Tonight’s WWE SmackDown was indeed a special one, as the show kicked off with the return of Pat McAfee. That was a big deal unto itself, but McAfee’s promo was cut off by Austin Theory, who had taken on McAfee in a previous match at WrestleMania. The two stars battled it out on the microphone for a bit, and then McAfee said, “This is the people’s show, and you know what that means?” That led to the return of The People’s Champion The Rock, making his long-awaited return to WWE SmackDown, and the crowd lost their minds. Chants of Rocky echoed through the arena after he made his way to the ring, and you can find more about his return below.
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After McAfee talked to the crowd a bit, Austin Theory’s music hit and McAfee wasn’t exactly thrilled. Theory made his way to the ring and got a heap of boos from the crowd. “This isn’t SmackDown, this is Austin Theory Live! And look what the cat dragged in. I try to think, a lot of the people that live here, a lot of oxygen doesn’t get to their brain because we’re so high up, kind of like you. They gotta boo me, I’m everywhere. You at 26, you just had a mugshot. I’m on a mug, on a backpack, there isn’t anything I can’t do,” Theory said.
“I ain’t out here because of them, but because of you,” Theory continued. “We have unfinished business. You have a little desk you talk behind talking about college football all day. I’m going to drop you in a couple of seconds, and you are going to go back to your show, injured, unable to do anything, just like Aaron Rogers.”
McAfee wasn’t interested in fighting, telling Theory, “I’m currently enjoying the hell out of the local laws here, and that is not necessarily something I would like to get into. You said this was what? This is the biggest problem with you. You’re so disrespectful, not only to the business as a whole, but to all these people out here. Austin this will never be your show. This is the people’s show. And you know what that means?”
That’s when The Rock’s music hit and the crowd lost it. The Rock made his way to the ring but soaked up the cheers, and as seeing The Rock in a WWE ring is a rarity these days, you can totally understand why. The Rock then came face to face with Theory, who started to take some shots before being cut off by The Rock, who told him to “shut your b******* up.” Theory then said maybe they should do another match, and then cut off The Rock with his own line, saying “It doesn’t matter what The Rock says”.
You see it actually does matter what The Rock says, and it does matter what the people say. You bring up Stone Cold Steve Austin, and that is my boy, and if he were here he would say “Give me a hell yeah!”. It matters what they say. You see how loud they got. You want to talk trash about Stone Cold? The People? Well the Rock says this. You’re Austin Theory. You’re from A-Town, is that right? Well something else I’m damn right about is that you’re clearly an A-hole, and I’m going to show you, because we are live. You see in about 3 seconds this side of the arena is going to chant you are, and this side is going to chant “an a**hole.”
As the crowd did just that, Theory got more and more upset, yelling at them. Then The Rock told Theory he was going to take him out and he backed up his words. The Rock hit the People’s Elbow on Theory but then helped McAfee hit his own version on Theory. The Rock then stood over a knocked-out Theory and closed out the segment.
What did you think of The Rock’s return? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!
