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Wrestling legend Bill Apter recently stated that The Rock's appearance on the September 15 edition of WWE SmackDown left him stunned.
The People's Champion's shocking and unexpected appearance for the first time in nearly four years generated a massive pop from the crowd. His subsequent interaction with Austin Theory and Pat McAfee also had the fans hooked. While The Rock's return seemed like a one-off thing for now, it remains to be seen if his schedule would allow him to make more appearances in WWE.
On the latest episode of Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine, Bill Apter stated that Dwayne Johnson showing up on SmackDown was one of the best surprises in recent memory. He added that despite being beaten down, Theory got a great rub as he got to share the ring with a legend of The Rock's stature.
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"I was shocked because this was one of the best-kept secrets ever. Nobody knew about this. First, I had to give a second look to make sure it was him (The Rock) because when his music played, I thought they were gonna bring a guy that looks like The Rock. Wow, absolutely amazed, that whole segment which he had with Pat McAfee and Austin Theory getting the rub, even though he got murdered in the end, he was still in the ring with Dwayne Johnson," said Bill Apter. [1:02 - 1:36]
Check out the full video below:
Dutch Mantell thinks The Rock could show up again on WWE's programming
On a recent episode of Sportskeeda's Smack Talk, Dutch spoke about how SmackDown witnessed a sizable spike in viewership due to The Rock showing up.
The former WWE manager believes that the promotion did not bring The Brahma Bull back only for a one-off appearance and that it could also result in him appearing more often and possibly even competing at WrestleMania 40.
"The Rock was on the show last week, and did a hell of a rating. And I'm watching TV Saturday, I'm a big College Football fan. The Rock was on TV all day Saturday. He was on SmackDown all day Saturday. He was on Gameday. Then he was on the other talk show; then he was on the sidelines with Colorado State Colorado. That game did almost 12 million viewers. So, somebody can tell me now he is not going to be at WrestleMania? I point out that they didn't do that for nothing," said Mantell.
However, following his appearance, it would be interesting to see if The Rock's long-anticipated match with Roman Reigns finally comes to fruition at WrestleMania 40.
What was your reaction to The Rock showing up on WWE SmackDown? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Sportskeeda WrestleBinge and embed the YouTube video if you use quotes from the first half of this article.
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