The Rock Announces Another WWE Hiatus on Monday Night Raw

After the biggest WrestleMania of all time, the Final Boss is looking toward the future. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been a steady presence on WWE television over the last few months, working with Roman Reigns as part of the Bloodline, and co-headlining the Main Event of WrestleMania XL Night One. He’s also on the board of WWE ownership group TKO. For the foreseeable future, however, Rock won’t be featured on Raw or SmackDown.

The Raw After Mania on Monday night began with a promo from new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes, who was interrupted by the Rock. During a lengthy back and forth in the ring, Johnson announced that he would be taking some time away from WWE. 

When he comes back, though, Johnson plans to enter a feud with Rhodes, whether the latter is still the Champion or not. He plans to finish the business that he started alongside Reigns.

“The Rock has gotta go away for a little while now,” Johnson said to the live crowd in Philadelphia, PA. “The Rock doesn’t want to leave either. When the Rock comes back, whether you’re champion or not champion, the Rock is going to come for you.”

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Johnson didn’t reveal how long he will be away from in-ring action, nor why he’s taking another hiatus. The latter question is much easier to answer than the former, though. As one of the most popular actors in Hollywood, Johnson has a ton of upcoming film projects already on his plate, including a live-action Moana movie. He’s got plenty of filming to do while he’s away from WWE.

The project that requires his immediate attention is a new movie called The Smashing Machine, which comes from Uncut Gems filmmaker Benny Safdie and indie film studio A24. The film is a biopic about the life of UFC champion Mark Kerr. Jonson will be starring in the film as Kerr, marking a stark departure from a lot of the blockbuster fare he has recently taken part in and produced. Emily Blunt, who starred alongside Johnson in Disney’s Jungle Cruise, will reportedly reunite with him for The Smashing Machine, playing Dawn Staples.

We don’t know how long Johnson will be absent from WWE TV, but we do know that a one-on-one bout with Cody Rhodes is waiting for him when he returns.