The Rock Makes WrestleMania Absence Worse With Explanation To Pat McAfee

After three years of near-universal acclaim, WWE was met with widespread criticism for the ending of WrestleMania 41 on Sunday.

As John Cena won his record 17th world title, nearly 65,000 fans in a packed Allegiant Stadium stood waiting for The Rock's music to hit. Despite the credits rolling on the big screen, hardly anyone headed for the exit. Thousands of fans had their phone cameras aimed toward the stage, waiting to capture The Rock's entrance.

Around 10 minutes after the match ended, fans finally realized it. The Rock had not shown up.

On Tuesday, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who is also a board member of WWE parent company TKO, addressed his surprise absence on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show. But first, let's bring those not in the know up to speed:

The Rock appeared at Elimination Chamber: Toronto, WWE's last pre-WrestleMania premium live event, on March 1 under his villainous "Final Boss" moniker. During the appearance, he offered Cody Rhodes (the face of the company and then-WWE Champion) an opportunity to sell his "soul" and join an alliance. 

Rhodes rejected the offer, only to find out John Cena, his WrestleMania main event opponent, had secretly accepted The Rock's offer. The moment saw Cena, who is on a year-long retirement tour, turn heel (a bad guy) for the first time in his 25-year career. The turn was instantly viewed as one of the most surprising moments in WWE history, perhaps the most surprising since Hulk Hogan's heel turn in 1996.

Yet for the six weeks between Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania, The Rock disappeared from WWE television. He was only mentioned once, despite serving as the crux of the entire Rhodes-Cena storyline. 

While strange, nearly every fan and reporter anticipated that The Rock would show up at WrestleMania to tie up the storyline. Except, he never did.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 20: John Cena (L) and rapper Travis Scott celebrate Cena's victory over Cody Rhodes to win the Undisputed WWE Championship during WrestleMania 41 at Allegiant Stadium on April 20, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Now, criticizing the creative of professional wrestling is a bit blog-ish. WWE is an entertainment company that provides 52 weeks of original content each year. Unlike scripted television, storylines in wrestling are often derailed by real-life injuries, scheduling conflicts, and fan reactions. 

Further, WWE is one of the best-run businesses in all sports and entertainment. The fact that more people watch a WWE show per week than most NBA and MLB games remains astounding.

That said, I agree with my old nemesis Ariel Helwani in that none of that means one cannot be critical when warranted. And The Rock's involvement--or lack thereof--warrants criticism.

"I'm not trying to be the negative wrestling guy, it's supposed to be fun, but we're allowed to be critical," Helwani said on X Monday. "The Rock had to be there. He literally had to be there. He was the thread of this whole story."

In fact, The Rock's explanation to McAfee made it worse.

I had assumed The Rock originally planned to get involved in the match, but film responsibilities pulled him elsewhere. However, according to Johnson, he was at home watching the event on his couch. 

He explained that TKO CEO Ari Emanuel asked him to show up at Elimination Chamber at the last minute because ticket sales "were slower" than expected. Johnson informed McAfee that he called Rhodes and Cena after Elimination Chamber and told them his role in the storyline was complete.

Huh? 

The plan was to involve The Rock at the start of the storyline and never be heard from again?

Not only did the storyline not make sense without The Rock's involvement, but WWE had to know that nearly everyone in the crowd and watching at home was anticipating him to show up on Sunday. The company had to know that millions of fans would be disappointed when Travis Scott, a rapper, showed up instead.

Baffling.

Moreover, Cena's heel turn and record championship win will be moments that WWE will show for decades. And yet, The Rock's strange disappearance will forever mar both moments.

For television fans, imagine a "Mad Men" spinoff in which Don Draper links the two main characters together in shocking fashion and then never appears again as viewers eagerly anticipate his return during the finale.

Would that make sense?

WWE has been on a creative heater. The company will be fine, now making more money than ever. John Cena's retirement tour will continue to attract mainstream attention.

Still, The Rock-Cody Rhodes-John Cena storyline had a chance to be one of WWE's best to date. Instead, it was one of the company's most disappointing.

And it turns out that The Rock could have simply hopped on a private company jet to complete the story, but he chose to let Travis Scott handle the spot without him.