Since his return to TV this past Friday night on SmackDown, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has divided opinion among WWE fans. The foreshadowed clash between The Great One and The Tribal Chief is one that the company have wanted to put on for many years, but the potential match has caused outrage among viewers who feel strongly about Cody Rhodes using his Royal Rumble title shot to challenge Roman Reigns, so much so that audience members are getting behind The American Nightmare and opposing The Rock.
To discuss this, Dave Meltzer has said on Wrestling Observer Radio that Dwayne Johnson is unaffected by any crowd reaction, stating that Rock only cares about the interest in the product and the subsequent revenue it generates.
“Here’s the deal with him. He doesn’t care if he’s booed or cheered. I promise you, he doesn’t care. His validation is based on purely one thing, and that’s box office, that’s purely revenue, that’s it. I know like, boo, cheer, whatever. It’s like, did it draw a sellout? This was gonna draw a sellout either way, but, is the interest level in the product up? And if the interest level in the product’s up then that’s the goal. The goal at the end of the day is interest in the product.”
-Dave Meltzer
Then, Meltzer maintained that the deal for The Rock to step back in the ring at WrestleMania was something which was lined up weeks ago, saying that it isn’t a coincidence that the T-Mobile Arena was booked way in advance.
“I know some people want to believe that the Punk injury or the Vince stuff is the reason for the Dwayne stuff, but, and I had mentioned before that that’s not the case, but they had booked T-Mobile for Thursday, with Dwayne, long ago. Someone there kinda just mentioned in passing, you know, It’s not like you can get T-Mobile Arena four days in advance for something that was changing. This thing had to be booked way in advance. So, this thing was, you know, when I mentioned January 3rd, it was being talked about. To make a date and have an agreement January 3rd, there was pretty much an understanding well before that. They kept that one quiet. And however it plays out, whatever it is it’s working. I think they’re absolutely thrilled.”
-Dave Meltzer
As it stands, it seems as if we are heading towards a main event of The Rock vs Roman Reigns this April, but we will have a much clearer indication of the direction after this Thursday’s WrestleMania 40 press event.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on The Rock and his WrestleMania plans as we hear more.
