The Rock On What Made Him Decide to Return to WWE Now, Building To Future Being His Top Priority

The Rock and Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in the main event of WWE WrestleMania 40 Night One. During the post-show press conference, Rock spoke about the moment he decided to return to WWE, and how important it was to him that they lay the groundwork not just for WrestleMania 40, but the future as well. Highlights of his comments are below.

On if there was a moment that made him ready to return to WWE: “Yes, there was. When Ari Emanuel called and said, hey, I’m gonna buy the company. I said OK. What does that strategy look like? And we discussed that. There was talks almost two years ago about me returning to WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles, again it felt like everything was going to dovetail nicely into that, great story, that didn’t shake out and the way we had anticipated and that’s OK. I had said back then to the people who we were negotiating with, maybe it’s time to put the pencils down and we’ll revisit when it feels right. So I think between putting the pencils down about a year and half, two years ago, regarding WrestleMania 39, the clear shift and the actuality of the selling of the company, I think that kind of became the impetus to really look holistically at the opportunity of doing WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia and a lot of things had to come together and sure, the agreement and the deal, I’m not worried about that, especially when the negotiations are between myself, Ari Emanuel, Nick Khan, both of whom I’ve known for a very, very long time. Nick and I actually go back to Hawaii when we were kids, and Ari I’ve known for over 20 years, he’s my lead agent and business partner, so I wasn’t concerned about the agreement.”

On his priority being not just building to WrestleMania 40, but the future as well: “My number one priority was can I come back and add real value this time around and not, ya know, coming back for hot shots one at a time maybe, make an appearance one night, it’s fun, it’s fun for the fans, but I wanted something more substantial, and something that we can really build upon, and so these past two, three months, we’ve been laying ground work nicely, and not only building for WrestleMania this weekend, but also beyond that, and building for the future, and what that could look like.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit 411mania.com for the transcription.