The Rock does use a lot of adult language in his promos, which has caused frustration among WWE talent who have been subjected to scripted promos and not being able to use non-PG language.
Frustration
There has been a lot of talk of some frustration among talent in and out of WWE about the double standard that comes with having The Rock back on television. Nick Khan, Triple H, and Dan Ventrelle (Executive Vice President of Talent) recently sent a memo to talent reminding them of the company being PG with no cursing on TV or social media, and then Rock returned doing just the opposite.
Following last week’s SmackDown with The Rock concert, many fans felt like Cody Rhodes needed to cut an edgier promo ahead of their WrestleMania tag team match.
Promo
While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez recapped Rhodes’ non-PG promo on Monday’s Raw. Meltzer noted that WWE felt Rhodes had to fire back at Rock, so they let him do this type of promo. However, the memo of keeping things PG with promos is real and still in place for other stars.
Alvarez: “So we had the Cody promo. And this guy has got to do a rebuttal to The Rock, who’s just killing it. And I will say I thought Cody did a very good job. The story of this was…I don’t buy that f*cking memo for a second. I think it’s bullsh*t.”
Meltzer: No, there was a memo. Everyone got it. I asked, “What was the deal? And it’s like, they knew that he [Rhodes] had to come back. But there’s absolutely a memo. I got that from several different guys, there’s been other reporters who have too. That’s not nothing. No one else is allowed to do that. But he was given the opportunity to do it because basically they wanted him to stay babyface, essentially. And I mean, if he came off badly on this promo and Rock came off so great in Memphis (last week’s SmackDown), it’s like, that’s not what they want. But he was fine. You know, he brought his dog in. I mean, it’s like, that’s all it is.”
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