Fans can smell what Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is cooking and some believe it’s a colossal return to the WWE ring. The People’s Champ sent social media into a frenzy when he closed out the high-stakes Bad Blood battle in Atlanta this month. The premium Oct. 5 event hosted five orchestrated fights, but it was The Rock’s ominous 1-2-3 countdown and hand gesture of a slit throat that sparked speculations of a Wrestlemania 41 meeting between him and Roman Reigns, his real-life cousin, Cody Rhodes, and possibly Jimmy Uso. Johnson was a WWE franchise star when he stepped away in 2004 to pursue his Hollywood acting career. He never officially retired, though, and his ties to the organization are deeper than ever since cementing a deal this year that gave him an ownership stake in WWE. Fans accuse The Rock of running back to WWE to save face amid reports Hollywood kicked him out as his acting career takes a hit from “Black Adam” box office flop. (Photo: Therock/Instagram.) The “Fast & Furious” antagonist returned to the ring in 2011 and again in 2013, when he lost the WWE championship title to John Cena. His last Wrestlemania appearance took place in 2016 during the 32nd event. He has made a series of pop-ups since then, most notably at Smackdown in September 2023 and January 1, 2024 on Raw. The Rock’s followers were glad to see him hint at a possible rumble during Bad Blood, a move that speculators believe has been in the works within the past two years. The entertainer posted a clip of him backstage drumming up anticipation for his next WWE return after shocking Atlanta’s crowd. Comments not only expressed excitement for a possible showdown, but general joy that he was back in the mix again. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dwayne Johnson (@therock) One fan wrote, “Finally… The Great One has returned.” Another follower said, “The rock is definition of a walking megastar and people really tried to say the wwe doesnt need the rock.” However, not everyone was thrilled with the Final Boss reemerging. Doubts about his motives for reemerging were cast elsewhere in the comments. “You need to retire leaving it to the younger boss,” read one such comment. A third reaction seemed to take aim at the fact that the 52-year-old has been short of blockbusters in the past year. That individual commented, “Just tell us Hollywood kicked you out.” The Rock catching the wrestling bug again because of how bad Black Adam flopped is the greatest gift in wrestling history pic.twitter.com/zvlN087LHa— Lord Lambo (@LordLambo99) October 6, 2024 Johnson’s last big film success was “Fast X” in 2023, although he was not the lead actor in the movie. The tenth installment in the long-running franchise brought in more than $700 million. Prior to that, he tried his hand at portraying DC Comics antihero Black Adam in the 2022 eponymous film that grossed $392 million. According to Variety, it needed to cross the $600 million threshold to turn a profit after recouping production costs, a figure the magazine also said its insiders at Warner Bros. said was incorrect, citing $400 million as the threshold to break even. A sequel was nixed months after the flop. The Rock told friend and frequent collaborator Kevin Hart that his passion project was a casualty of the “vortex of new leadership” on “Hart to Heart” last year. Also in 2022, Johnson filmed “Fast X,” which was not released to the public until 2023. After that, he went on with season three of his autobiographical series, “Young Rock.” He also reportedly received $50 million from Amazon for his still-unreleased “Red One” film. Other than that, his name hasn’t been linked to any other blockbuster movies. But reports had already claimed that the superstar was leaning back into wrestling to save face. The last four productions he participated in were connected to the WWE video games, TV series and specials. One fan said, “Looks like I’ll be tuning in again now that the Final Boss is back!!” while another added, “He’s a legend,but his time in Ring are over.” ‘His Time In the Ring Is Over’: Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s WWE Comeback Sparks Controversy as Fans Claim His Acting Career Is Struggling Post-‘Black Adam’