WWE Talent Reaction To The Rock’s WrestleMania 41 Absence Comments

WWE

The reaction within the WWE locker room to The Rock’s recent comments regarding his absence from WrestleMania 41 have now been revealed.

Following the conclusion of the main event of WrestleMania 41 Night Two – which saw John Cena capture his record 17th world championship from Cody Rhodes – The Rock’s absence from both the build for the match and WrestleMania itself has drawn criticism among fans given his crucial role in the rivalry’s beginning at Elimination Chamber and Cena’s heel turn.

This was further something compounded when Travis Scott – who was also present for Cena’s heel turn – appeared without The Rock at WrestleMania and played a crucial role in the finish of Cena vs. Rhodes.

Amid the backlash The Rock appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and stated his belief that he didn’t feel his presence was needed after his role in Cena’s turn at Elimination Chamber, saying he wanted the focus instead to be solely on Cena and Rhodes’ story.

After receiving criticism from Busted Open Radio’s Dave LaGreca – who expressed frustration with The Final Boss’ absence from the Rhodes and Cena angle – Rock responded via Instagram with the following:

Hi Dave, the business is a complete work. Always has been, always will be. Every aspect of it. Every match. Every interview. Please join me, Cody, Cena, Brian and the rest of us for our creative discussions so you can expand your perspective. Until then, stop ranting, it’s not healthy my friend. Enjoy the show. Ps, tell Bubba I have Grand Marnier and hush puppies for all of us.

Fightful Select has now shed light on the reaction among talent within WWE to The Rock’s comments both on The Pat McAfee Show and towards Dave LaGreca on social media.

According to the report, a number of talent took note of The Rock’s lack of promotion for WrestleMania ahead of the show via his social media channels, only to then quickly appear on a podcast after the event was over and discuss things he took issue with on the show.

The Rock’s claims that he was called by TKO Chairman Ari Emanuel ahead of Elimination Chamber were backed up by a WWE source, which was seen as a “big boost internally”. Prior to that WWE creative had been told to assume that Rock wouldn’t be working or even at the show.

Despite his major role in Elimination Chamber’s closing angle creative were told again not to “heavily factor” Rock into promos after the event.

A longtime WWE talent told Fightful that the roster is pleased to see Rock at shows, but noted that reports of “the card being at the mercy of Dwayne” have caused hesitancy from The Rock in getting too involved.

Another source claimed that Rock doesn’t want to be seen as interfering in plans, much like he was perceived to be in the build to WrestleMania 40, but perhaps doesn’t understand how important he would be to the story.

In regards to rumors of backstage issues between Rock and Triple H, a number of talent noted that if problems exist between the two it has not yet become known to the locker room.

Overall, among WWE talent the feeling was more confusion than frustration, with one talent theorising that Rock’s comments were an “overcorrection” on his part given the reaction to his involvement in WrestleMania 40’s creative, despite the situations being different.

A lot of talent echoed the feeling that The Rock’s lack of publicising or mention of WrestleMania was noticeable, with one telling Fightful:

“We all found it kind of weird that he didn’t promote the show at all.”

The confusion continued to Rock’s comment to Dave LaGreca about everything being a “work”, with one talent saying:

“What does that mean? Is he working every time he stops by and talks to us backstage, too? Was that McAfee interview a work even though he specified he wasn’t in character?”

We will provide further updates on the reaction to The Rock’s comments, as well as any future creative plans involving him as they become available.

To find out WWE’s potential plans for John Cena and Travis Scott follow this link here.

To make sure you stay up to date with all the biggest wrestling and WrestleTalk news, follow us on Threads by clicking this link!

• WrestleMania 41
• WrestleMania
• The Rock
• wwe

Share this article with friends