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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson cemented his status as one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time during his seven years as a full-time in-ring performer between 1996 and 2003.
Following a lengthy absence to concentrate on his movie career, “The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment” returned to WWE in 2011 to feud with John Cena at back-to-back WrestleManias, as well as with CM Punk in early 2013.
Technically, the 47-year-old’s last official match came in 2016 at WrestleMania 32, where he defeated Erick Rowan in an impromptu six-second encounter, but his most recent meaningful match came in 2013 at WrestleMania 29 against Cena.
Since then, there has often been speculation about when The Rock could potentially return for one more match, but the man himself seemingly ended those rumors by revealing on Live with Kelly and Ryan on August 2 that he has “quietly retired” from wrestling.
In this article, let’s take a look at five of the biggest questions that need answering following the 10-time World Champion’s surprising comment.
#5 Why has The Rock retired?
The Rock did not elaborate much on his “quietly retired” comment. Instead, he went on to discuss how he loves performing in front of a live audience and how he credits wrestling with getting him to where he is today.
Despite the WWE legend not giving a reason for his retirement, it is safe to assume that his hectic work schedule is the main cause behind his decision.
So far in 2019, he has had roles in three new movie releases – Fighting With My Family (actor and executive producer), Shazam! (executive producer) and Hobbs & Shaw (actor and producer) – while he has also been working on Jumanji: The Next Level (December 2019 release) and Jungle Cruise (July 2020 release).
With so many roles lined up behind and in front of the camera, as well as media appearances, it would prove very difficult for The Rock to set aside the time for a WWE in-ring comeback.
#4 Has The Rock really retired?
When a WWE Superstar retires, it usually means one thing: they are going to come out of retirement a few years down the line to make a return.
Shawn Michaels, for example, was adamant for almost a decade that he had no desire to ever return to in-ring competition. Then, following a request to appear in Saudi Arabia at Crown Jewel, he laced up his boots again in November 2018 to team with Triple H against The Undertaker & Kane.
Another one of The Rock’s fellow movie stars, Dave Bautista (aka Batista), retired from WWE following his match against Triple H at WrestleMania 35. While his announcement seemed genuine, only time will tell if he will stick to his decision.
In The Rock’s case, it is hard to believe that Vince McMahon and WWE’s decision-makers would be happy to allow him to “quietly retire” in the way that he has, especially when a future match with Triple H has been teased and a dream match with Roman Reigns is yet to happen.
For now, we have to assume that “The Great One” really has retired. But, the wrestling business being the wrestling business, you just never know!
#3 When will The Rock join the Hall of Fame?
The five most recent headline inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame have been as follows: Randy Savage (2015), Sting (2016), Kurt Angle (2017), Goldberg (2018), D-Generation X (2019).
Looking ahead to 2020, Batista seems like an obvious candidate to be the top name in the next Hall of Fame class, simply because the two veteran Superstars who have made one-off WrestleMania comebacks in recent years – Sting and Goldberg – went on to headline the following year’s HOF, and “The Animal” now finds himself in a similar situation.
When The Rock is eventually inducted, there are no doubts that he will be the biggest name out of that year’s inductees. The question is whether WWE would want to give him the HOF treatment while there is still an outside chance that he could still wrestle, or whether it would be better to reflect on his career in several years’ time.
#2 Will The Rock still make WWE appearances?
Since competing in his last meaningful match against John Cena at WrestleMania 29 in 2013, The Rock has made occasional appearances at WrestleMania events and on Monday Night Raw.
Other than his ‘Mania battles with Cena, one of his most notable appearances during that time came in 2015 at WrestleMania 31, where he joined forces with Ronda Rousey to insult Triple H and Stephanie McMahon before “laying the SmackDown” on WWE’s power couple.
Moving forward, regardless of his status as an in-ring performer, it is inevitable that The Rock will continue to make WWE appearances when his schedule allows it.
We recently saw the likes of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair return at Raw Reunion, and there is no reason why “The Great One” cannot be used in the same position at a future reunion show.
It has also been reported recently by the Wrestling Observer that WWE is interested in having the 10-time World Champion on the first episode of SmackDown Live on FOX in October.
#1 What does this mean for Roman Reigns?
Granted, this might not be the first question that popped into everybody’s minds when The Rock’s “quietly retired” quote emerged, but it is worth contemplating what the future holds for Roman Reigns if a dream match with his cousin can no longer be considered a possibility.
In media interviews over the last few years, both men have mentioned each other as a possible opponent if they were to choose their dream WrestleMania match in the future, and it seemed like Rock vs. Reigns could realistically happen at some point in the next couple of years.
From Reigns’ perspective, a match against his Hobbs & Shaw co-star would have massively boosted his profile, not only to fans of WWE but also to casual fans who would be tuning in simply to see The Rock.
With this match now seemingly off the cards, WWE will need to find new dream opponents for “The Big Dog” to face in future years.
