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Former WWE manager Teddy Long recently discussed ways in which The Rock could get more heat from the fans during his recent run.
The Brahma Bull is one of the most universally loved superstars in WWE. However, his relationship with the WWE Universe changed quickly after the WrestleMania 40 press conference in Las Vegas, where he slapped Cody Rhodes. Rocky then completed his heel turn by siding with The Bloodline and berating the audience on SmackDown last week.
On the latest episode of The Wrestling Time Machine podcast, Long mentioned that WWE could solidify Rocky's heel turn by having him turn on one of the Samoan family members. The former WWE manager felt that Rikishi could be the returning star who gets attacked by The Rock. He added that this action would cement The Great One as the company's top heel alongside Roman Reigns.
"You know what I'd do if I were him to really turn him heel? I'd have Rikishi or somebody, one of them to come in, try to string things out and they turn on him. That will get him [heat] if they turn on one of the tribe. That's the heel turn." [From 2:40 onwards]
You can watch the full interview here:
Bill Apter spoke about The Rock's heel turn
During the same conversation, wrestling journalist and Sportskeeda Senior Editor Bill Apter also shared his thoughts on Rock's current persona.
He spoke about the clips of Rock hugging fans after SmackDown doing the rounds on social media. He found it weird that The Great One was insulting the fans during his promos, but when the cameras stopped rolling, he was hugging them.
"I think he dressed like the old Rock there. He's been very sarcastic, he's been nasty to the fans, but when the cameras go off, people are showing videos of him schmoozing and hugging the fans. So, I think his all attitude is this is his character right now like if he was put in one of the movies with Vin Diesel or someone. He's playing a bad guy here," Apter said.
He felt that the 51-year-old star was treating his association with The Bloodline as one of the roles in his movies where he is playing the bad guy.
Would you like to see The Rock laying the smackdown on Rikishi? Let us know in the comments section below.
If you use the quotes from this article, please embed the YouTube video and add an H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcript.
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