The Rock Returns to Massive Pop on 'WWE Friday Night SmackDown'

On the first SmackDown since the end of the McMahon-ownership era, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

By Andrew Roberts

On the heels of the closing of WWE's merger with UFC, the first SmackDown of the post-McMahon ownership era featured the return of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. During an opening segment with Austin Theory and Pat McAfee on Friday's episode, The Rock made his way to the ring once again to a thunderous reaction from the crowd.

He hit all of the trademark Rock phrases, soaked up the adoration of the live crowd, and ended up knocking around Theory a bit while channeling his best Steve Austin. Once Theory laid hands on The People's Champ, it was off to the races and The Rock delivered the trademark spinebuster into The People's Elbow. He also gets McAfee to deliver his own, which goes well enough.

Does this confirm the long-running rumor that The Rock will return to face Roman Reigns and show who the real Tribal Chief is with their family? Who knows what it means? The facts is WWE and UFC just completed their merger, forming TKO under the Endeavor banner. This is historic, a huge deal, and whatever else they will say to pump up the excitement, meaning you could also bring in some big names to mark the occasion.

It isn't clear if The Rock is back for a short run while the Hollywood strikes continue or if it was just a one-off appearance, possibly with a connection to Maui fire relief. It's still a blast to see him do his thing while the crowd goes wild.

It is a moment you'll see plenty of times if you ever watch a wrestling video on YouTube. It is either a "Best Pops" clip or "Simon Gotch buries Enzo Amore" being recommended by YouTube's algorithm.

According to Dave Meltzer, the Wrestling Observer founder says any return by Johnson is purely his decision and reportedly unrelated to any of the troubles or creative storylines within the company. At the end of the day, it could just be a guy finding time to do his good friend a solid after closing a massive deal.

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