Did you catch The Rock’s promo on SmackDown? If you consider yourself a wrestling fan, the answer is almost certainly yes. Dwayne Johnson officially leaned into being a heel and absolutely unloaded on the so-called Cody Crybabies, as well as the entire state of Utah, during a nearly twenty minute segment that also involved Roman Reigns and the rest of The Bloodline. In just a few short days, it’s already become one of the most viewed promos in a long time, both because an overwhelming majority of fans are stoked to see The Rock go full heel and because a lot of people think there was a major spoiler embedded in his speech. Maybe. Maybe not. We’ll get to that, but I also think there’s been surprisingly little chatter in the wrestling community about another moment that may foreshadow where things are going.
First, let’s talk about the alleged spoiler. During The Rock’s promo, he directly addressed Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns’ opponent at WrestleMania 40, and said he would do everything he could to make sure he walked out of ‘Mania a loser. A curious thing happened while he was saying it though. The Rock seemingly turned toward Roman Reigns and pointed at him when he said you’ll walk out of WrestleMania a loser. Add that to the fact that The Rock seemingly threw up an “L” instead of a “1” in his salute to The Tribal Chief at the end of the segment, and fans are convinced The Rock is telling us he’ll turn on Roman Reigns and help Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania. You can watch the full segment below with the key moments starting at around the 15:30 mark…
I’ll be the first to admit the camera angle change allowing us to see The Rock is pointing toward Roman is interesting, as is the rather odd version of a “1” he throws up at the end. Maybe there’s a bit of foreshadowing going on. We’re all assuming The Rock and Roman Reigns are going to turn on each other at some point to set up a WrestleMania 41 match. Maybe that betrayal is going to happen in a month and a half at WrestleMania. The Internet Wrestling Community is certainly convinced.
But then again maybe not. Maintaining interest in a year long feud when everyone knows the two parties won’t fight until the next WrestleMania is really, really difficult. Good stories have twists and turns, and if the whole story is these two dudes don’t like each other and will settle it in one year’s time, that’s a tall order. It would be a whole lot easier to give us some story beats of them slowly losing trust in each other along the way. And for the record, while The Rock seemingly points near Roman Reigns, he also calls out Cody Rhodes by name just seconds before saying he’ll walk out a loser. And what’s to say The Rock just didn’t put his thumb down when he threw up the 1? Are we all that positive it was on purpose?
The moment I’m actually far more invested in happened right around the same point during The Rock’s promo. Johnson called The Bloodline a powerful and dominant duo, and the camera angle shifted and we saw Jimmy Uso in the background looking surprised and awkward. It was a clear middle finger toward him, Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman, as if they weren’t a meaningful part of The Bloodline. Most fans seem to think it was a slip of the tongue or haven’t even clocked that the moment happened, but I sat up in my chair as soon as I heard it while I was watching it live and was stoked to see Sam Roberts also say he thought it was intentional on his podcast.
I don’t know all the individual story beats of where this Bloodline plotline is going to go. I’m sure we’ll eventually get to The Rock and Roman Reigns as the main event of a future WrestleMania, but I do know that whenever their relationship severs, who the other members of The Bloodline follow is going to be really key. Roman has always intimidated and bossed around Jimmy, Solo and former members Jey and Sami, but he’s mostly treated The Bloodline as a group. The Rock calling it a duo feels intentional, and I can’t wait to see WWE explore that.
So, yeah, there’s a lot to take away from The Rock’s promo, which had a few logic gaps, but mostly was right there in the pocket and a good reminder of why Heel Rock is the best Rock. Other people are going to look at the finger point and dissect that every which way. There could be something there. It could just be a weird camera angle, but I am certain that who the rest of The Bloodline chooses to follow will be a huge part of The Rock and Roman Reigns’ story moving forward. That’s why I’m fascinated by Johnson calling The Bloodline “a duo.” Look for that to matter a whole lot at some point in the future.
