Right after Dwayne Johnson got his seat on the board of TKO Holdings (WWE’s parent company), the slow-paced storylines took a dramatic turn. Now, every WWE feud between Superstars is being hailed by fans. But The Rock’s initial plan for his return was not so Rockesque.
We all have witnessed that The Rock returned to WWE as a big babyface. Of course, at the time, the veteran thought it would be best to go toe-to-toe with his cousin Roman Reigns, the ultimate heel at the time and The Head of The Table of The Bloodline.
Dwayne Johnson Was Heavily Booed As A Babyface
In his decades-long career, Dwayne Johnson learned the way of the fans, and how they would like his character in WWE. Upon his return, The Rock was a huge babyface but there was one problem, he needed to book a match at WrestleMania 40 and soon snatched Cody Rhodes’ title shot.
Fans heavily booed the People’s Champion for depriving Rhodes of his Universal title shot against Roman Reigns after his Royal Rumble win. “The original plan was for me to come back as the baby face the big baby face,” Johnson said appearing in an episode of The Will Caine Show at Fox News Podcast. “Come back and face Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship and put on here in Philadelphia the biggest main event of all time,” he added.
The Rock revealed that while he had the influence to make his decision as the Board of Directors at TKO, he realized it is far better to give what fans want as they have been invested in WWE’s greatest current babyface, Rhodes. The People’s Champion also revealed that Rhodes gave up his shot for The Rock without question for the sake of the biggest WWE event.
Dwayne Johnson Reveals Why Cody Rhodes Got His WrestleMania Title Shot Back
After being criticized by fans, The Rock decided something better for fans. Why be a babyface when booed? Back in January “I called Nick Khan [WWE President], our friend and I said I have an idea,” Johnson said in The Will Caine Show. “How about this? Why don’t we take care of the people give them the story of Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns?” he added.
“And Nick said great and I said, however, it’s a little bit of a Twist he said what’s that I said what have I became the greatest bad guy of all time and that was the attempt and the intention.”
The Rock further revealed that his idea of heel turn happened in Hawaii. “I woke up and I went God what if I became a bad guy,” The Rock added. And then “I was able to not be pretzel and be freer and be visceral and be open.” It worked, the new storyline for The Rock is captivating as The Final Boss blending his nostalgic heel with a finer touch of the authoritative figure has made him the ultimate and current greatest villain in WWE. The Rock and Reigns will face Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a tag team match at WrestleMania 40.
WrestleMania 40 starts on 6 April 2024 ending with the final night on 7 April.
