the opportunity to become his corporate champion. It was a bizarre, confusing segment that's got fans talking.
According to PWInsider.com, The Rock's SmackDown involvement didn't come together until the night before the show, meaning "the company shifted plans to pivot towards his appearance."
Fightful Select adds to that by revealing talent was shocked to see The Rock show up; his appearance - which included multiple heel turns - also appears to have created some uncertainty when it comes to WrestleMania as one top star joked that the Show of Shows is now "at the mercy of Dwayne."
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, meanwhile, shares that writers were "confused and thrown for a loop" when The Rock returned and they too believe it will lead to major changes to WrestleMania this April.
In other news, there's been a lot of chatter lately about growing frustration among the women in WWE. Fightful Select has detailed concerns about a lack of television time for those further down the roster, the struggling tag team division, and a lack of viable championship contenders.
It sounds like many are fed up with being told to have patience when asking about their creative plans, particularly as nothing rarely comes of it. As a result, those not featured heavily on RAW and SmackDown have been left in a state of uncertainty (particularly after Sonya Deville was released in the midst of negotiating a new deal with WWE).
Things could always be worse, though, The site has learned that, in early 2022, one of Vince McMahon's pitches for the women's Royal Rumble was for Ronda Rousey to return and eliminate everyone. You can probably imagine how that would be received.
Finally, if you've been seeing chatter about a trademark filing for "Kalyx," it's in regard to referee Jessika Carr who, believe it or not, is now working under a mask at recent Evolve tapings.
Deville recently said this about being unexpectedly released by WWE:
"As a lot of you guys know, 10 days ago now, I got the call. My contract was not being renewed with the WWE. I was in Washington, D.C. for a cheer tournament with our little one. I was actually running on the treadmill working out with our older one Giovanna, and I got a phone call. We were in the middle of negotiations, and so I thought the phone call was going to be the middle ground that we met on, an agreement, a contract. And it was, ‘We are not renewing your contract.’ So, complete transparency, which this is really the first time I’m saying this, I was shocked."
"First it was shock. At first it was like, ‘Whoa.’ But then it was almost like instantaneously, my trust in the universe allowed me to just be at peace with it instantly. Because you can’t fight fate. That chapter was meant to close, and all these new beautiful blessings were meant to come. Just the way things happened, like is there anything more serendipitous? It happened for a reason, so how could you be mad at that? How could you be upset or frustrated or even wonder ‘What if?’ Life’s too short. I have so many dreams, so many things I want to do."
"And I still love everybody there. And I have a great - like, my memory from that place is nothing but positive. And I want to keep it that way. But also I respect that the universe is like, ‘Hey, that chapter’s closed.’ Right now, forever, whatever, it doesn’t matter. But onto the next, let’s go. I have two kids and a wife to take care of. We have a family. Like, we’ve gotta keep going. So I think that just allowed me to have like instant peace. It was like, it’s all good."
As always, let us know your thoughts on these rumours in the comments section.