By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appeared on Tuesday’s edition of The Pat McAfee Show. The following are the highlights of show that can be viewed in full below or via YouTube.
-On appearing at Elimination Chamber: “I got a call about a month before Elimination Chamber. I get a call from Ari Emanuel, who we know owns TKO, TKO owns WWE, he’s been my long-time business partner and one of my best friends for over 20 years. He said we need help at Elimination Chamber, ticket sales are a little slow. But beyond that, he goes what we are finding is with Elimination Chamber, it’s become the pay-per-view that’s been interesting and fans have had fun, but it’s also the conduit for WrestleMania. And how do we create an Elimination Chamber that people must tune in to see. How do we create that. And he said, ‘Right now we don’t have that. Will The Final Boss show up?'”
Rock on The Final Boss wanting Cody Rhodes’ soul: “It was a litmus test to find out, in my opinion, how will fans respond if Cody sold his soul to The Final Boss? Let’s get a temperature check on this. Let’s establish it, let’s anchor it in. And come to find out, there were a lot of fans who were saying: ‘Sell your soul. This shit is going to be crazy. Whatever it is, it’s compelling, it’s going to be great, let’s do it, sell your soul.’ So I was an advocate of that. Not turning Cody heel soon. But eventually down the line, I like the idea of that because Cody is a smart guy, he’s an intelligent guy, he’s a ring general. And I think this idea of you give him a reason to turn – way down the road by the way – you give him a reason to turn not based on titles, not based on this, but it’s his soul and what that means that affects generations. It’s transcendent beyond pro wrestling and fans were loving it. As we got closer to Elimination Chamber, we were kicking ideas around, myself and Triple H. And that’s the fun part by the way, I’ve been kicking ideas around with Triple H for 20 years, dude. We’re always having a great time with him and Nick (Khan) and my team as well. And Triple H says, ‘What about this, what about John turning? I said I love it, I love it.”
On not appearing during WrestleMania 41 weekend: “So when we were moving forward with John and this idea of him getting crowned at WrestleMania and being a heel champion, I knew then the best thing for the Final Boss, we’ve established this idea for Cody’s soul, we can always come back to it. I did feel and I made the call, I don’t want to be involved in that. Step back. Let the Final Boss step back, back into the shadows. Let all of the spotlight go to John, let it go to Cody. Let’s not make it about Cody’s soul, eventually or John’s soul, no, let’s let them do what they do. And I called John after Elimination Chamber, spoke to him, called Cody, and I said I think the Final Boss’s work is done. We’ve established it, we’ve just pulled off the greatest angle in the history of professional wrestling other than Hulk Hogan turning heel back in the ’90s. I said this is amazing, we have six weeks, now let’s build. You guys go and crush it. And I’ll be right there with you and I’m always here if you need me, but I think it’s best not for the Final Boss to be involved in that finish.
On Cena vs. Cody at WrestleMania 41: “They had six weeks to plan for that. So I loved the finish, finish of the match. I would have finessed things a little differently in how they got there, but that’s just me creatively. There are a lot of minds in the room, that’s my thought, but still, ultimately the bottom line was that I loved John getting 17 (title wins). And I never had a concern about John pulling this off. My thoughts are always to Cody because of what we’ve established with him and his story, and the kind of babyface that he is. So if done right, and I think if finessed right and if it’s nuanced right, down the road that guy not only has an incredible babyface run again as champion but also an unheard of run as a heel down the road.”
Powell’s POV: The Rock also put over Travis Scott’s involvement and said he is either training with Booker T or has plans to. McAfee said he even texted Rock after Scott made his entrance at WrestleMania to see if Rock was going to follow. Rock was highly complimentary of WrestleMania 41 and put over a number of matches. Rock also spoke about his upcoming movie project with Martin Scorsese. One thing Rock failed to mention was the United Football League that he co-owns, which is interesting.
This paints the entire situation in a terrible light. Rock wants to talk about the hottest angle since Hogan turning heel? How about the biggest dropped ball since the Invasion? How about the least satisfying payoff since, I dunno, Vince’s lockbox and his illegitimate son?
Dude is really gonna set up Chekhov’s Final Boss by aligning with the biggest star, and then NOT SHOW UP for the follow-up? And the fact that, if what he’s saying is true, all of this was hotshot booked to pump the EC buyrate.. Holy shit. I guess HHH needs to start writing three layers of back-up plans in case some corporate hotshot makes another Vince-level management decision.
Mania was rubbish top to bottom. Overhyped rubbush. And the main event utter garbage. It was better than WMIX but thats devatable. Rubbish build, thrown together matches, non sensical ‘stories’ … garbage. Awful booking. What a chump of a title run for cody.
So he claims that it is for the best to step back in the shadows (even though he was the key engineer of the angle and foreshadowed involvement to see his plan through) and keep the spotlight on Cena and Cody, but then contradicting that would be non-wrestler celebrity Travis Scott just meandering his way down to ringside of a WM main event, interrupting the match, and being involved in the finish, which he encouraged. I guess that it doesn’t matter much though; with the emphasis on far too time-consuming ring entrances where wrestlers sing to their own theme songs rather than concentrate on actual good match conclusions pro wrestling has become silly and convoluted at this point anyways. I can see why they were/are having trouble selling tickets with both the pricing and lackluster product.
The match and build needed the Rock’s involvement, or, as Jason has been saying in his reviews, some manner of explanation regarding the Rock’s involvement and departure.
They should have stated the Rock was NOT appearing at Mania, and just let Cody and Cena work tje match without a run in. It should have felt personal by that point.
No one wants to revisit this soul business.