The Rock has detailed how his shock WWE return came about.
As seen on the September 15th episode of SmackDown, The Great One made an unannounced appearance on the blue brand in Denver hours after he was interviewed by Pat McAfee a couple of hours up the road. While fans hoped that the former World Champion might appear, there were no guarantees until the electrifying theme rang through the arena for the first time in nearly 4 years. Following an interruption from Austin Theory, Rock would destroy Theory verbally and physically to the delight of the live crowd in attendance.
While appearing on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, Rock discussed his recent WWE appearance and how it came to be. The Hollywood star confirmed that it was his idea to make the trip to Denver and gave Nick Khan the heads up the night before:
It was incredible. So here’s the crazy thing about that is we were in Boulder [Colorado]. I was there for College Game Day. And I found out the night before that WWE SmackDown is going to be in Denver, which is right up the road. So I called my buddy at WWE, Nick Khan, and I said, Hey, man, I heard SmackDown is here. Can you confirm that? He said it is. I said, good. Well, The Rock is coming to SmackDown.
Rock continued by addressing the massive pop he received on the night, putting it down in part to the fact that the return was kept secret:
And I went out there and it was really an incredible thing. And I’ve been really lucky over the years to entertain in a lot of different ways. Yeah, but that kind of connection with the WWE [fans]. By the way, that kind of connection is just like this tonight with a live audience. There’s nothing like it. So my music hit. If you smell… I went out there. They had no idea.
And you guys know how hard it is to keep a secret. You don’t. It doesn’t exist. This was a full-on secret. The people went nuts. 13,000 people sounding like 130,000 people, and it was just incredible. So WWE audience, it’s my family, and I love them. And it was incredible.
The Rock Comments On Future Presidential Run
Being a massive success in multiple entertainment and business ventures, the WWE legend certainly knows how to sell himself. So much so that a recent poll revealed that over 40% of American citizens would vote for the former World Champion if he ran for President of the United States of America. In a previous interview, The Rock revealed that he has been approached by multiple political parties and commented on whether or not he is considering a political career in the near future.
If you use any quotes from this article please credit The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and leave a h/t to Inside The Ropes.