The Rock Comments on His Recent Use of NSFW Language on WWE Programming
The Rock says he'd "rather be real than not" in response to his use of profanity.
A report from SEScoops surfaced earlier this week, which noted that several higher-ups in WWE -- President Nick Khan, Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque and Executive Vice President, Talent Dan Ventrelle -- recently sent out a memo stating that talent need to adhere to "PG guidelines" on television as well as on their social media accounts. While much of it has been scaled back, it appears that the way The Rock is able to get away with it is rubbing some talent the wrong way.
In several of his recent promos, Rock can be heard using profanity. On his latest promo uploaded to social media this week, Rock blasted Cody Rhodes about his WWE Raw promo, opening with "Are you f--king kidding me? You start f--king crying?" On WWE SmackDown, Rock opened the show with a song dedicated to Rhodes, Seth Rollins and the "Cody Crybabies" and there were some NSFW lines littered throughout. According to SEScoops, some have begun to question why he gets a pass but they are "handcuffed" and must abide by the rules.
The Rock commented on his use of language in recent promos in a recent social media post, noting that he tries to "shoot from the hip" and "always have fun."
"Networks and "standards & practices" have issues with my language, but I'd rather be real than not," Rock wrote on Instagram. "I talk from the heart, shoot from the hip and try to always have fun. Enjoy the Rock concert 🎶 😈 🥃"
Rock was appointed to the WWE/TKO Board of Directors back in January and with it he gained complete ownership over "The Rock" nickname in exchange. He is set to wrestle in his first full match since 2013's marquee main event of The Rock vs. John Cena where Cena beat him for the WWE Heavyweight Championship. Technically speaking, he had a six-second squash is 2016 against The Wyatt Family's Erik Rowan, but that hardly classifies as an actual match.
In his in-ring return, Rock will team with the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns against Cody Rhodes and the World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins on night one of WrestleMania 40. If The Bloodline can dominate their challengers in that match, then on night two when Rhodes faces Reigns one-on-one for the championship, it'll be a "Bloodline Rules" match.
What do you think about The Rock getting "special treatment" by WWE? Let us know in the comments!