As the WWE works to rebound and gain back any ground it may have lost after halting touring and live shows throughout 2020-21, some wild reveals have been surfacing. John Cena will most likely square off against Roman Reigns at SummerSlam 2021, which will also feature Bobby Lashley vs. Goldberg. There's also been the rampantly discussed rumor that WWE fans may see Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson making a big return to the brand later in the year, and now The Rock has finally broken his silence about the topic, and while the response isn't likely to ever happen, it would be amazing if it did.
Are the rumors that The Rock will return to the WWE, perhaps at Survivor Series 2021, at all legitimate? Entertainment Tonight asked Dwayne Johnson if he had anything to tease regarding an in-ring return, and the actor's initially bleak answer was bolstered and spun into something exciting by his co-star in Disney's already well-received Jungle Cruise, Emily Blunt. Here's the exchange:
JOHNSON: There's nothing.BLUNT: It's gonna be me and him.JOHNSON: Yeah, it's gonna be a tag team.BLUNT: Gonna be me and him, and there's gonna be a big fight.
I think it's rather obvious that Emily Blunt was making a joke, although it would be cool if she had the power to instantly hypnotize The Rock into believing her claims about potential pro wrestling exploits. Still, she may not want to tempt Vince McMahon by speaking an idea like that into the abyss. After all, he's brought tons of celebrities into the WWE ring before, including Cyndi Lauper, William Shatner, Stephen Amell, and even former President Donald Trump. The Edge of Tomorrow star showing up as The Rock's tag-team partner wouldn't even be close to the weirdest thing the WWE has done in the past year. Though I still wouldn't expect it to happen in either case, and not only because Disney has no stake in McMahon's company.
We can only trust The Rock on his word, and to be quite honest, he could be telling the truth in the moment while still not ruling out a possible return. After all, Survivor Series is a November event, so any possible plans may not be formulated yet, even if unofficial agreements were made. And he might have just meant there's nothing to tease because he's legally bound to not tease anything. Or, as it goes, the rumors might just be patently false.
Speaking personally, I can certainly believe the rumor that Dwayne Johnson will return to the WWE. With that said, I would think whatever is being planned will be something short and sweet utilizing as few appearances as possible to still sell a meaningful arc. After all, The Rock is one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood and is often in high demand. I'd have to think whatever he'd be doing would be something that puts him at little risk for injury, and without a huge time commitment, but something that still gets fans on their feet. Honestly, something as left-field as a tag-team match with Emily Blunt could be just that. Again, that's probably not something that's going to happen, but we can still dream.
CinemaBlend will continue to monitor whether or not The Rock will confirm his return to the WWE, especially with the number of major returns rumored in recent weeks. Unfortunately for the WWE, quite a few of those are happening over at AEW, which could really up the rival organization's competitive element in the coming year.
