When did The Rock return to WWE?

Ever since making his comeback to the Stamford-based promotion, The Rock has been the talk of the town among the fans. Moreover, on the recent episode of WWE Smackdown, the return of the Rock's Hollywood theme and his concert has got the WWE Universe chattering non-stop about The People's Champion.

For those unaware, The Great One is also scheduled to compete at this year's WrestleMania, where he will team up with Roman Reigns to face Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a tag team showdown with some implications on the main event the next night.

The Hollywood star started his current run in the company on January 1, 2024, during an episode of Monday Night RAW, where he confronted Jinder Mahal and delivered his signature moves to him. The People's Champion dropped a bombshell when he teased challenging Roman Reigns when he mentioned sitting at the 'Head of the Table.'

Later, on January 23, 2024, the Stamford-based promotion made a game-changing announcement by disclosing that The Rock was joining the TKO Group Holdings as a member of the Board of Directors.

After this, Cody Rhodes emerged as the victor in the Men's Royal Rumble Match and decided to confront Roman Reigns on the February 2, 2024, episode of WWE SmackDown. However, during this, The American Nightmare disclosed that after some discussion, he had decided not to finish his story at WrestleMania 40. This led to the arrival of the Hollywood megastar, who first hugged Rhodes and then indulged in a heated face-off with the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

However, things took an unexpected turn at the WrestleMania XL Kickoff press event, where Rhodes changed his mind and revealed that he is indeed challenging Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40, intending to finish his story. Fans were in utter shock when The Rock stood alongside Roman Reigns after Rhodes seemingly disrespected the Samoan faction and even slapped The American Nightmare.

Subsequently, on WWE SmackDown, Roman Reigns declared The Most Electrifying Man as the newest member of The Bloodline. After weeks of build-up between Rock, Roman, Seth Rollins, and Cody Rhodes, WWE announced a tag team match between these four stars at WrestleMania Night One.

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Will The Rock appear on next week's episode of WWE SmackDown?

As of writing, the Stamford-based promotion is not advertising The Rock for the forthcoming episode of the blue brand, which could indicate his possible absence from the show. However, the company has announced a high-profile segment featuring The Tribal Chief and The American Nightmare, both of whom will be involved in a face-to-face showdown.

It will be interesting to witness how things will unfold when the Night Two headliners are in the same ring next week.