The Rock is set to make his highly anticipated return to WWE on SmackDown this week, potentially setting up a number of exciting possible angles.
WWE pulled out about the biggest surprise possible when they announced The Rock would be making his return for SmackDown’s debut on Fox.
Anybody who’s followed WWE knows that The Rock is one of the quintessential SmackDown stars, making his presence somewhat of a necessity given the pay-per-view level nature this premiere has taken.
Although we all know The Rock is appearing now, we still don’t necessarily know what he’s going to be doing at the show though.
As it’s easy to assume this likely a one-off appearance, at least for the time being, it should be interesting to see how WWE can capitalize on it’s biggest crossover star appearing on one of it’s most buzzed about shows in recent memory.
Here’s some potential ideas for how WWE could, and in many cases should, use The Rock on SmackDown this week.
3. A visit from Bray Wyatt and “The Fiend”
Generally speaking, Bray Wyatt appears to be one of, if not the, hottest star in WWE right now. His Firefly Funhouse segments and vicious attacks on legends have put him in a veritable league of his own in WWE lately.
With that being said, a potential angle between one of WWE’s hottest stars and the so-called, “Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment” seems like it would only make sense.
A Firefly Funhouse segment teasing Wyatt targeting The Rock would certainly be a way to get even more people talking about the show by setting everyone up for a big confrontation later in the evening.
The Rock directly addressing The Fiend would be one of the best ways I could imagine for WWE to help introduce the character to a likely expanded audience as well, while also making it evident that Wyatt is someone to watch on WWE programming in the coming months by virtue of giving his character such a large spotlight to shine under.
Even a surprise attack though would still signify a major push for The Fiend, as any sort of physical attack on The Rock would virtually have to be one of the most talked about moments of the entire week in wrestling.
Either way, there’s certainly a case to be made that The Rock would be best used as simply the most talented and high-profile target Wyatt has taken out as The Fiend.
2. Giving Roman Reigns a helping hand in his feud with Erick Rowan
Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan have been embroiled in a feud with the recently reinvigorated Erick Rowan and Luke Harper for weeks now.
Rowan and Harper have reestablished themselves as a dominant force in WWE over that time, coming across as two of the most legitimately devastating superstars in the company.
Rowan, in particular, has to be viewed as something of an Avengers level threat to the heroics of Reigns considering his recent win over the extremely accomplished Bryan.
That threat might require the assistance of a certain Hollywood relative, especially if Rowan can get the jump on Reigns before their scheduled match on Friday.
The Rock would certainly make for an exciting superstar to make a run-in save in that situation, perhaps even restoring a bit of the unexpected nature that the show lost when they announced his appearance in the first place as a result.
It would also serve to give Rowan an even greater spotlight to showcase his new persona, as he’s arguably shown he has what it takes to be a major heel in WWE for some time to come as long as the company finds a way to keep his momentum up.
Even if it was just a quick beatdown from The Rock that led to a Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow, that sort of interaction could do wonders for establishing Rowan as someone for fans to keep a close eye on, much in the same way it would for Bray Wyatt in the aforementioned potential angle.
It would also have a nice little bit of a storyline justification beyond the obvious familal ties of Reigns and The Rock being cousins.
Technically speaking, The Rock’s last big WWE match was against Erick Rowan at WrestleMania 32. A callback of sorts to that moment would be a nice way to reinforce the story at play, while simultaneously giving Rowan another grievance to air in the coming weeks to help add to his credibility.
1. Saving Kofi Kingston from the underhanded tactics of Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman
In my opinion, this option would be the best way to utilize The Rock’s appearance by far.
Despite the fact that there are compelling reasons to warrant The Rock squaring off with Erick Rowan or Bray Wyatt, a run-in during the Brock Lesnar versus Kofi Kingston WWE Championship match would top all of that.
The Rock and Brock Lesnar clearly have a history with one another, as they squared off at SummerSlam 2002 some 17 years ago. Both are also arguably two of the biggest stars WWE has had under their umbrella considering the crossover success both have experienced outside of the company.
A fight between the two, even if it were just for a quick moment, would instantly become the headline-grabbing moment this show not only needs, but deserves.
The fact that it would also ideally help feature Kofi Kingston, potentially even leading to him winning the match and retaining his title, would just be icing on the cake.
All that would need to happen would be for Heyman to interfere in the match, or for Lesnar to think about using a weapon on the ever-resilient Kingston. The Rock could then make the run-in of a lifetime to stop Lesnar and Heyman, while simultaneously hopefully setting us up for an amazing closing shot of Kingston celebrating with a Hollywood superstar.
Of course, any confrontation of that nature would naturally get people talking about that elusive “one last match” for The Rock in WWE though,
Regardless of whether or not that’s even possible considering The Rock’s Hollywood career, the mere fact that it would get fans talking about that would have to be considered a huge win for WWE by virtue of all the press and buzz it would generate for the company.
All in all, I think that makes it perhaps the most compelling way WWE could use The Rock in his return, and would certainly top any simple promo segments that the company could have planned.