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Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson returned to a WWE ring on Monday night on the first "Monday Night Raw" episode of 2024.
Rocky confronted Jinder Mahal in the ring during the special "Day 1" episode. Mahal has not fought on RAW or SmackDown since 2022, and since then, he has appeared in NXT and has the manager of the tag team, Indus Sheer. This time, he cut an anti-American promo before The Rock’s music hit and cut him off.
The crowd in San Diego absolutely popped for the eight-time WWE champion.
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"You are in trouble tonight," he told Mahal as soon as he stepped into the ring.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is interviewed on the sideline in the second quarter of the game between the Colorado Buffaloes and the Colorado State Rams at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado, Sept. 16, 2023. (Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)
Mahal, in typical heel fashion, criticized The Rock for showing up and said he would be "disgusted" if he were The Rock and had to defend the crowd. The Rock retorted, saying he was "damn proud to be the people’s champion."
"And The Rock is damn proud to be an American," he said. "… You come out here and you run your mouth about the truth and why they boo you. Let The Rock tell you some truth – they don’t boo you because of how you look, they don’t boo you because of how you talk, they don’t boo you because you speak Punjabi, no … they boo you because you’re the biggest a--hole walking God’s green Earth.
"… The only thing that matters is you come out here, and you have the gall to actually say, ‘America is a joke.’ Well it ain’t a joke to The Rock, and it ain’t a joke to all these people. It definitely ain’t a joke to every American watching at home right now. You know what else isn’t a joke? …
"Here’s what else isn’t a joke – the fact you can come down here and grab a microphone and run our country down free of consequence from our government. It’s called freedom of speech. But here’s the thing, jack, you can’t ever come out here in the people’s ring, in front of the people with the people’s champ in the building, run our country down free of consequence from The Rock."
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The Rock poses June 12, 2000 In Los Angeles. (Getty Images)
The Rock eventually laid the smackdown on Mahal, but before he left the ring and called it a night, he teased a potential matchup with WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
He asked the crowd where he should eat when he goes to dinner later.
"Should The Rock sit at the head of the table," he asked.
The crowd went wild, and The Rock left the ring. Reigns is the leader of The Bloodline faction and has proclaimed to be the at the head of the table when it comes to the long line of Samoan professional wrestlers. He had held the WWE title for more than 1,220 days.
Reigns, whose real name is Leati Joseph Anoaʻi, is a member of the Anoa'i family. The Anoa'i family has been in professional wrestling for generations. Both Reigns and Rock are both members of the same family tree.
Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman walk into the arena prior to the WWE and Universal Championship match during the WWE Royal Rumble at the Alamodome on Jan. 28, 2023 in San Antonio. (Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)
It is unclear when the match will take place, but all signs are pointing to Elimination Chamber as Reigns will face the winner of a triple threat match set for SmackDown for the title.
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The build-up is certainly going to be exciting to watch.
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