Pat McAfee’s teased “major surprise” for Friday’s SmackDown has sparked plenty of buzz, but the reveal was quite the let down.
In the days leading up to the show, speculation quickly centered around WWE legend Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, especially after his name surfaced in rumors as a possible mystery advisor connected to Randy Orton. However, McAfee’s eventual reveal of a 25-percent discount for WrestleMania Saturday tickets left many fans underwhelmed, and reportedly even drew some frustration internally, despite landing well with ESPN and TKO executive Ari Emanuel.
According to Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter at F4WOnline.com, there’s already precedent for this kind of speculation. Meltzer noted that during last year’s event in Toronto, Emanuel personally reached out to The Rock when ticket sales were lagging, something CM Punk recently referenced in a promo.
That said, the current outlook doesn’t appear promising.
Meltzer reports that sources behind the scenes have indicated a firm “no” regarding The Rock appearing as a surprise. Still, he included the usual caveat, noting that if WWE were planning a major moment of that magnitude, it would likely be kept extremely tight-lipped and known only to a select few.
WrestleMania ticket sales this year have reportedly been softer than expected, prompting WWE to already bring in a major attraction by announcing John Cena as the official host.
That’s a big move.
Beyond Cena, the only names believed to be capable of matching that level of mainstream star power would be “Stone Cold” Steve Austin or The Rock himself. As things stand, however, the latest information suggests that The Rock is not currently slated to appear.
WrestleMania 42 is scheduled to take place on April 18 and April 19 from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, NV.
