What's next for The Rock?

Does the WWE need The Rock, or does Dwayne Johnson need WWE?

Last year,  when Travis Scott was the stand-in for The Rock at Wrestlemania 42, a spectacle that was the payoff to the shocking heel turn, a character switch that many fans wanted to see for years, of John Cena, there was rightfully a lot of discontent with how underwhelming the scenario played out after the angle itself had generated such a buzz when Cena finally turned heel, attacking Cody Rhodes at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view two months earlier.

"The Final Boss" was the catalyst for the heel turn, promising to use his stroke in Hollywood to secure John Cena more lucrative acting roles and an even more famous reputation. As The Rock quickly faded from the storyline, Cena was forced to carry the angle on his own, cutting promos to blame the fans' initial rejection of him more than 15 years earlier as the reason behind the change in his persona.

When The Rock was MIA at Wrestlemania, reports began to surface about dissension behind the scenes, specifically that Johnson wanted Cody to turn heel, a notion that Rhodes declined because his baby face role as champion was solidified just the previous year, and Cena was actually the back-up plan to align with The Rock on-screen. There was at least some credibility to that speculation since it would explain why The Rock dropped out of sight shortly after the heel turn from Cena. 

Of course, this followed rumors of creative differences in 2024 when The Rock was originally slated to take Cody's spot and challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE championship before a complete fan revolt prompted another change of plans so that the Cody/Roman rematch took place as scheduled. In the aftermath, the WWE suites tried to claim that the match was the plan all along, but it was clear that TKO saw The Rock as the bigger star, even if his role would've been essentially a cameo instead of a long term payoff.

The sum total of the possible tension between The Rock and Triple H, who took over WWE creative after Vince McMahon was exiled in disgrace, was that given the amount of smoke, there was probably at least some spark of fire. One thing is fur sure, last year's Wrestlemania was deemed underwhelming because the fans didn't get to see The Rock involved, which was key because he had a role in the tag match that led to Cody's initial championship victory the previous year. Furthermore, there was also a level of anticipation for Cody/Rock, Roman/Rock, or both. Neither of those combinations happened, and The Rock has been off the WWE radar after the one-off appearance at the Bad Blood pay-per-view that didn't lead to anything.

Don't get me wrong, The Rock was the right guy to add to the TKO board in the aftermath of the Vince McMahon scandal since it put a public face to the company that was viewed in a relatively favorable light. Doom was still going to be considered a flop, but one of the top action stars in Hollywood as a representative of the company was the right PR move in 2024.

Since his virtual disappearance from the sports entertainment organization, the Bloodline angle has lingered on way longer than it should have, which makes you wonder, does The Rock have another stint in the ring left in the tank to put a bow on the entire Samoan dynasty storyline? At this point, the angle has started to recycle concepts and yielded diminishing returns within the past few months. Unless the door is being kept open for a potential Roman Reigns vs. The Rock bout, everyone involved would be better served to move on to something fresh on the shows.

Depending on Dwayne Johnson's next move in Hollywood, I don't think it's unrealistic to expect him to get back in the ring at some point before he officially hangs up his boots.

The live action version of Moana, a franchise with a previous track record of success, hit theaters two weeks ago and so far has been considered a flop at the box office. With a reported $250 million budget, the film has garnered just over $186 million during that time. Media outlets have cited that with the addition of advertisement and other production costs, the movie could end up losing close to $100 million for Disney studios. The massive loss on the live action Moana was a follow up from Johnson's dismal box office performance for last year's The Smashing Machine, the film based on the life of MMA legend, Mark Kerr. Produced by A24, the same company behind The Iron Claw that generated positive reviews, The Smashing Machine looked to be Johnson's attempt to prove that he wasn't simply a fireworks action star, but rather that there was an example of the art of film on his resume. I covered the $6 million dud on its opening weekend so there no reason to rehash it, but Mark Kerr was a name from before the surge in popularity of MMA in 2005 so the premise didn't connect with the modern audience, and Johnson's somewhat obtuse portrayal of Kerr wasn't enough to get moviegoers to buy a ticket the way that the reviews of A24's Iron Claw did. The Smashing Machine totaled just over $21 million against its $50 million budget, yielding a $30 million loss on the movie. Black Atom was reported to have netted a loss, and Disney's Jungle Cruise was estimated to have lost nearly $100 million, partially due to the restrictions of the pandemic, partially the international market.

Obviously, not every film is going to be a smash hit, that's just part of the movie business, but there was a point in time that slapping Dwayne Johnson's name on a preview was enough to get the general public to at least sample the movie, Reviews might've been mixed for some of his early work, but profit is profit. However, as the movie industry continues to evolve, along with the rest of the media landscape, the leeway that moviegoers have for a subpar production declined significantly. Despite the proclamations of the death of movie theaters, there was a consolidation instead, both in the number of locations, as well as the amount of films that the audience was willing to leave their house to watch at any given time. Consumers still go to the movies, just not as often, and as unfortunate as it is, the number of theaters decreased to adjust to the market after the major push from streaming platforms to get a piece of the pie through home-viewing. Don't get me wrong, the experience of the big screen can absolute compliment the quality of a great film, but as some point, it becomes more convenient and more cost effective to wait to watch it on a streaming service on your couch.

That's the reality of the modern movie business. In short, there's still money to be made, but there are more hurdles to profitability than any other time in history. Basically, the selling point has to be strong, as there are too many other options for viewers. It's possible that the shift of the paradigm in the movie industry hindered Dwayne Johnson's drawing power, and the current trend implies that casting him for a film might be a financial risk. Granted, some of that is because it's more difficult to get viewers to the box office, but the bottom line is, revenue is revenue so if Johnson took the credit for the hits, he has to accept at least part of the blame for the duds.

At certain points during his involvement in the product, WWE management made the mistake of assuming that anything that involved The Rock would be quality, but that wasn't the case. A few of his appearances became nonsensical with rambling promos, and the post-PPV press conference appearances were cringe worthy.

Still, WWE could be Dwayne Johnson's ticket back to the top of the box office.

Given the amount of emphasis that TKO puts on mainstream headlines, even at the expense of the quality of the product, it could provide a scenario that is beneficial to everyone involved. The Rock's involvement was left unfinished, either for a match with Roman, Cody, or both. There's a legitimate case to be made that he has work to do in the WWE that the current audience would pay to see. At the same time, if The Rock agrees to another match, he will get the mainstream exposure of ESPN, possible commercials on UFC pay-per-views, and the international publicity through the Netflix platform. If The Rock wrestles for a record gate at a stadium show, or a record audience on the ESPN app, it undoubtedly restores some of the shine to Dwayne Johnson's star power that might've faded with the box office blunders.

While I wouldn't expect Dwayne Johnson to be desperate to get back in the ring, and he would still hold most of the cards in negotiates for another bout, I don't think it's unrealistic that he will lace up the boots one more time either, especially with how it could improve the perception of his star power in Hollywood. At 54. the return to the ring would realistically have to be within the next year or so, and if I had to guess, I'd say that he would be willing to make a comeback to work with his cousin, Roman Reigns, which would be a major draw for a pay-per-view.