Three weeks removed from his WrestleMania 29 loss to new WWE champion John Cena, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson finally broke his silence Monday about his WWE future. And it doesn't sound promising for wrestling fans hoping to see The Rock back in the ring any time soon.
Despite recently published reports indicating that The Rock didn't angrily leave the WWE prior to a live Monday Night Raw broadcast on April 8th and that an injury is the reason for his walk-off (there definitely is an injury), sources close to WWE hint that The Rock wasn't thrilled with his WrestleMania 29 exit. And it may have left such a bad taste in The Rock's mouth that WM29 could have been his last match.
"That's so false," The Rock tells Peter Rosenburg in a new interview when asked if he simply walked off the show and bailed on WWE. The Rock says it was a hernia, torn adductor and torn abdominal muscle that prevented the Raw appearance.
Although Johnson will go under the knife in the coming days to have the injury repaired, some find the WWE legend's odd silence on Twitter indicative of more problems than he's admitting to when it comes to his WWE ties.
"You know, the goal three years ago was, I sat down with Vince McMahon and we strategized about it, talked about three WrestleManias back-to-back, boom-boom-boom, and building to those," The Rock admits. "And, I committed myself to the company and I was very proud of that moment. Didn't matter if I lost or did the job or not. It was an honor to do the honors."
When asked if he wrestled his last match, The Rock said his loss to John Cena was "possibly" his last match.
Sources close to WWE tell WWE Examiner on Monday that while The Rock is being honest about his strong friendship with WWE CEO Vince McMahon and his undying affinity for the WWE Universe, there is more to the story of The Rock's 2010 return and 2013 departure than we realize.
According to one source, the locker room was so unfriendly - if not cold - to The Rock that the WWE icon was made to feel uncomfortable and shunned on more than one occasion. With jealousy rampant among today's younger superstars - superstars who didn't even get to wrestle at WM29 because of The Rock's purportedly show-stealing main event - some believe that The Rock is effectively done returning to the company as an in-ring performer.
But will The Rock be back at all? In February 2010, during his first live WWE programming appearance in seven years, Johnson told fans in attendance in Anaheim, California that "The Rock was back" and that he was never going away again.
Will he be a man of his word? For now, fans can only hope that they haven't see the last of "The Great One," even if an official retirement from in-ring performing now appears likely.
