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WWE Announces The Rock’s Television Return

By John Canton • Published 23rd February 2024
the rock wwe roman reigns bloodline

The Rock is headed back to WWE television as the Road to WrestleMania 40 starts to heat up.

In the main event of WWE SmackDown from Salt Lake City, the “Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns announced that The Rock was officially part of The Bloodline stable. It’s a group that consists of the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Reigns, his cousins Solo Sikoa & Jimmy Uso and the “Wise Man” Paul Heyman, who is the Special Counsel of the group.

Following the introduction from Reigns, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appeared in a colorful vest similar to the shirts he used to wear about 25 years earlier when he was a top heel in the company. The Rock would go on to insult the fans while continuing to trash Cody Rhodes and referring to his fans as “Cody Crybabies.”

It was announced by WWE on social media that The Rock is returning to television on the March 1st edition of SmackDown next Friday in Glendale, Arizona. In the post that WWE made, they used a photo of The Rock with The Bloodline, which likely means that Reigns and the others in the group will be there too.

That episode of Smackdown will be the first episode of the blue brand after the WWE Elimination Chamber PLE in Perth, Australia.

The Rock’s SmackDown Appearance Led To WWE Breaking Unique Television Record

That appearance by The Rock on SmackDown in Salt Lake City led to big viewership numbers for WWE. It was also an example of Johnson’s power as a ratings draw because he was heavily advertised for the show.

In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer wrote about how WWE SmackDown had the best ratings in the 18-49 age bracket on all of television this past week.

“For the first time in the history of television ratings, which date back to the late 1940s, a pro wrestling television show finished first for the week in network ratings.

Smackdown on 2/16, featuring the first advertised appearance of The Rock on a WWE television show in years, did 2,555,000 viewers and an 0.75 in 18-49.

The total viewer numbers were actually only sixth place for the night and nowhere near the top. But the 18-49 number topped the Thurday night premiere episode of the season of Ghosts (0.67) and Young Sheldon (0.63) on CBS for the top spot of the week.”

At WWE Elimination Chamber this Saturday in Perth, Australia, Roman Reigns’ WrestleMania 40 opponent Cody Rhodes and the World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin” Rollins will be interviewed by Grayson Waller. It’s certainly possible that Rhodes will react to The Rock recently slapping him and perhaps lead to some sort of WrestleMania 40 challenge as well.