You may have thought The Rock’s first heel promo on WWE television in roughly 20 years last night (Feb. 16) on SmackDown was a glorious return to form for The Great One. Or perhaps you’re in the camp that thinks Dwayne Johnson’s jabs at the people of Utah and the “Cody Crybabies” were evidence his Attitude & Ruthless Aggression Era schtick is played out.
Either way, we can probably all agree Rocky & Roman Reigns’ nearly 20 minutes of television time were a little light on big developments in WrestleMania XL’s main event story. We were told that everything would change, but we essentially just got confirmation that The People’s Champ has turned on the people and officially joined The Bloodline.
Overtly, anyway. Some wrestling fans & observers think they saw more, and that two seemingly small gestures from The Rock foreshadow big plot twists to come.
The first came as Rock was mocking Cody Rhodes’ “story”. After he explained how it wouldn’t fly in the real world (ignoring that Rhodes winning the Royal Rumble to secure a WrestleMania rematch with Reigns is the equivalent of the San Francisco 49ers winning the NFC next season to get back to the Super Bowl, but bad guy arguments don’t always make sense), Rocky vows to make sure Cody leaves WrestleMania as a loser.
That’s what his words make it sound like he’s doing, as he was addressing the American Nightmare at that point in his promo. But when he says, “The Rock is gonna do everything in his power to make sure that you walk out of WrestleMania what you are, which is a loser”, the camera cameras to a side-angle that makes it look like Rock is pointing at the Undisputed WWE Universal champion — his cousin, Roman.
It’s also been pointed out (pun totally intended) that when Reigns & the rest of The Bloodline throw the ones up at the end, Rock has his thumb out.
Did he just not know that group’s gesture? Is he making an “L” to signal his plans to ensure Roman takes a loss in Philadelphia? Does he want to join the Bang Bang Scissor Gang? If it’s that last one, I’m afraid The Gunns have some bad news…
Is there anything to these theories? If there is, are they evidence of a plot The Rock hatched with Cody to help him? Or do they mean he wants to take over as Tribal Chief regardless of what happens with Rhodes’ story?
That’s all part of the fun, sports entertainment fans. Get ready for another six or so weeks of theories and clue hunting on the road to WrestleMania…
