The Rock announced for Friday’s WWE SmackDown
The Final Boss is returning to WWE on Friday’s SmackDown.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson revealed in a social media post Thursday night that he will appear live on Friday’s WWE SmackDown from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans:
It will be his first appearance on WWE programming since last month’s Raw on Netflix premiere in Los Angeles and NXT TV appearance the next night. The Rock seemingly blew off the Final Boss character on Raw, before walking his actions back in a promo on NXT.
A future Cody Rhodes vs. The Rock match had been set up last year following WrestleMania 40, but Rock embraced Rhodes in his Raw appearance. He chalked that up to “The Final Boss” always being one step ahead in his promo the next night.
WWE followed up Johnson’s social media post with a press release with a quote attributed to chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque: “When The Final Boss shows up at this time of year, the audience knows absolutely anything is possible. Everything could change in an instant.”
A six-man tag team match was also added to Friday’s lineup, with Cody Rhodes teaming with Damian Priest and Braun Strowman against Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, and Tama Tonga. The new match for Friday match is listed on WWE.com.
Friday’s SmackDown will also feature Drew McIntyre vs. Jimmy Uso, plus DIY defending the Tag Team titles against Pretty Deadly. The updated lineup:
WWE SmackDown, Friday, February 21 —
- The Rock appears
- Cody Rhodes, Damian Priest & Braun Strowman vs. Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga
- Drew McIntyre vs. Jimmy Uso
- WWE Tag Team Champions DIY (Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano) defend against Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson)