Dwayne Johnson “The Rock” made his return to the WWE ring for the first time in a decade Friday night, when he went to face-to-face with Roman Reigns.
Dwayne Johnson has not been in a WWE clash since 2013, when he fought John Cena, before both of them went on to become movie stars.
Now Dwayne Johnson looks set to come out of retirement to face his cousin Reigns at a WrestleMania event in early April. Reigns has been the reigning champion for more than 1200 days, but Johnson showed he meant business with a singlet reading “The People’s Champion,” as the pair stood eyeball-to-eye-ball in the ring.
Neither man said a word, but the crowd made plenty of noise. The clip of the pair’s meeting has garnered nearly a million views since WWE uploaded it to its YouTube platform a few hours ago.
The rivals belong to the same famous wresting Anoa’i family and refer to each other as cousins.
The WWE has announced a press conference this Thursday in Las Vegas, where the clash is set to be confirmed.
The much-hyped event has divided opinion on social media, with as many fans sour on the idea of Johnson’s return as those applauding his return.
News.com.au website reports that Johnson’s comeback follows his appointment to the board of directors for TKO, which is the company formed after the merger of UFC and WWE in a $13.7b deal last year.
The company also granted Johnson the full trademark of his ring name “The Rock”, after he signed a services and merchandising agreement with the business.