Rock addresses loose ends, blurs lines and talks sh*t in long promo on Rhodes and Rollins

What he whispered in Cody’s ear, his seat on the TKO Board, WWE’s Netflix deal (and how those things mean he can ensure Rollins loses his title) and more all come up in a 21 minute video Dwayne Johnson dropped ahead of his appearance on the Mar. 1 WWE SmackDown.

In a 21 minute video promo on social media (that replaces a 15 minute one he deleted earlier), Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson just addressed some loose ends and teased more big developments in the huge WrestleMania XL angle involving himself, Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins & others.

The Rock starts by boasting about how his return has made pro wrestling cool again, and bigger than ever. He then addresses the “Cody Crybabies”, using a clip of Busted Open Dave La Greca complaining about The Rock talking Rhodes’ spot in the main event of WrestleMania while wearing a pink bathrobe as an example of the “absurdity and bullshit” he has to deal with (“You don’t give that guy a podcast. You give him a straitjacket.”)

Clips of WWE segments and outside interviews are shown throughout, carefully selected and edited to support Johnson’s arguments. He weaves in and out of kayfabe while covering Cody’s Rumble win, their agreement to have Rhodes step aside to allow for Rock vs. Reigns (including what Rock whispered in Cody’s ear on SmackDown when the American Nightmare did step aside), Rollins involvement and quotes about Johnson before & since, Rocky’s seat on the TKO board and importance to WWE’s deal with Netflix, using his stroke on the business side to ensure Seth loses the WWE World Heavyweight title, and a great closing line about Rhodes’ precious story.

It’s A LOT, and leaves you wondering what they have planned for SmackDown tonight (Mar. 1) that this needed to be out there before hand to set it up. Check it out, along with transcription of the more relevant narrative section past the opening one about LaGreca and the Cody Crybabies…

“It has nothing to do with the board, it has nothing to with the fact The Rock owns everything as it relates to The Rock, the People’s Champion, full ownership — which means The Rock is the boss. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with common sense. Let The Rock drop some gospel on ya.

“Here’s the common sense: When Roman Reigns years ago dropped the words ‘Head of the Table’, those words were specifically and solely set up and created so one day Roman Reigns, the Champion of the WWE, would come face-to-face with his cousin, The Rock, The People’s Champion, and together combined they will make the biggest WrestleMania of all-time. The biggest match of all-time, the biggest match in the history of professional wrestling. When Roman Reigns said those words that’s why he said it. Cause that is Roman Reigns’ story, that is The Rock’s story.

“At one time, that was Cody Rhodes’ story — but it was last year. And what happened last year at WrestleMania. What’s the, what’s the technical term? Oh — he shit the bed! That’s what happened.

“And then The Rock comes back on January 1st of this year. It’s a big year. You know it and The Rock knows it. It’s an exciting year. You can feel it in the air. You can feel the mana. 2024! We’re gonna kick it off the right way. The Rock goes out there in San Diego, California and said exactly what he promised he was gonna say, because we had an agreement. And that agreement was, The Rock was gonna go out there and he was gonna test the waters and he was going to see how the crowd reacted: ‘Where should The Rock sit?’ You remember. ‘Should The Rock sit at a booth? Mmm… crowd didn’t know where I was going. ‘Should The Rock sit at a bar?’ Ah, bigger reaction. Yeah, The Rock loves a bar because The Rock loves him some tequila. ‘Or should The Rock sit at the Head of the Table?’

“The crowd that night exploded. Around the world exploded, and just as sure as The Rock has chills on his arm, the word exploded. Because they knew after all these years they were finally getting The Rock vs. Roman Reigns, the biggest WrestleMania of all-time.

“And what happens? Cody Rhodes, he wins the Royal Rumble. Fair and square, works his ass off and he wins that Royal Rumble baby. Yeah, he’s going to WrestleMania. Yeah, good for him. Good for him. The Rock was happy. But what happened? The Rock called Cody Rhodes, had a conversation. But it was a conversation that a few have had with Cody Rhodes before. Because Cody knew the biggest match of all-time was looming.

“The Rock talked to Cody and said, “Cody, you know you love this business. The Rock loves this business. You were born into this business. The Rock was born into this business. Roman Reigns was born into this business. The three of us, born into this business. You know Cody, you got the biggest WrestleMania main event of all-time right here. You have an opportunity to bring this business up to places it’s never been before. You can always, with all due respect, finish your story another time. You agreed. You agreed. ‘Rock, it stings. But I agree. It stings, but I’m a team player. It stings, but I want what’s best for the business.’

“Good man. Good man. And then what happened. In Birmingham, Alabama, the city we selected because of its rich history and we knew we were gonna make history. It was your job Cody to introduce The Rock, thus setting up the biggest WrestleMania main event of all-time. And what’d ya do? You did exactly what we agreed on. Brother, you introduced The Rock and that place went crazy. And The Rock came out and he dapped you up, he pulled you in and gave you a big hug, and I whispered something in your ear: ‘Let’s put on the biggest WrestleMania of all-time. Let’s do it for the American Dream. Let’s do it for the Soul Man. And I gave you a hug and you hugged The Rock back.

“And what’d you do, Cody? You walked out of that ring on live TV and you turned back and looked at The Rock and instead of looking at The Rock saying, ‘Yeah, go get him! Let’s make history.’ Instead of that, what’d you do? You gave The Rock a look and it’s the same look you gave the world, like The Rock went out and ran over your goofy ass dog. That’s the look you gave. Like The Rock ran over your goofy ass dog.

“Then sometime, from that moment on until Las Vegas, you changed your mind. You know what? That’s no problem. You can change your mind. You have that right. And The Rock accepts that. Everybody has a right to change their mind. The Rock accepts it, you changed your mind. But here’s what The Rock doesn’t accept, is how you did it.

“I’ll say it again, because it’s important. To all the Cody Crybabies, and all the goofs out there and the idiots who still complain. Cody, you had a right to change your mind and you won the Royal Rumble. but what The Rock doesn’t accept is how you did it. I saw you in Las Vegas… saw you backstage 20 feet away. Rock dapped you up, gave you a hug [we see behind-the-scenes footage of this happening at the WrestleMania XL Kickoff event last month].

“Did you say anything to The Rock then? ‘Hey Rock, I got something on my mind.’ ‘Yeah, tell me about it.’ ‘Hey Rock, I got something that’s eating me up inside.’ ‘Cody, go head, tell me about it. Let’s walk over there, let’s talk in private. Come and tell me about it.’ Did you say any of that. No, you didn’t say a thing. But what’d ya do? You waited until Roman Reigns walked out there and announced he’s facing The Rock. Then The Rock went out there, showed the entire family tree, proof of the most dominant family in professional wrestling, in entertainment, and in sports in the world, and accepted Roman Reigns, accepted the challenge — blood oath — and we were gonna put on the biggest WrestleMania of all-time.

“What’d you do? Then you came out and you interrupted… you said it was, uh, you said it was bullshit. Yeah, it was bullshit. You can think it’s bullshit, brother. Not a problem. But you know where you really screwed up? Is when you talk shit about my family. All the Cody Crybabies, ‘No he didn’t, no he didn’t’. Shut your mouths. You talk shit about my family. What’d you call ‘em Cody? [A clip of Rhodes calling The Bloodline lackeys, yes-men, and goons at the Kickoff plays] Then you spoke about Roman’s grandfather, and you spoke about my grandfather, the great ‘High Chief’ Peter Maivia [a clip of Cody saying they would be ashamed of Roman & Rock plays] I did to you Cody Rhodes in that moment what I would do to you a million times, which is slap the taste right out of your mouth.

“And then what happened? What happened? The Rock embarrassed you in front of the world, boy. Slapped the shit out of you. You had it coming. Talk shit about my family again. Said it to you then, I’ll say it again — I’ll say it forever. Talk shit about my family again and I’ll do worse than that.

“But then what happened? Your new best friend. You got a new best friend, how bout that? You got a new best friend. And the walking clown show known as Seth Rollins. What did Seth do? The Rock slaps the shit out of you, Seth steps to The Rock. The Rock pushed him back, gave him a little love tap, ‘Ah, ah, ah — get back, boy. You don’t want any of this. The Rock doesn’t know you, you don’t know The Rock, but you don’t want to know The Rock in that way. This is none of your business.

“The Rock doesn’t know Seth Rollins, never said a word about Seth Rollins, publicly, privately, doesn’t matter. The Rock has no idea why this man is getting in our business, but he did. And not only that, but then he just can’t help himself. Like a lot of the jabronis in the locker room, just can’t help himself and start talking shit about The Rock. Take a look [clips play of Rollins interviews where he calls The Rock ‘an afterthought’ who can’t come up with any new material, and who the current roster doesn’t need because they’ve made WWE bigger than ever on their own].

“You don’t need The Rock, huh? [Laughs] ‘Rock, we don’t need you.’ You don’t need The Rock. If you were a little smarter Seth you’d realize how stupid you sound. Let The Rock drop some gospel on your goofy ass. You need The Rock in ways that you can’t even imagine.

“Here’s some gospel. You think when Ari Emanuel, The Rock’s good friend, The Rock’s business partner for decades, The Rock’s lead agent, someone that The Rock looks to like a big brother, you think that when he goes to sit with Netflix across from Ted Sarandos, The Rock’s good buddy and business partner, sitting across from Bela Bajaria, The Rock’s good friend and business partner at Netflix. You think when they’re inking, when they’re signing this $5 billion deal for the WWE and Netflix, do you think that Ted and Bela, they’re saying, ‘Hey Ari, when WWE comes to Netflix is Seth Rollins gonna be champion?’ Do you think that that’s what they’re asking? No, they’re not asking that.

“Number one, because they don’t care. And number two, they don’t know who the hell you are. You know what they’re asking? ‘Hey Ari, we’ll sign this $5 billion historical deal, never before. But one question: Where’s The People’s Champion?’ One question: Where is the man, The Rock himself? One question: Where’s the man who has the most watched film in the history of Netflix? The Rock. Where is he at in this whole thing?’ Ari looks at them and says, ‘He’s locked in for life. He’s locked in for life, Director of the Board, owns everything as it relates to his name, he’s locked in for life.’

“Signed $5 billion.

“So Seth Rollins, you understand now how much you need The Rock? Uh huh. You understand now, right boy? And you keep running your mouth. You keep running your mouth, ‘Rock, find some new material.’ Find some new material, is that right?

“Okay, well The Rock has some new material for you. How bout this? Here’s some new material for you, Seth Rollins. How bout this? The Rock sits at the top. Director TKO Board, not WWE but TKO, which means The Rock is the boss. Which means The Rock is your boss. Which means The Rock owns everything, ‘The Rock’, everything associated with The Rock, The People’s Champion — owns it all!

“Which means The Rock is your boss, which means Seth Rollins, if you keep running your mouth and sticking your nose in The Bloodline’s business then that World title that you have around your waist very soon, very soon The Rock will make that title go to somebody else. Read between the lines. Yes. The Rock just blurred it.

“Keep running your mouth, sticking your nose in The Bloodline’s business. This is between The Rock, it is between Roman Reigns, and Cody Rhodes — that’s it. Stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, The Rock guaran-damn-tees you, and The Rock has built a career on doing everything he has said he’s gonna do. The Rock guaran-damn-tees you stick your nose in our business, that World title you have around your waist will go to somebody else. It will go to somebody else, and there’s two things you could do about it, Seth: Nothing, and like it. You keep sticking your nose in our business, The Rock and Roman Reigns are gonna beat your goofy ass right back to the circus with the rest of the clowns!

“Cody Rhodes, for you, the Cody crybabies, for your new best friend the walking clown emoji himself, Seth Rollins, and to your goofy ass dog, you all are advocates of Cody finishing his story. It’s so important. Cody Rhodes, you took something from The Rock. You insulted my family. You took something from The Rock, you took something from Roman Reigns, you took something from the millions and millions and millions and millions of true real fans who wanted to see the biggest WrestleMania event of all time. You took it away. You took it away. And now, you’re going to pay.

“Cody Rhodes, from the bottom of my heart, man-to-man; fuck your story.

Glendale, Arizona, greatness is coming. Friday night, live, SmackDown. Dallas, Texas, greatness is coming. You are on deck March 8th. Greatness is coming. Memphis, Tennessee. March 15th. The Rock is coming home. If ya smell… what The Rock is cooking.

Fuck your story.”

Whew. Let us know what you thought of all that, then join us in our live blog for SmackDown tonight at 8pm ET to see what happens next.