There's been plenty of news the past few days regarding The Rock and his ongoing association with WWE.
WWE announced that he'll appear live on Raw next Monday, which will be the final Raw before WrestleMania XXVII. That was expected.
It also was reported by Entertainment Weekly that The Rock will appear on an episode of Tough Enough, which debuts on USA Network April 4 after Raw. That's cool, and it again shows how serious WWE is about making the show—which will be hosted by Steve Austin and have Booker T. and Trish Stratus as trainers – a success.
In addition, The Rock, in an interview with WWE Magazine, made it sound like a return to the ring was a distinct possibility.
Say what?
"Making movies is something that I love to do, and I know that it brings a lot of people joy, which in turn brings me and my soul great gratification," he said. "Being in the ring and entertaining the audience and kicking ass physically brings me and my soul great gratification as well. I can guarantee that I can always do both."
That's a lot different than what he has said previously when asked about wrestling again. In numerous interviews – including one that I conducted with him when he was promoting "Gridiron Gang" in 2006 – he made it clear that wrestling was something that he loved doing, but that he had moved on from that part of his life and had no plans to ever don the tights again.
Rock did seem to soften his stance a bit when he made a memorable appearance at the 2008 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. In response to the crowd's chants of "please come back" and "one more match," he suggested that he would consider another match with Austin (who hasn't wrestled since 2003). He also said that there were three guys he wanted to wrestle but never got the opportunity – Rey Mysterio, Shawn Michaels and John Cena.
Obviously, given the high level of interest in the Rock-Cena war of words during the buildup to WrestleMania XXVII, there would be big money in a match between the two.
There was a time when I though the odds of Rock ever wrestling again were extremely low, but now it wouldn't surprise me. I think one of the main reasons that Rock had somewhat distanced himself from wrestling was because he felt he wouldn't be taken seriously in Hollywood otherwise.
However, he has since established himself as a bona fide movie star, and at this point, I don't think being associated with wrestling again will have an adverse effect on his career. In fact, by re-connecting with wrestling fans, it just might give him a boost at the box office.
Photo courtesty of WWE