Part of the charm of wrestling is that you never know what’s going to happen. Enemies become allies. Friends become foes. And people who have been absent for years suddenly appear to do more than just a cameo. It’s part of what makes this discipline special, in part because most of the people involved in wrestling have an infinite love for it. And among them, few workers have been more consistent and capable of moving the audience with more passion than The Rock and John Cena in WWE.
Last Friday, on Friday Night SmackDown, The Rock made a reappearance on the show to cut a promo alongside Pat McAfee and Austin Theory. Ending with a resounding People’s Elbow on the latter, the audience went wild with Dwayne Johnson’s presence on the program after years away from the ring, even if it was just for a single move.
What WWE’s plans are for The Rock? We don’t know. There’s a lot of talk that he could be the one to face Roman Reigns in the main event of Wrestlemania 41 for the Universal Championship now that Reigns has held the title for three years. But this is still a subject of speculation.
What is not a matter of speculation is that The Rock also had a backstage segment with someone who was, in the past, one of his great rivals: John Cena. After two clashes at WrestleMania, the last one at WrestleMania 29 for the WWE Championship where Cena took the belt from Johnson, the tension between them was palpable. But in the end, they both shared a warm hug, acknowledging each other as what they are: two wrestling legends. An emotional and beautiful moment, only possible in WWE.
