The Rock rumors: Will Dwayne Johnson return at Survivor Series?

Post-Survivor Series update: Well, we did not get The Rock. Roman Reigns pinned Big E clean after a wild back-and-forth. We expected The Rock to make a late appearance, but it did not happen.

WWE’s annual Survivor Series pay-per-view will take place this Sunday at 8 p.m. ET from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. One of the conversations surrounding this event is speculation over whether or not Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will make his return to the squared circle at this event.

Reports began surfacing back in July that The Rock would make his return to the WWE at Survivor Series, kicking off the build towards a match with his cousin Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 38 next April. Given the family ties and the fact that the long-reigning Universal Champion Reigns has beaten just about every top star in the company already, a dream match with “The People’s Champ” at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, would make sense.

However, the former wrestler turned Hollywood megastar unsurprisingly denied those reports back in July and Reigns himself claimed he hadn’t heard the rumors on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon this week. But where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire, and those denials could be a giant work.

This year’s Survivor Series marks the 25-year anniversary of The Rock’s WWE debut when he arrived at Madison Square Garden for the 1996 PPV going by Rocky Maivia. The company’s social media accounts have spent the month of November commemorating his career and while it’s not surprising for them to celebrate one their biggest stars of all time, they’ve really gone in with the tributes this month. Gone in to the point where one would think they’re building towards something.

The Rock last appeared on WWE television during the debut of Friday Night Smackdown on Fox back in 2019. It’s a no-brainer that if he’d return for a match, it’d be against his cousin Reigns at a Wrestlemania. And with the “Tribal Chief” portraying a tyrannical heel character for the past year, it would make sense for someone of Rock’s stature to try to reel him in.

Reigns will more than likely main event when battling WWE Champion Big E in a one-on-one encounter. If he’s standing tall at the end, don’t be surprised if you suddenly here the iconic “IF YA SMEEEEELLLLL...” tagline, followed by the Rock’s entrance music. We’ll see what the WWE has in store for Sunday in Brooklyn.