Dwayne Johnson AKA The Rock built up a massive career in what is now known as WWE in the 1990s and early 2000s. Of course, fans are also well-aware that he began a film career in 2001. Now fans are upset with Dwayne Johnson for his recent return and story change for Wrestlemania.
Cody Rhodes, the winner of the Royal Rumble, decided to relinquish his opportunity to face Roman Reigns, the reigning WWE Universal Champion. Consequently, he graciously allowed The Rock to step in and take his spot in the highly anticipated match.
The decision appears to have caused a significant divide among people. Even though the occurrences are prearranged, it’s been said that The Rock reportedly used his sway with board members to ‘rescue’ WrestleMania following the recent Vince McMahon controversy.
This comes shortly after the debut of Black Adam, which didn’t fare well and is believed by numerous fans to be the reason behind Johnson’s comeback to WWE.
Here are some of the reactions that fans shared on social media about Dwayne Johnson and Wrestlemania:
The Rock & Roman Reigns’ segment from last nights #SmackDown has now surpassed 400,000 dislikes in under 20 hours.
Extending its record as the most disliked @WWE YouTube video of all time.
3.2M Views. 87K Likes. 400K Dislikes. pic.twitter.com/QHwBLvujeM
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) February 3, 2024
Black Adam bombing, Young Rock being cancelled, the XFL being forced to do a merger to survive after one season. The Rock’s ego has been bruised and battered the past five years, I don’t know if he could handle the wrestling fans rejecting him.
— IVPvideos (@IVPvideos) February 3, 2024
Dwayne wanting to save WrestleMania is funny because the last time he tried to save something he fucking killed an entire movie universe
WE WANT CODY#WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/HxlVxvjtIg
— Jahanzaib Qureshi (@JahanzaibQur) February 3, 2024
This is our punishment for letting Black Adam flop at the box office pic.twitter.com/eTcm8MJxdf
— Oli Johnson (@oliwrjohnson) February 3, 2024
A look at the comments section under The Rock’s latest Instagram post (yesterday): pic.twitter.com/pYO6IFNUIZ
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) February 3, 2024
#WeWantCody is now currently the number 1 trend in the United States. pic.twitter.com/UkfRkthNPQ
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) February 3, 2024
Things The Rock has ruined to get his way:
– Ruined the fast & furious franchise
– Killed DCEU with Black Adam
– just ruined the biggest storyline in WWE in the best wrestling boom period since the attitude era
👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿 congrats Dwayne #WWERaw #SmackDown #WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/MKDVNAL9Cx
— ThisIsBimsWorld (@Bims_World) February 3, 2024
John Cena – returns to WWE as soon as he could, does nothing but put over talent & truly loves WWE
The Rock – returns after failing at multiple ventures, immediately exerts control & takes a deserving man’s WM spot & cares only about PR
WE WANT CODY#WeWantCody #WoahMovement pic.twitter.com/HXtAXfspiI
— Wrestle Whistle (@WrestleWhistle) February 3, 2024
It seems as though fans aren’t just upset that Johnson hijacked the storyline that Cody Rhodes had been building for quite some time now. As mentioned, they seem to believe the failure of Black Adam as Johnson’s reason to come back.
The 2022 DCEU film was intended to be a vehicle for Johnson to star in. Upon its success, he would have returned to go head-to-head with Henry Cavill’s Superman. Of course, given that film’s outcome, and the rest of the DCEU at that time, the franchise was instead retooled as the upcoming DCU. Now it seems unlikely that Dwayne Johnson will have the opportunity to portray Black Adam again.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding WWE and Dwayne Johnson’s career as we have them. It certainly isn’t a positive beginning for his return to WWE, but Johnson has certainly proven that he can win audiences over. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.