The Rock’s recent heel turn was reportedly pitched by the man himself.
When fan backlash in response to his recent SmackDown return became overwhelming, The Rock turned heel for the first time in several years, standing alongside Roman Reigns after initially challenging him for WrestleMania 40. This meant that the direction for April’s spectacle seemed to be a tag team match pitting the Samoan family members against Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.
To comment on this, Dave Meltzer has written in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the idea for The Rock’s recent heel turn came from the man himself, with The Great One also responsible for the potential tag match against the 2024 Royal Rumble winner and current World Heavyweight Champion.
“There is said to be far more behind the scenes that hasn’t come out but given the timing can’t be talked about now. But Johnson over the weekend said it was best to be out of the Reigns match, put Cody in, which by this point everyone conceded by then. It was Johnson who then pitched the heel turn and he did pitch the idea of the Reigns & Rock vs. Rhodes & Rollins match for night one. So that was his idea if that is how it turns out.”
-Dave Meltzer
Of course, the tag match between Rock, Reigns, Rhodes and Rollins is yet to be confirmed. But, with both The Great One and The Tribal Chief set to appear on SmackDown tonight, it’s likely that we’ll have a clearer indication as to whether this will come to fruition very soon.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on The Rock and the plan for WrestleMania 40 as soon as we hear more.
