Much has been said about The Rock’s appearance on The Pat McAfee Show to discuss the events surrounding WWE WrestleMania 41. He claimed concerns regarding ticket sales for the Elimination Chamber premium live event, prompting the need for a compelling storyline to boost interest.
After the Elimination Chamber, where John Cena’s heel turn and alliance with The Rock, the former WWE Champion felt his role as the “Final Boss” had reached its natural conclusion, leading to his disappearance from television. Fans have criticized him for not appearing at WrestleMania 41 for the WWE Title match.
In response to Sirius XM’s Busted Open Radio host Dave LaGreca’s criticism of his lack of involvement at WrestleMania, The Rock addressed the situation directly on social media. For more on that, click here.
Fightful Select reports that several talent took note that Rock wasn’t on TV or doing any promotional work for the show. One talent brought up how it was only after the event that Rock talked about the event publicly, doing so to discuss being called to advance ticket sales and some things he took issue with on the show.
A source backed the idea of The Rock getting called to boost ticket sales, as creative sources noted the working assumption was that Rock wouldn’t be working the show. Many people thought that changed after Chamber, but not to factor him heavily into promos.
The report said, “A longtime talent said that the roster always loves seeing the Rock at shows, but noted that the ‘card is at the mercy of Dwayne’ comment from a top talent last year was something that they believe pulls the Rock in both ways. One person there we spoke to claimed the Rock didn’t want to be seen as interfering with WrestleMania plans like last year, but possibly didn’t understand how integral he would be to the story.”
Several talent said that if there were issues with he and Triple H as wrestling fans speculate, it hasn’t made it to the rest of the roster. His absence and comments weren’t met with as much frustration from the roster and staff, but rather, it was confusion.
The report stated, “One talent speculated it was an “overcorrection,” and cited last year’s reaction to Rock being inserted, but said that it was a wildly different situation. A lot of talent were discussing backstage about Rock’s absence from WrestleMania, him not mentioning it, his lack of promotion for the show, and him barely being referenced on the show.”
One talent was quoted by stating, “we all found it kind of weird that he didn’t promote the show at all.”
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