Credit: WWEDuring last night’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw, Dwayne Johnson was booed by the fanbase that once considered him one of the greatest entertainers of all time.
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There’s no doubt that Dwayne Johnson has made his mark on entertainment. After making his feature film debut in The Mummy Returns (2001) and The Scorpion King (2002), Johnson has gone on to star in some of the most successful movies in Hollywood.
This includes playing characters like Luke Hobbs in Fast X (2023), Frank Wolff in Jungle Cruise (2021) opposite Emily Blunt, Raymond Gaines in San Andreas (2015), Dr. Xander “Smolder” Bravestone in the Jumanji series, and the titular hero in Black Adam (2022).
All of this success began with professional wrestling, specifically the WWE. Debuting as Rocky Maivia, Johnson soon rebranded himself as The Rock, becoming arguably the most popular professional wrestler of all time. His multiple title reigns and rivalries with Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena, Mankind, CM Punk, Chris Jericho, and Hulk Hogan are all legendary.
Now, Rocky has made his return to sports entertainment as a member of the board for TKO, the company that now owns WWE. However, his return has not been as celebrated as many would have hoped.
The People’s Champ No More, Fans Have Turned on Dwayne Johnson
Usually, professional wrestling is a genre that loves its legends. If you want a positive reaction from the crowd, just bring in an older wrestler to get the nostalgia flowing. Nobody is more beloved than The Rock, or at least that’s what people thought until recently when he seemingly took the Wrestlemania main event match against Roman Reigns from WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes.
Since then, WWE fans across the internet have been cursing the Brahma Bull’s name, with #WeWantCody trending all over social media. Eventually, it bled over into the live show when the crowd started booing Johnson and chanting, “Rocky sucks,” even though he wasn’t in the building. This led to World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins saying, “I gotta be honest with you, I didn’t think I was gonna hear that one.”
@tntsports ROCKY SUCKS CHANTS ON WWE RAW! 😳 #wwe #wweraw #therock #codyrhodes #sethrollins
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Despite WWE seemingly scrubbing any clips of this from YouTube, you can easily find the moment on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok. It makes you wonder: what is The Rock thinking by doing all this? Well, if rumors are to be believed, there is a method to the madness.
Why is He Doing This?
From an outsider’s point of view, booking The Rock to win the title seems like a no-brainer. He’s easily the most famous wrestler of all time, and there’s a good story about him battling the current champion, who is a distant relative. However, that’s not the story fans want to see.
For a long time, Rhodes has been talking about “finishing the story,” which means becoming the WWE Champion, a title his dad, wrestling icon Dusty Rhodes, never won. After losing to WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns last year, the story still isn’t finished. The man has gone through hell and back to get back to where he is, and WWE fans want to see him succeed, including 49ers tight end George Kittle.
@nfl @George Kittle knows what he wants to see 📝 #georgekittle #sanfrancisco49ers #nfl #superbowl #wwe
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Many fans believe this is an attempt to make Cody Rhodes even more popular than ever by reprising a similar moment that happened years ago to wrestler Bryan Danielson. Despite Danielson being immensely popular, the brass at WWE felt there was more money to be made with Dave Bautista returning to sports entertainment. However, fans made their voice heard, eventually getting Danielson back into the main event.
Many people think that WWE is trying to make this purposely happen again in order to make Rhodes the face of the company, on the same level as John Cena, Hulk Hogan, and The Rock were before. But can they make it through the media firestorm that comes before that moment?
Do you think Dwayne Johnson should take a step back from the WWE? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below.