Veteran manager's bombshell claims about The Rock's absence from WWE; drops "steal some spotlight" comment

Modified Mar 30, 2025 06:21 GMT

The Rock during his WWE appearances before WrestleMania XL [Image: WWE.com]

Former WWE manager Jim Cornette recently spoke about The Rock's absence from the company. The star has not appeared since the Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event.

The Final Boss orchestrated John Cena's heel turn at Elimination Chamber. He joined forces with Cena and rapper Travis Scott to decimate the Undisputed WWE Champion at the PLE. However, the Hollywood star has been away from TV tapings since then, not showing up for the buildup to WrestleMania.

During a recent episode of Jim Cornette's Drive Thru, the veteran explained that WWE likely wanted the focus to be on Cena and Cody, two of their biggest stars. He felt this was a defining moment for both, one on the verge of retiring and the other the current champion in WWE's most profitable era. Cornette stated that The Rock shouldn't come in and take the spotlight for the marquee matchup.

"The announcers can be instructed as these things to say. But the people doing the 25-minute segments are the guy who's retiring and the other guy who's on top during their hottest period, and I don't think they want to talk about it a lot, either one of them. I think they're doing what they're doing to get the attention on them and their match, and not on people who might want to steal some spotlight." [From 13:10 - 13:38]

The Rock was heavily involved in WrestleMania XL

Just one year ago, The Rock had a strong impact on the Road to WrestleMania XL. He adopted The Final Boss persona, resulting in an intriguing buildup to The Show of Shows.

Apart from making several appearances before 'Mania, The Rock also competed in the main event of Night One in a tag team match. He teamed up with Roman Reigns to take on Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.

He also showed up to the main event of Night Two, trying to shift the odds in favor of his cousin, Roman Reigns.

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It will be interesting to see if The Final Boss appears at The Show of Shows this year in Vegas.

If you use the quotes from this article, please credit Jim Cornette's Drive Thru and add an H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcript.

About the author

Prityush is a WWE news writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling who started watching wrestling in the later part of The Attitude Era. Although he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Prityush was a creative writer for his college, and his flair for creativity and love of pro wrestling eventually led him to the journalism field. After an initial stint in 2016-2017, he has been writing regularly for Sportskeeda since 2021.

As someone who loves and respects the business, he prides himself on factual, clean, and ethical reporting, free of plagiarism and AI usage. One of the ways he ensures this is by transcribing videos that he reports on.

Prityush had the privilege of interviewing superstar Matt Hardy in his career so far. Although, his favorite wrestler is CM Punk, as he relates to his Straight Edge philosophy.

When he is not reporting news, he loves reading and collecting WWE action figures. He currently owns over 500 wrestling figures and merchandise.

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Edited by Neda Ali