The Rock made a surprise return to WWE earlier this year, showing up on SmackDown to teach Austin Theory a lesson. Likely only able to do that because of the actors' strike in Hollywood, even though there's an obvious match waiting for him at WrestleMania, there's no telling if and when Rock will be back in WWE again. However, one of the many children The Rock met when granting wishes before Christmas may have been given the inside scoop.
The Rock's Return
Rock shared pictures from his day working with Make-A-Wish, sharing lots of special moments with fans and giving us a little insight into his interactions with all 21 of the special children he met that day. When speaking with Jayden Harden about some of his favorite matches and moments from wrestling history, Rock may have told the young fan that there will be a time in the future when he returns to WWE, letting others in on what he said via the Instagram post below.
I told him a little secret that may or may not involve some dude returning to WWE to lay the SmackDown on all their candy asses.
Hours before The Rock returned on SmackDown, the future Hall of Famer revealed that there were plans in place for him to return at WrestleMania 39 and challenge Roman Reigns for the title. That didn't happen, but Rock hinted it might go down in the main event of WrestleMania 40 instead. Perhaps that's the return Rock spoke to Jayden about last week.
The Strikes Are Over, Plans Change
The Hollywood strikes are over now, of course, which may well have derailed any plans Rock and WWE tentatively had in place. Not only will Rock have returned to his movie projects - including an A24 film in which he will portray a UFC fighter - but he and the rest of the movie industry is now playing catch up on the time lost during the strikes.
There's also the plan WWE presumably still has in place for Cody Rhodes. It feels like the only reason Rhodes lost to Reigns at this year's WrestleMania is so he can avenge that loss in Philadelphia. My stance on all of this remains the same. That Rhodes should get his win over Reigns before WrestleMania, freeing up The Tribal Chief to wrestle his cousin without a title on the line because, well, that match is big enough already. It doesn't need gold to make it feel bigger.
