The Rock looks on course to participate in a major WWE match after his comeback at the weekend, though he couldn’t resist sticking the boot into old rival John Cena.
The People’s Champion blew the roof off the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday by ending his near six-month absence from the wrestling scene in stunning style.
After cousin, Roman Reigns had teamed up with former rival Cody Rhodes to thwart Solo Sikoa and the rest of The Bloodline in a chaotic main event, the Tribal Chief returned to the ring with a returning Jimmy Uso to help save the WWE Undisputed Champ from a post-match beat down.
Reigns, Rhodes and Uso managed to clean house enough to send the Bloodline scarpering, but The Rock’s music then hit to the sound of a huge ovation from the lively crowd.
He stepped slowly out into the scene before raising his eyebrow at the sight of Rhodes and Reigns stood together – Rock had teamed with the latter against the former and Seth Rollins in a WrestleMania main event back in April.
The Great One then gave a cut-throat style gesture before turning on his heel and departing again, and almost straight into an Instagram live address that continued as he charged back through the building, ranting and raving in his typical third-person style, referring to himself as The Final Boss.
“The Final Boss says this: The Rock is feeling a lot of things about what he just witnessed,” he said.
“The Final Boss is feeling a lot of things. You know why? Because there’s been a bunch of b******* that’s been going on in the last six months.
“You want to know how the Final Boss is feeling? The Final Boss will tell you, but The Final Boss will tell you when he’s ready for you to know.”
Fans feel they already know the direction of travel for the grappler turned Hollywood legend – a showdown at Survivor Series War Games that will see him heading up the current Bloodline against a team headed up by Rhodes and Reigns.
Having spied what they believed was an in-character Sikoa saying Rock’s return was ‘part of the plan’, one fan commented: “Something is cooking for War Games,” while another said: ‘War Games is gonna be elite!’
Another outlined: “I’ve been saying this man solo has been playing and winning the mental game with these dudes. Add The Rock in the mix and it all makes sense.”
The Rock continued on his post-event rant by marching through the car park, regularly distracted by the images of wrestling legends shown on the side of huge WWE production trucks.
Glancing up at Stone Cold Steve Austin’s image, he stopped and said: “Look at this, get a shot of him right there. Beer and tequila on The Rock, let’s do it, because you’re The Rock’s boy.”
Stopping short at an image of Dusty Rhodes, the legendary father of Cody, he barked: “Here’s The Rock’s hero… I love you, I hate your son!”
Then turning and looking at Cena’s beaming face looking down at him, Rock couldn’t resist a throwaway jibe, shouting: “Look at you, go eat some Fruity Pebbles!”
The quip was a throwback to Cena and Rock’s iconic WWE rivalry during which Rock blasted his rival’s wardrobe choice of brightly coloured shirts, saying he looked like a bowl of the popular cereal.
The pair memorably did battle across two WrestleMania matches in 2012 and 2013, The Great One winning the first outing before the leader of the Cenation won second time out.
Those were Dwayne Johnson’s last major matches in WWE for more than a decade before his epic return at WrestleMania XL this past Spring.
After winning the tag team bout on Night 1 of the two-night Mania, he was thwarted in his attempts to see off Cody Rhodes by The Undertaker, who made his own stunning cameo to ensure the night ended happily and with Rhodes on top.