WWE Reveals When The Rock Will Come Back To SmackDown
While Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will not be present for WWE's international Elimination Chamber event this weekend, he is expected to be back on television very soon. As announced by X (formerly Twitter), Johnson will return to "WWE SmackDown" on March 1 as WWE heads to the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
BREAKING: @TheRock returns to #SmackDown next Friday, March 1, LIVE in Glendale, AZ!
🎟️ https://t.co/mEWCTNFgfl pic.twitter.com/vD8GICv1ni
— WWE (@WWE) February 23, 2024
Johnson's most recent appearance took place on last week's episode of "SmackDown," in which he firmly pledged his allegiance to The Bloodline. Now embodying the attitude of a heel, Johnson took several verbal jabs at the live Utah audience, in addition to the general WWE Universe, whom he referred to as "crybaby b******." Johnson, who had originally been set up to challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 40, also expressed his disdain for Cody Rhodes, who has since been penciled in to face Reigns instead.
Johnson initially resurfaced on the January 1 episode of "WWE Raw," where he came face-to-face with another former WWE Champion, Jinder Mahal. After trading fiery words with one another, Johnson nailed Mahal with a spinebuster, followed by The People's Elbow. With Mahal now laid out, Johnson seemingly shifted his attention to his cousin, Roman Reigns, asking the audience if he should consider taking a seat at the head of the table.
Three weeks later, WWE confirmed that Johnson had also secured a high-profile corporate role, as he was officially appointed to the board of directors for WWE's parent company — TKO Group Holdings. Meanwhile, Johnson's daughter, Ava, was named as the new General Manager for "WWE NXT."