The Final Boss has returned. This past weekend at WWE Bad Blood, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made his first televised appearance on WWE programming since April, emerging from the entranceway as the premium live event was about to go off the air. The Rock stared down WWE WrestleMania 40 tag partner Roman Reigns and longtime adversary Cody Rhodes, slowly holding up his fingers to signal “1, 2, 3” before making a throat-slicing hand signal. While it remains to be seen as to what this appearance means for The Rock’s long-term WWE future, it does re-cement that The Great One is still making good on his promise to come after Rhodes.
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Solo Sikoa Hints at The Rock’s Bloodline Allegiances
The Bloodline has changed dramatically since The Rock was last seen on WWE programming, but The Rock’s affiliations may be unaffected.
During The Rock’s return at WWE Bad Blood, a fan video captured the self-proclaimed Tribal Chief Solo Sikoa’s verbal reaction, as audio picks up him telling The Bloodline’s Jacob Fatu that “it’s part of the plan.”
Considering how the post-show situation with Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes played out, it’s clear that WWE is encouraging talent to maintain kayfabe in and around the arena during the day of shows, even when WWE cameras are not rolling, as the implication of fan footage allows storylines to get an added layer of authenticity. Sikoa mentioning this one line to Fatu signifies a larger narrative at play with The Rock and The Bloodline, possibly one that sees The Rock reclaim his spot in his familial faction.
While The Rock did bend the knee and acknowledge Roman Reigns as his Tribal Chief leading up to WWE WrestleMania 40, Reigns no longer has any Bloodline affiliation. With The Rock being classified as “High Chief” on the official Samoan Dynasty family tree, it’s possible that he could use that status to usurp Sikoa and take control of The Bloodline moving forward. Regardless of how the power shift goes down, it appears that Sikoa is cooperative with re-inserting The Rock into the group’s ranks.
Saturday could have been the death nail in the relationship between The Rock and Reigns as well. The two were set to headline WWE WrestleMania 40 against one another before Rhodes reclaimed the main event spot, causing WWE to pivot plans and turn The Rock heel to team with Reigns instead. Their scrapped singles match was re-categorized as a friendly affair between family once they were put on the same side.
The Rock would acknowledge Reigns but took subtle, double-meaning shots at him going into the Showcase of the Immortals. When WWE WrestleMania 40 rolled around, it was The Rock who secured the tag victory for himself and Reigns on Night 1 while Reigns lost to Rhodes on Night 2. The two men retreated up the ramp alongside one another as WWE WrestleMania 40 went off the air, but The Rock neglected to show any type of attention to his fallen family member.
WWE Bad Blood is available for replay on Peacock now. The Bloodline-related fallout from the premium live event goes down on WWE SmackDown, airing Friday, October 11th at 8 PM ET on USA Network.
