Since the start of the Triple H era in WWE, fans have been over the moon with most of the matches and storylines that have become part of the weekly television. On top of that, the talent that has been signed or brought back has been spectacular, giving fans the best complete package of professional wrestling the company has put out in a long time.
That was expected to remain the case even after TKO bought WWE, but that hasn't been the case so far. One big reason for that has been the involvement of The Rock in several storylines, which is problematic anyway due to his being the chairman of the TKO board. But his presence has also created confusion in storylines and made more about viral moments, most of which fans are not all that interested in seeing.
It has made fans far more vocal in recent months, especially after The Rock returned to SmackDown earlier this year to announce WrestleMania 42 would be in New Orleans. Now it has been announced that won't be happening after all, according to several news outlets, making Rock's appearance even more pointless.
It was made out to be a big moment, which was then followed by the start of perhaps the most bizarre and disappointing storyline of 2025 so far.
The Rock's sporadic appearances on WWE television continue to serve no purpose
After electrifying the New Orleans audience with the WrestleMania announcement, we then saw The Rock blabber on about wanting Cody Rhodes to sell him his soul ahead of Elimination Chamber.
It was supposed to be a continuation of what was seen after Rhodes beat Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship last year, as The Rock was unhappy about his Tribal Chief no longer being a champion. It led to the infamous moment at the PPV where Rhodes told Rock to go "f-himself" and John Cena turned heel, which has since become one of the more disappointing stories of this year.
It's just the latest example of why Rock does not need to be involved in WWE programming much moving forward. He didn't show up to WrestleMania when Cena beat Rhodes. He didn't show up to Backlash and instead, Travis Scott showed up without explanation.
Now, the alleged point of his appearance on SmackDown in February will need to be forgotten, as WWE will be looking for a new city to host WrestleMania 42 instead of New Orleans. Where that will be is yet to be seen, with some speculating it might be Indianapolis since they struck a deal with the city for a future WrestleMania. However, nothing has been reported as of yet.
But we can at least hope that The Rock won't be involved in the announcement.