The Rock's role in WWE following major announcement - Reports

In a groundbreaking move, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was appointed to the Board of Directors of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company that officially merged WWE and UFC.

With that being said, the multi-time World Champion has also acquired the trademark rights to his stage name 'The Rock' through an intellectual property agreement. The deal, outlined in an SEC filing, also netted him over $30 million in TKO stock, adding to his growing business portfolio.

Many fans wondered if The Great One had access to the hiring and firing process after becoming a real-life corporate figure of World Wrestling Entertainment. Well, Dave Meltzer has cleared the air on the significant role of Dwayne Johnson in the company's board.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer mentioned that the 51-year-old legend has no right to recruit and release WWE talents or other staff; those duties still remain with Nick Khan and Triple H.

However, according to the wrestling journalist, Dwayne Johnson would still have an influence on the major decisions moving forward, and he will oversee direction and other media aspects of WWE programming.

"In theory, that would be the WWE hiring and firing would be (under) Nick Khan, and the talent would be Paul 'Triple H' Levesque. Dwayne (Johnson) would be the part of the crew that oversees them and as far as other types of directions and stuff, he would have input. But he (The Rock) would not be directly on the hiring firing. Would he have an influence? Hell yeah."

John Cena calls himself a hypocrite for calling out The Rock

The 16-time World Champion John Cena recently appeared on Logan Paul's IMPAULSIVE podcast and discussed real-life heat with The Great One.

Back in 2012, when Johnson and John Cena were involved in a feud, the latter called out the former for leaving WWE and pursuing Hollywood. However, after following the same path to the film industry, The Leader of Cenation admitted he was wrong to take shots at Dwayne Johnson.

"I spent years calling out The Rock saying, man, if you love the business you should be back. What a f**king hypocrite I am. I love the business, I should be back all the time, but I’m not," Cena said.

The WWE Universe is expecting to see The Great One at the Royal Rumble on January 27, following his corporate place in the company. It remains to be seen if the 51-year-old legend will show up at the Tropicana Field.

What do you think of The Rock's new role in WWE? Sound off in the comments section below.