Highlights from Dwayne Johnson’s appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
Since John Cena turned heel at WWE Elimination Chamber and aligned himself with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Johnson has not appeared on WWE programming.
For the first time since Elimination Chamber, Johnson discussed his absence and the fallout of WrestleMania 41. He guest appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and below are notes from the appearance:
- Speaking about the WrestleMania 41 night two main event between John Cena and Cody Rhodes, Rock said Cena is undisputedly the greatest of all-time now. He added that Cena put it all on the line by turning heel because there was no blueprint for a John Cena heel run.
- A month before Elimination Chamber, Johnson received a call from TKO CEO Ari Emanuel because ticket sells were moving slowly. He went on to speak about the ‘sell your soul’ storyline and said that was a temperature check to see how the fans would react to the idea of Rhodes turning heel and said a lot of fans were for it. Rock did not want to turn Rhodes immediately, but later down the road, Rhodes would fully embrace the heel role.
- As Elimination Chamber inched closer, The Rock, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque and their respective teams were kicking ideas around and Levesque suggested the idea of Cena turning heel instead of Rhodes. The Rock said Cena loved the idea and he had the plan in mind to root a heel run in legitimate feelings he had.
- Johnson felt it was best to step back from the Rhodes-Cena storyline so they could do what they needed to do. After Elimination Chamber, he called them both and said he thinks “The Final Boss’ work is done.” He liked the ending to their match, but he would have finessed things differently.
- The Rock did relay to Paul Levesque and Ari Emanuel that he could get involved in the Rhodes-Cena match, but the focus should be on Cena’s 17th World Title win and his mission to ‘ruin wrestling.’ He did not want the focus to be on Cena selling his soul. He addressed Travis Scott’s involvement in the main event and said he was surprised to see Scott. Johnson knew that Scott showing up would only amplify the anticipation that he would be showing up. When Scott appeared, Pat McAfee texted Johnson and asked if he was coming out next and Johnson replied that he was not. He reiterated that he liked the finish, but would have adjusted some things.
- He was never concerned about Cena being heel, but was more concerned about Rhodes as a babyface coming out of this. Johnson mentioned that Rhodes has a great heel run down the line.
- Johnson knew both the finishes to the night one and two main events, but he did not know how they would get there. He loved the night one main event with Seth Rollins, CM Punk, Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman’s involvement. He called Rollins “our superman” and Rollins can be counted on. Rock mentioned later in the show that a top star who he calls ‘superman’ told him that his soul is for sell.
- He spoke about Bron Breakker and said he loves him. Johnson added that Breakker has risen to the occasion and he’s not surprised to see him in the spot he’s in with Rollins and Heyman.
- Circling back to WrestleMania 41, Johnson is very happy with the show. There are a couple of things he thought could have been better. He shouted out new World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso and new United States Champion Jacob Fatu. Johnson remembers being at a WWE event and Fatu having tears in his eyes because he said ‘this’ saved his life. Johnson praised the female performers of WrestleMania and said they stole parts of the show.
- He is very happy to see the numbers about the success of WrestleMania 41 and it being the largest gate of any WWE event in history.
- Johnson shared that he’s going to put out a book about the process of playing the role of Wilford ‘Nappy’ Pulawa in a Martin Scorsese-directed film project.
