WWE legend The Rock recently shed light on his motivations for returning to the Stamford-based company for his current stint.
The Final Boss and Roman Reigns laid a beatdown on Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins on Night One of WrestleMania XL. The Brahma Bull whipped Rhodes with his weight belt and finally planted him with a Rock Bottom and The People's Elbow. With this win, The Rock ensured that the main event of Night Two of The Show of Shows would be contested under "Bloodline Rules."
During the WrestleMania XL Saturday Post-Show Press Conference, The Great One spoke about how the Stamford-based promotion's merger with UFC to form TKO Group Holdings set things in motion for his return. He recalled that there were plans set for him to return at WrestleMania 39 but things did not come to fruition.
"Yes there was, when Ari Emanuel called and said, 'Hey, I'm gonna buy the company.' I said, 'Okay, and what does that strategy look like?' We discussed that. There were talks almost two years ago about me returning to WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles. It felt like everything was gonna dovetail nicely into that, it was a great story. That didn't shake out in the way we had anticipated and that's okay. I had said back then to the people who we were in negotiation with, maybe it's time to put the pencils down and we'll revisit when it feels right," The Rock said. [46:56 - 47:43]
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You can watch the Post-Show Press Conference below:
It remains to be seen what The Brahma Bull will do on Night Two of The Show of Shows.
WWE Superstar The Rock spoke about the contract negotiations
During the same discussion, The Rock mentioned that he completely trusted Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and Nick Khan with the negotiations. The Final Boss revealed that he had known both executives for a long time and was not worried about the fine print.
"I look holistically at the opportunity of doing WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia and a lot of things had to come together. Sure, the agreement and the deal, I'm not worried about that especially when the negotiations were between myself, Ari Emanuel, and Nick Khan, both of whom I've know for a very, very long time...I wasn't concerned about the agreement. My number one priority was, 'Can I come back and add real value this time around?'" The Rock said. [48:08 - 48:53]
The Final Boss wanted to ensure that his current WWE run was more substantial and was not just a one-night return as he had done in the past.
If you use the quotes in this article, please credit WWE and add an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.