There are few wrestlers in the history of the industry better on the microphone than Dwayne The Rock Johnson, and the former WWE Champion turned biggest movie star in Hollywood proved it again last night during a surprise appearance on Day One. He had the crowd hanging on every word he said and chanting insults at his opponent, but he saved a few of the biggest middle fingers and turned them toward one of his own movies: Baywatch.
The set-up of the segment was pretty simple. For days leading into WWE’s Day One (a special episode of Raw on New Year’s Day), WWE creative head Triple H and others tweeted out teases about a huge star coming back for an appearance. During the show, WWE once again teased the spot and then trotted out former heel champion Jinder Mahal. The crowd was less than pleased. He came into the ring and ran down The United States for awhile and talked about his own accomplishments before The Rock’s music hit, and the crowd lost their minds. Johnson then entered the ring and unloaded insults on Mahal. In one moment, he said the following…
If The Rock had to guess why you’re so angry, it’s probably because no one likes you and you’re not funny. As a matter of fact, if you were one of The Rock’s movies, you would probably be Baywatch.
Mahal responded to Johnson by saying he never saw Baywatch, and The Rock quickly fired back that no one else saw it either. The crowd ate up the whole thing. People love seeing celebrities be a little self-deprecating now and again, but in a funny way, the comment was also a sick brag by The People’s Champion. Baywatch actually made $175,000,000 during its initial box office run. Most actors will never be the lead of a movie that popular during their entire careers, but for Johnson, that’s weak enough to call it a flop.
You can check out the entire clip of the Baywatch exchange below, which includes some more bantering and also serves as a good reminder of just how insanely popular The Rock still is in wrestling circles. He made a surprise appearance last year on an episode of Smackdown, and this latest one is just as wild…
😂😂😂😂😂@TheRock has a 🔥🎤 on #WWERaw! pic.twitter.com/MVfR4jrxnkJanuary 2, 2024
The segment was mostly just an excuse for The Rock to defend America and thrill the fans in San Diego, but at the very end, Johnson quipped that he’s heading out to get some food and will be sitting at the head of the table. In wrestling speak, the reference was very clearly his way of calling out WWE Champion Roman Reigns, who refers to himself as The Tribal Chief and talks about sitting at the head of the table.
The two men have close family ties, and wrestling fans have long dreamed of the two having a match together. Many were hoping it would happen last year at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles. That didn't happen. After some comments by The Rock himself a few months ago, however, the speculation started again for Philadelphia at WrestleMania 40. This appearance will no doubt make that chatter even louder. We’ll just have to wait and see, but if it does, expect a crowd every bit as fired up as this one and for WWE to frantically scramble to find poor Cody Rhodes something else to do, as this may get in the way of him finishing his story.
