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The Rock made a surprise appearance at the end of the latest episode of Friday Night SmackDown to confront the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
This happened after 2024 Men's Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes told Reigns that he was coming after him, but not at WrestleMania 40.
The People's Champion and The Tribal Chief stared each other down while The American Nightmare left the ring.
The rumored reason behind WWE deciding to have The Rock vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania XL instead of Reigns vs. Rhodes II is because The Great One pushed for the match himself, and his decision was backed by the TKO Group Holdings' Board of Directors.
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With top WWE Superstars like CM Punk and Brock Lesnar out of the picture heading into The Grandest Stage of Them All, WWE reportedly wanted to use a big name to gain some positive momentum for the company.
Although The Rock vs. Reigns is a dream match for many fans, the way it was set up left many fans disappointed as they felt that The Great One stole Cody Rhodes' hard-earned opportunity.
With that being said, let's take a look at eight superstars The Great One has embarrassed during the multiple returns he made to WWE since his last proper match against John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania 29.
#8. The Rock went after Austin Theory in his first WWE appearance in 4 years
The Rock did not appear on WWE television for almost four years until September of 2023.
After taking out Baron Corbin on the 20th anniversary of SmackDown, The Brahma Bull showed up on the blue brand on September 15, 2023, during a segment between Austin Theory and Pat McAfee.
Theory told The Great One that it did not matter what he said and then tried to attack him, but The People's Champion countered and took him out with The People's Elbow. He then encouraged Pat McAfee to hit his own version of The People's Elbow on the former United States Champion.
#7. The Rock joined forces with Becky Lynch to take out Baron Corbin
The Rock was an integral part of the SmackDown brand when it first debuted. He was a part of the main event of the first-ever episode of SmackDown, where he teamed up with WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin to take on The Undertaker and Triple H.
WWE invited The Great One to the 20th anniversary episode of SmackDown on October 4, 2019, which was also the night the blue brand premiered on FOX.
He came out to a huge reaction from the crowd when Baron Corbin, who had won the King of the Ring tournament that year, interrupted then-RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch's promo.
The Great One first destroyed Corbin with his microphone skills and then teamed up with The Man to take him out.
Lynch laid out Corbin with a Leg Drop, which was followed by a People's Elbow from The Rock. The segment ended with the two babyfaces celebrating to a loud ovation from the crowd.
#6. The Rock won a 6-second match at WrestleMania 32 to embarrass The Wyatt Family
WWE was facing an injury crisis on the Road to WrestleMania 32, as top names like John Cena, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Finn Balor, Sting, and Daniel Bryan, now known as Bryan Danielson, were out of in-ring action during that time.
The event, which was headlined by Roman Reigns and Triple H in a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match, featured many moments that felt like they were thrown together at the last minute due to the unavailability of several big names.
WWE brought in The Rock for a segment with The Wyatt Family, which led to a match between The Great One and Erick Rowan, now known as Erick Redbeard. The match was over in six seconds as The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment immediately laid out Rowan with a Rock Bottom when the bell rang to get the win.
Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, and Braun Strowman tried to take out The Rock after the match, but an injured John Cena came out to a huge reaction from the crowd in Arlington, Texas, to join forces with his former rival and take out The Wyatt Family.
#5. The Rock and The Usos put The New Day in their place
During the episode of RAW after the Royal Rumble 2016, The Rock made another shocking return to WWE and was seen on the show in multiple segments throughout the night.
When The Great One came out to speak to the crowd, he was interrupted by then-WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day. Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods came out to boast about the fact that they had successfully defended their titles against The Rock's cousins, The Usos, at the Royal Rumble.
However, it did not end well for the multi-time tag team champions as The Usos attacked them from behind and joined forces with their cousin to lay the smackdown on them.
The Great One took out Big E with a Rock Bottom and then hit a Spinebuster, followed by a People's Elbow on Xavier Woods to an electrifying reaction from the crowd.
#4. The Rock accused Lana of cheating on Rusev
Before The Rock teamed up with The Usos to take out The New Day, he embarrassed Rusev, now known as Miro, earlier that night on RAW.
In a backstage segment during the show, The Rock told Rusev that his real-life wife and manager Lana, now known as CJ Perry, was "flexible" and claimed to have a romantic encounter with her in his hotel room in Brooklyn.
However, this was not the first time The Great One embarrassed the couple. It all started when he interrupted Rusev and Lana during a segment on RAW in October 2014 to confront them.
Rusev, who was the United States Champion, was booked very strongly during that time and was undefeated for a year.
He tried to get physical with The Rock, but the former WWE Champion took him out and stood tall.
The People's Champion claimed that he had a romantic encounter with Lana on the same night. Still, later, Rusev went on to reveal in an interview that it was a fabricated story as The Rock's encounter with him left a bad taste in the former WWE Champion's mouth.
#3. The Rock took out Big Show and Kane to help Roman Reigns
The Rock's next appearance in WWE after an encounter with Rusev and Lana in October 2014 was at the Royal Rumble 2015, where he came out to help his cousin Roman Reigns win the Men's Royal Rumble Match.
Reigns was being attacked by then-WWE Director of Operations Kane and Big Show on the orders of The Authority as they did not want the former Big Dog to win the Royal Rumble match.
The Great One showed up to help Reigns take out Kane and Big Show, after which Reigns eliminated Rusev to win the match.
This left the fans disappointed, and they booed Reigns and The Rock as the two cousins celebrated Roman's victory.
#2. The Rock ruined Jinder Mahal's unexpected return
WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H teased before the Day 1 special episode of RAW this year that a former WWE Champion would appear on the show.
The announcement from Triple H got fans excited. On the night of the show, the fans were left disappointed for a few minutes as the returning former WWE Champion turned out to be Jinder Mahal.
However, The Modern Day Maharaja was not the person Triple H was talking about. It was The Rock who Triple H spoke of, as The Great One interrupted Mahal, which left many fans in shock.
Mahal was calling the United States of America a disappointment, which led to The Great One coming out to confront him and ultimately taking him out with a People's Elbow when Mahal made things physical.
After embarrassing The Modern Day Maharaja, The People's Champion teased sitting at the Head of the Table, and it seemed like he was heading in that very direction after what happened on the latest episode of SmackDown.
#1. The Rock stole Cody Rhodes' spotlight
The Rock returning during what was supposed to be Cody Rhodes' moment on the SmackDown after the 2024 Royal Rumble Premium Live Event left The American Nightmare in shock.
Before CM Punk got injured during the Men's Royal Rumble Match, WWE seemingly wanted to book Punk vs. Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship and Reigns vs. Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 40.
However, Punk's injury likely caused a sudden change in plans, and it seems like WWE will now have Rhodes challenge Reigns at the Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event in Perth, Australia, later this month.
The Stamford-based company probably wants Reigns, who was not advertised for the event before, to compete at Elimination Chamber 2024, as big names like Punk or Rollins will not be able to compete there.
Rhodes will likely lose to Reigns there and go on to challenge Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40.
Rhodes was a workhorse for the Stamford-based promotion throughout the last year and was probably going to dethrone Reigns as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion at WrestleMania 40.
Unfortunately for The American Nightmare, The Rock's return has become an obstacle in the path to finishing his story.
What do you think the future holds for The Great One? Sound off in the comments section below!
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