"Absolute bulls**t" - The Rock Might be Distancing Himself From WWE, Veterans Predict

The Rock hasn't been seen in WWE for a while, and many wondered what went wrong between management and Dwayne Johnson ahead of WrestleMania 41. Meanwhile, Vince Russo and Jonathan Coachman believe The Brahma Bull might be distancing himself from the product.

The Rock was set to play a key figure heading into WrestleMania 41 as John Cena sold his soul and turned heel at Elimination Chamber 2025. Unfortunately, the 53-year-old WWE star vanished from the Stamford-based promotion, and currently, there are no signs of whether he will return to the weekly product.

Recently, WWE announced a massive deal with ESPN, and Triple H, Nick Khan, and Paul Heyman promoted the announcement in various appearances. During the promotions, Heyman was asked about The Rock on The Ariel Helwani Show, and the WWE Hall of Famer didn't directly address the situation.

Speaking on Behind The Turnbuckle Studios' The Coach and Bro Show, Jonathan Coachman and Vince Russo reacted to Paul Heyman's segment and stated that The Rock might be distancing himself from the product due to the rumored backstage politics.

"So, this guy [Paul Heyman] is talking about, I don't pay attention to gossip in the back. So, in other words, Triple H is not letting Paul Heyman know what is going on with The Rock situation on a daily basis. It's gossip? I don't believe it. It's absolute bulls**t, coach. Absolute B.S, and you can tell," Russo said. (From 35:48 to 36:10)

Coachman also pointed out that The Rock's XFL, now rebranded as UFL following the merger with USFL, is showcased on ESPN and Fox, yet The Final Boss didn't promote WWE's new deal.

"I'm so glad that you mentioned that [The Rock's backstage issues with the company] because if you're announcing a 1.6 billion dollar deal, wouldn't you bring in your most famous asset who owns a football league whose games air on ESPN and on Fox? But The Rock was nowhere to be found in the last two days," Coachman said. (From 38:04 to 38:30)

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Ex-WWE employee thinks The Rock sabotaged WrestleMania 41 on purpose

The Rock was supposed to play a crucial role heading into WrestleMania 41. Numerous reports and speculations suggest that The Final Boss and the management had some creative differences before the event.

Speaking on Behind The Turnbuckle Studios, Tommy Carlucci thinks the rumors and speculations of the backstage issues are real, and The Final Boss sabotaged WrestleMania 41 on purpose when management went ahead with their plans instead of The Rock's ideas.

"I think he sabotaged WrestleMania, Coach. He sabotaged. And then they put that Travis Scott on, and then he knew that he was going to s**t the bed and people were going to crap all over it, but he doesn't care, man. It's his ego. He's got an angle for everything," Carlucci said.

It'll be interesting to see if The Rock will ever return to the product as an on-screen performer.

If you use quotes from the article, please credit Behind The Turnbuckle Studios and provide an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.