The Rock Lays Out Young WWE Star On Friday Night Smackdown

Earlier today, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appeared on The Pat McAfee Show, which was being filmed from Boulder, CO, in conjunction with a big college football game. During Johnson’s appearance, he made headlines by confirming that plans for him and Roman Reigns to headline WWE WrestleMania 39 were at one point locked in but then fell apart when they could not agree on proper creative. He also took a moment to weigh in on Vince McMahon’s new pencil-thin mustache, which he thinks is “solid.”

A few hours after cracking jokes and making news about their time in WWE, Johnson and McAfee popped up on WWE Friday Night Smackdown, which was being filmed just up the road in Denver. McAfee kicked off the show, making his own surprise return, garnering a big reaction from the crowd. After welcoming the crowd in attendance, the former NFL star was cut off by Austin Theory. Theory asserted that Friday night was his show before drawing a contrast between how he looked in his black tank top, like a “Greek God,” as opposed to McAfee, who he said looked like a fast food line cook.

Theory’s tearing into McAfee was cut short when The Rock’s music hit, and the building went bananas. The Great One made his way to the ring to confront Theory and quickly took off his jacket in order to flex his own biceps in a black tank top. Theory attempted to use The Rock’s “it doesn’t matter what you think” on him, but it was turned back around when Rock let Theory know the only thing that matters is what the fans think. Rock then went on to say that as a resident of A-Town, Theory is an A-hole, prompting the crowd to chant, “You are an asshole,” which was bleeped by the Fox censors. It is worth noting that McAfee remained in the ring and was grinning the whole time.

After several minutes of the audience calling Theory an asshole, Rock took control once again to let Theory know he was going to whip his ass. Theory then tried to attack Rock before things could break down, but Rock countered, dropped the young star with his patented spinebuster, and then delivered The People’s Elbow. Rock’s music hit but was cut off as McAfee signaled he wanted to hit a People’s Elbow of his own Theory, which he did before embracing Rock to end the segment.

Johnson was seen after the commercial break celebrating the opening of the show with McAfee before John Cena entered the frame. After a few tense moments of staring each other down, they eventually smiled, embraced, and Cena welcomed Johnson back into the fold. It is worth noting that both men are SAG actors and are currently unable to work union projects, which WWE is not.