JBL says The Rock’s Final Boss character was a great one, but the timing of the run was bad.
Conrad Thompson asked JBL on Something to Wrestle whether WWE got everything it could out of The Rock’s heel turn, or whether it was a case of timing being everything.
“I think timing is everything, and then the final boss, I thought was awesome. What a great character! What a great, great character!” JBL said. “Rock can do anything, and it’s something that The Rock could have done incredibly well. I just think that you’re right. The timing of it was bad. You had something else going on that people wanted to see. I think it could have worked if they would have stayed with it.”
JBL said it is hard for someone like The Rock to turn heel because so much of what he does already plays like one.
“Guys like that have a really hard time turning heel because they’re already heels. Everything Rock does is heelish, and so now all of a sudden you become this super heel,” he said. “I thought the final boss was excellent, but … I thought the timing of it was really bad.”
Asked whether The Rock will ever return as the Final Boss for one more match, JBL said he thinks that ship has probably sailed, but he would like to see it.
“I think it’s probably sailed, but I don’t know. You know, Rock loves the business, and he loves being out there. And like, I think he can still do it. I think the final boss … that character is so freaking good, and it’s just that’s one of the best characters there is,” JBL said. “You want a guy that’s believable, that is almost like Mr. McMahon was back in the 90s. That always works. It always works as a heel boss, and I think Rock could do it incredibly well.”
“Plus, he’s believable. You know, he’s worth about a billion dollars. He’s on the board, and so everything about it leans itself to go to the ring as the final boss,” he continued. “Yeah, I’d love to see Rock back, and I’d love to see him back as the final boss.”
The Rock turned heel in February 2024 during the build to WrestleMania 40, after fans pushed back on plans for him to face Roman Reigns instead of Cody Rhodes. He and Reigns beat Rhodes and Seth Rollins on Night 1 of WrestleMania 40, and Rhodes beat Reigns the next night to win the Undisputed WWE Championship. The Rock has not wrestled since.
At Elimination Chamber in March 2025, The Rock asked Rhodes to become his champion. Rhodes turned him down, and John Cena turned heel and attacked Rhodes. The Rock joined the board of directors of WWE parent company TKO in January 2024.
Rhodes said recently that he thinks The Rock has “a couple of matches probably left”.
Analysis:
JBL may be right that we won’t see The Rock in a WWE ring again. His last major WWE angle was the one with John Cena at Elimination Chamber in March 2025. Before that, at Bad Blood in October 2024, he slowly counted to three in front of Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes. It looked like a tease for WrestleMania, but nothing came of it.
It could just be that he’s busy. Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that The Rock is set to start shooting “Fast Forever,” billed as the final Fast & Furious movie, in December.
There could be other issues at play too. Meltzer wrote that people in WWE are still bringing up The Rock’s video after PAC’s death, not for what he said about PAC, but for his praise of Tony Khan.
Who knows what happens in wrestling. You never say never.
