How did The Rock's electrifying SmackDown return come together? Know the story

The Rock returned to WWE SmackDown alonside Pat McAfee. — The Rock returned to WWE SmackDown alongside Pat McAfee.

The WWE Universe will not forget when The Rock made his electrifying return to SmackDown at the September 15, 2023, edition of the blue show. Every person sitting in the arena went berserk, and the video became one of the most watched in WWE’s history.

Even though fans had been hoping for The Brahma Bull to return for a while, there weren’t any concrete plans for this. His appearance at SmackDown was a one-time event. Dwayne Johnson spoke to Jimmy Fallon about how the plan panned out, and he ended up at SmackDown!

“We were in Boulder. I was there for college game day, and I found out the night before that WWE SmackDown is going to be in Denver, which is right up the road. So I called my buddies at WWE, Nick Khan, and I said, ‘Hey man, I heard SmackDown here. Can you confirm that?’ he said, it is.' I said, ‘Good. Well, The Rock is coming to SmackDown’[...] it was really an incredible thing.” [0:12-0:37]

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He appeared on SmackDown to confront Austin Theory. It was an Electrifying Moment to witness The Rock with the mic again, talking in the third person. However, what sent the fans over the moon was him executing a People’s Elbow on Theory!

The Rock was supposed to be present for WrestleMania 39

WrestleMania 39 turned out to be a disappointment for some fans when Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes. Many believed it would be the premium live event where The American Nightmare finally dethroned The Tribal Chief.

Interestingly, it was supposed to be The Brahma Bull instead of Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39. The Rock, Nick Khan, and Vince McMahon had discussed various ways of making it happen, but they couldn’t establish the perfect creative direction for this dream match.

As a result, the original plans for Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns were modified.