When Will The Rock Return To WWE Programming?
Dwayne Johnson, better known to professional wrestling fans as “The Rock,” has been away from WWE programming for months. He returned to the company in January of this year and became a member of WWE’s Board of Directors later that month. He then attempted to thrust himself into the WrestleMania 40 main event despite the idea’s ignorance, especially as Cody Rhodes won the Men’s Royal Rumble. Rock still participated in WM40, but he’d main event Night #1 in a tag team match alongside his cousin, Roman Reigns. Rock then left WWE to go back to Hollywood to film some projects and has yet to return. Therefore, fans are wondering, when will The Rock return to WWE?
Thankfully, we now have an answer to this question. Many assumed The Rock would return to WWE around SummerSlam PLE build-up. Others assumed he’d be back by November for the Survivor Series PLE. The speculation centered on the fact that both July and November are “sweeps” months for television in the United States. Sadly, he did not return in July and might not return in November. Rock’s filming schedule is relatively tight this year, but he still makes WWE a priority for the needs of the Board of Directors that might pop up.
Most now believe The Rock return date will also coincide with the WWE Monday Night Raw on Netflix launch date in January 2025. John Cena is also expected to make his WWE return around this time for the start of his farewell retirement tour. The Wrestling Observer speculated this is likely the plan, considering The Rock still has a full plate for the remainder of 2024. They claimed:
“I certainly expect The Rock on Netflix a lot for the first couple of months, you know? And Cena too for that matter.”
THE ROCK RETURN TIME & SHOW
Most would expect The Rock to make his return on the SmackDown brand. This is mostly due to The Bloodline being on the show. However, due to his name recognition, WWE might end up allowing Rock to become a “floater” of sorts. It would allow him to be on the show he made famous, SmackDown, and have a role on the RAW brand, too. They could likely use his role as a member of the Board of Directors to justify this. On top of the fact that it makes sense, he would not be a member of any roster due to being around part-time.
The Rock’s return will include at least one match against Cody Rhodes. Roman Reigns appears to have turned babyface since he returned. However, WWE does not yet have to turn The Rock back into a babyface. In fact, they likely are not planning to turn him babyface again for a while. His current heel persona is quite good and allows him to be something he’s good at. Overvaluing himself and telling the world his narcissistic thoughts.
We also cannot ignore that The Rock specifically told Cody he would be coming for him when he returned. This might lead to a match between the two for the Royal Rumble PLE in late January 2025. This would allow him to use the new Bloodline to cheat his way into a win over Rhodes. WWE could go a few different places with this, too.
POTENTIAL PLANS FOR THE ROCK:
Cody knows that The Rock will return and come after his WWE Undisputed Championship. Many speculate that The Rock is the one really calling the shots in the Bloodline, not Solo Sikoa. The belief is that Solo is playing his part as a distraction, especially for Reigns. Solo might have no aspirations to be the Tribal Chief but has to make everyone think he does. The Rock could return to become the Tribal Chief despite never taking the title from Roman Reigns.
While Rock has to return to battle Rhodes first, the Bloodline material will continue alongside this. Rhodes might not lose his championship to The Rock, but he could lose a non-title match to him. That is especially possible with the help of the New Bloodline. That might end up leading into WrestleMania 41, where The Rock vs Roman Reigns can organically make sense to happen. The Rock could technically pull double duty at the event, as he could face off for the title one night and for the Tribal Chief honor the next.
However, the best bet would be that WWE will have Rock earn a win over Cody for “The Final Boss” to use later. Even if he loses to Reigns, officially losing the Tribal Chief honor for good, that does not end his story. He could stick around or decide to battle Rhodes for the championship at SummerSlam or even WrestleMania 42. Of course, most do not expect WWE to allow Rhodes to hold onto the title for 2 years. This is why SummerSlam makes the most sense.
