"It was not The Rock's decision"- Wrestling veteran reveals real reason why Final Boss didn't return at WrestleMania (Exclusive)

The Rock's absence remains one of the major talking points from WrestleMania 41. The Final Boss didn't pop up for the main event showdown between Cody Rhodes and John Cena despite being a crucial part of the storyline.

During the latest episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Time Machine on WrestleBinge, host Mac Davis asked Teddy Long for his opinion on the TKO board member's absence from WWE's biggest premium live event of the year.

"I don't think he [The Rock] made that call. That's not his call anyway. So I don't think he made that decision. That decision probably came through Hunter and creative. Like I said, I don't want to count that out. I think that was done maybe for a reason. And I think as we head now into SummerSlam, you're going to see him be more involved and that may be a change with Cena and the title." [From 03:14 onwards]

Elsewhere on the podcast, the former SmackDown manager explained why the fans expected Rock to appear at WrestleMania 41.

"Well, yeah, I think they did because he was involved in so many of the promos and things that led up to these matches at WrestleMania, you know? Yeah, now, if anybody would have been involved in that s**ew up job, that's who I would have liked to see would be The Rock, not Travis Scott."

After winning his 17th World Title at WrestleMania 41, John Cena is now set to defend the title against one of his long-time rivals, Randy Orton, at Backlash next month.

Will The Rock appear in the lead-up to Backlash 2025? It remains to be seen.

Please give a H/T credit to Sportskeeda and embed the YouTube video if you use any quotes from this article.

About the author

Manik Aftab writes Exclusive articles for Sportskeeda Wrestling’s WWE division. A BA (Hons) in English Literature helped him improve his writing skills before starting his career as a pro wrestling writer.

Before joining Sportskeeda, Aftab worked for Ringside News and The Sportster, where his wrestling articles and feature pieces consistently ranked on the first page of Google SERPs.

He prioritizes accuracy, relevance, and ethics in his reporting by conducting thorough research, verifying sources, and adhering to professional journalistic standards.

While Aftab’s favorite wrestler in AEW is Hangman Adam Page, he doesn’t have a favorite in WWE yet. However, he considers Stone Cold Steve Austin to be the greatest professional wrestler of all time. His earliest memory of watching pro wrestling was when The Rock faced The New Age Outlaws in a handicap match, but it was the John Cena vs. Edge match from Unforgiven 2006 that got him hooked. If given the chance to manage a star from the Attitude Era, he would choose The British Bulldog, as he believes Davey Boy Smith was a terrific worker and could've benefitted from having a mouthpiece for his lack of mic skills.

When not watching pro wrestling, Aftab enjoys reading science fiction and watching anime.

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Edited by Jeevak Ambalgi