Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, 47, couldn’t have picked a better moment to return to the gem of WWE television, SmackDown. The show officially made the jump from USA Network to Friday nights on Fox prime time on Oct. 4, and the Friday night episode also happened to be the SmackDown‘s 20th anniversary celebration. But WWE history was made even more when The Rock stepped out from a neon blue tunnel, his biceps even more gargantuan than usual, all to the electrifying tune of heavy metal guitars. It’s a dramatic entrance that fans haven’t seen since 2013, and one they hadn’t been anticipating until recently — The Rock revealed that he “quietly retired” from wrestling on Live with Kelly & Ryan in Feb. 2019.
The People’s Champion teamed up with another WWE legend — Becky Lynch, AKA “The Man” — to face off against Baron Corbin. The Rock drove fans wild after he called “The King of the Ring” a “broke a** Burger King on crack,” and continued to wield the mic to verbally annihilate his and Becky’s rival in true WWE style. “That’s what happens when you come out and you insult the people,” The Rock told Baron, after the latter attempted to diss the Jumanji star and Becky. He continued, “And that’s what happens when you come out and you insult the jabroni-beating, pie-eating, trailblazing, eyebrow-raising from Los Angeles all the way to Japan. You’re getting ready to get your monkey a** whooped by The Rock and The Man!”
Indeed, “monkey a**” was whooped. The Rock and The Man tag-teamed The King of the Ring, and the ambush included multiple sucker punches and a trademark People’s Elbow from Dwayne. There’s a reason The Rock has held 17 championship reigns throughout his WWE career, which began in 1996.
The Rock is back and he's still cookin' 😤
(via @WWE) pic.twitter.com/LQiVB6ccbI
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 5, 2019
.@TheRock & #TheMan @BeckyLynchWWE just laid the SMACKDOWN on King @BaronCorbinWWE to kick off the era of @WWEonFOX. pic.twitter.com/t03lWdA96D
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) October 5, 2019
The Rock’s shade and muscles floored WWE viewers. “The rock is the goat on the mic,” one fan tweeted, while another viewer wrote, “The Rock is a lil thick 😍😍😍 anddddd he still got it!” A third fan was amused by The Rock’s theatrics, tweeting, “The Rock is a pure entertainer.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!