Vince McMahon Scandal Not Forcing The Rock Back To WWE
The Rock is in the mix for one more WrestleMania main event but bigger clouds are hanging over the company all because of Vince McMahon.
The Rock was announced as the newest member of the TKO Board back in January 2024 leading to a surge of positivity in the company but it was not to last.
Just one day later the news broke that Vince McMahon faces sexual assault and sex trafficking claims in a bombshell new lawsuit. The details contained in the lawsuit were repulsive with former Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis named in it and Brock Lesnar also implicated.
Vince McMahon resigned from the TKO Board as a result of the scandal and WWE is moving on without him with WrestleMania right around the corner.
WrestleMania is proving to be another headache for WWE as The Rock, Roman Reigns, and Cody Rhodes appear to be one star too many for the show’s main event. Obviously, it is a less serious matter than the allegations made against Vince McMahon but it has shifted focus for WWE fans. Many had wondered if The Rock’s involvement was to give the company some cover from the negativity surrounding McMahon but it seems that was not the case.
The Rock Not Back In WWE Because Of Vince McMahon Scandal
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained that The Rock’s return did not come about as a result of the Vince McMahon scandal but concedes that the company might well be happy that attention has turned from McMahon to The Rock:
I’ve said this before. The idea of the story that Dwayne was brought back after the lawsuit, and they did not know of the lawsuit going in, the date it was released, or anything. Were there people who knew the allegations? I mean, I would hope that the upper management and the board knew. I mean, they knew some of it, but they didn’t know when the thing was going to break. But Dwayne coming back has nothing to do with the lawsuit.
As far as people who were saying that the way that the storyline has gone with Cody as a way to divert from that thing, I mean, it’s possible that played into it. I couldn’t say that it didn’t, because it all happened afterwards. And I’m sure WWE is thrilled that people are focusing on hating Dwayne Johnson, as opposed to thinking about Vince McMahon and kind of being repulsed by the company. I mean, it was fortuitous in its weird way.
But it wasn’t like the timing [was] oh, man, we’re in trouble, we got to call Rock. We’re gonna put Rock in this match. And then we started another problem. That wasn’t the timeline. The timeline with Dwayne and Roman Reigns and all that was January 3. It was very clear that so few people knew because everybody knew that Roman Reigns was wrestling Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania. That was not a secret.
Once Dwayne did that promo, the first time when he mentioned Roman [on January 1st] I mean, you knew that that’s where they were going. It’s just a question of when. And Dwayne wanted it to be Mania, and that’s true. There are people who thought it might be better on another show. I know people who, again, suggested the idea of Saudi Arabia for Dwayne, and Cody for Wrestlemania. But Dwayne wanted Wrestlemania.
What the main event of WrestleMania 40 turns out to be is likely to be resolved very soon as WWE has a huge press conference set for Las Vegas where Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, and The Rock will all be in attendance.