Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Monday Night Raw episode that aired on Monday, January 6th. Stream it with a Netflix subscription and read at your own risk!
As he promised in his Instagram video, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson found his way to the ring for the first Monday Night Raw exclusively on Netflix. Wrestling fans were excited to see The Brahma Bull return, of course, and I wasn’t the only one hoping it would shed some light on his plans for WrestleMania 41. Unfortunately, after seeing his segment, I’m more confused than ever about what the plan for him is.
We all want to see The Rock in upcoming WWE events, but is he planning on clearing his busy schedule to make time for WrestleMania season? Let’s revisit what all he did in the episode, and why I’m left wondering what the hell to make of all of that.
The Rock Opened Up WWE’s Netflix Era, And Was Present For The Tribal Chief Match
The Rock was the first person in the ring following Paul “Triple H” Levesque and got Los Angeles hyped for the history-making episode of Monday Night Raw. He showed love to Cody Rhodes, seemingly forgetting that he promised to take his title the next time he returned. He then exited the ring and took a seat ringside to observe Roman Reigns vs. Solo Sikoa for the Tribal Combat match.
He didn’t appear again until the end of the match, when Reigns officially won the Ula Fala back from his cousin Solo, and offered to put the necklace on the OTC. The Red One star then stood by silently and watched the entire arena praise his cousin without any reaction whatsoever. The segment ended, and Dwayne Johnson exited the ring.
Nothing The Rock Did Indicated Any Plans To Appear At WrestleMania 41, Which Is Concerning
I say Dwayne Johnson exited the ring not just for my own dramatic sake, but because I saw more of the Hollywood actor than I ever saw of “The Rock” as Monday Night Raw hit Netflix’s global audience. It has me wondering if he’s still on the fence about competing at WrestleMania 41, which is reportedly why the WWE has multiple plans in place for its main event. There’s a plan for if The Great One wants to have a match, and one for if he doesn’t.
I originally assumed, based on his Instagram videos, that he was setting up for his big match against Roman Reigns, which he’s campaigned to get for years. If that were happening, I’d have to imagine Dwayne Johnson would’ve attacked his cousin in the ring during the most-hyped WWE show of 2025 thus far. That didn’t happen, and really, we didn’t see the The People’s Champion get in a tussle with anyone. This has me thinking he won’t be at WrestleMania 41, which is concerning.
If The Rock isn’t at WrestleMania, then are we going to watch Roman Reigns take on Solo Sikoa again? That feels a little lackluster seeing as the WWE just showed what may be its biggest Monday Night Raw audience of 2025 that match already. Hopefully, this is just a slow burn and we’ll see him get a little more engaged as WrestleMania draws closer. I do think we should maybe prepare for the reality The Rock is skipping out on the event despite hyping it heavily last year.
Monday Night Raw is now a big bonus for Netflix subscibers, who can catch it live on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Stick with CinemaBlend for more rumors and speculation on what’s going on with Dwayne Johnson at WrestleMania 41.