Is The Rock A New Version of Vince McMahon?

Now, as the GPS signals our ‘destination is ahead,’ we have no clue whether The Rock will even be at WrestleMania this weekend. Sure, there is a chance he is a major part of the show, but he has not been on WWE TV at all on ‘The Road to WrestleMania,’ and whatever connection he has with Cena is not part of the Mania storyline. From a creative perspective, it seems unlikely that The Rock would be part of any bookings for any matches at WrestleMania.

The Rock’s Road To Villian

If The Rock is not at WrestleMania, then could the reason be that he has been making moves outside of the ring but on behalf of the company? When The Rock came back to wrestling, it was at a very specific time in his career. With Dwayne Johnson’s success at the box office, it stood to reason that he would attempt to reach that next level of success for action heroes.

Before Rambo and The Terminator, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were just two of the biggest action stars on the planet. Today, however, they represent the upper echelon of entertainment with partnerships in the franchises they help create. With money machines like Marvel as the blueprint, an action star of today can potentially receive actual partnerships in IP (Intellectual Property).

So, when The Rock signed on to DC’s Black Adam project, he might have seen visions of his own Ironman or Captain America in the form of his own ‘superhero team-up’ event involving iconic characters like Superman and Batman. The Rock has succeeded in action, comedy, and basically everything he’s done in comedy, so it was unfamiliar territory when Warner Bros restrategized and pronounced James Gunn the new head of their creative and long-term storytelling for everything film, TV, animation, and gaming. That move put the nail in a coffin big enough to fit Rock’s Black Adam and Henry Cavil’s Superman.

The Final Loss?

With his dreams of going ‘one-on-one’ with Superman squashed, he pivoted back to wrestling. Whether wrestling was his plan B or the ‘audible’ that moved the ball the furthest, it fills the hole of ‘yearly obligations’ left in the wake of Black Adam getting benched. Unlike his first wrestling run, his HBO TV series, or his early ‘Disney-esc’ family comedies, Rock has skin in the game this time around with WWE thanks to TKO.

After being made a board member, though he does not hold full voting privileges, The Rock has transitioned into a whole other role completely. The Rock did not appreciate earlier reports that he would not be at Mania, but those reports appear genuine if not accurate at the time of reporting. And even if The Rock did plan on showing, he would have been very willing to be a significant surprise—happy to swerve the crowd on the ‘show of shows.’

It could be very possible that Rock’s lack of appreciation for the ‘no-show’ reporting is based on a feeling of being ‘underappreciated.’ After all, The Rock working hard for WWE these days does not necessarily mean that he’s making every show from town to town—rather, in Dwayne’s new role, he could be ‘pounding pavement’ to pick up ‘wins’ for WWE and not just between its ropes.

The Rock Is Just Starting To Roll

In an IG post over the weekend, The Rock was wearing a New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) tee shirt with a Rubik’s cube in hand while jamming out to Eric Clapton’s “Hey, Hey.”

“Slightly intellectually intimidated, but keeping faith alive,” the caption read.

As of now, and despite your favorite podcaster/insider/journalist/Reddit “source,” there are no confirmations on anything related to The Rock and NJPW. Furthermore, The Rock is very smart, a possible genius in the realm of viral marketing and social media content, and this could be a smart way of gaining interest in Rock/WWE from outside its typical market—oh yeah, and the weekend BEFORE WRESTLEMANIA.

A potential shoutout to Hiroshi Tanahashi and elaborate WWE marketing aside, the probability that The Rock is referencing a potential deal with NJPW remains significantly higher than any other time that Rock has given the Japanese-based promotion a shoutout based on his love of wrestling.

The Rubik’s Cube was an interesting easter egg, and while he could be talking about signing a wrestler from the company, it’s unlikely that the promotion would be happy with him. So, the potential deal with NJPW is a significant storyline, whether it is a (not so) simple ‘talent-exchange’ deal similar to what we have seen with TNA and NXT or a full ‘buyout deal’ involving library and licensing agreements.

Final Boss Mode= “No Chance In Hell?”

If you have seen any of the long-format docs/docuseries on Vince McMahon that have debuted in the last couple of decades, then you’ll know his reputation for hostile takeovers and contracts forged on broken promises. McMahon Jr. was ruthless in pursuit of his vision following the purchase of his father’s company.

They were called ‘the territory days,’ and one by one, Vince poached the best talents from each region while securing television deals with which nobody else could compete based on the business’s old model. Today’s wrestling model is different, and its evolution is almost solely based on McMahon’s moves throughout his nearly 50-year tenure.

The one thing that hasn’t changed in the business of wrestling is aggressive counterprogramming and acquisitions based on competitor rivalries.

The Time Has Come To Shut Our Mouths And Know The Rock’s Role?

AEW currently exists as WWE’s biggest domestic competitor and one of the biggest strides made by AEW is its partnership with NJPW, which has been most beneficial. In fact, if you look at NJPW as a company and then look at the ‘founding’ members of the AEW roster, it will be easy to understand the argument that AEW might not exist without NJPW.

If The Rock, who has given shoutouts to companies like Lucha Underground before WWE acquired them, is close to a deal with NJPW that cuts off the talent faucet that has helped to fill up the AEW roster, then it could be checkmate on any current and future challengers to WWE’s throne. WWE has expressed interest in a working relationship with NJPW in the past that did not come to fruition.

Today, the WWE has shown that if you are not with them, you’re against them, and companies like TNA have come into the fold one by one. And if you’re not ‘down with WWE,’ then you risk being counterprogrammed on your promotional date. It is an ugly business, and nobody played it as well as Vince.

But there are few in the business that were able to learn more from Vince than The Rock, and if he is hellbent on creating something for himself — especially now that he is positioned to do so within WWE – then he may start laying the ‘corporate’ smackdown from his chair in the boardroom. There was a time in his career when they said he could be the biggest thing since Hulk. Now, The Rock is in place to be the most significant name in “sports entertainment” since Vincent Kennedy McMahon.