The Rock Made a Triumphant Return to WWE SmackDown

The Rock has finally returned to SmackDown! Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson treated his millions—and millions—of fans to a special appearance on WWE SmackDown as the show made its historic debut on the Fox Network, and it was almost like he’d never left.

As WWE Raw Women’s Champion Becky “The Man” Lynch attempted to start SmackDown’s 20th anniversary with a speech, she was interrupted by King Baron Corbin. The two had a little verbal back-and-forth before the most electrifying man in sports entertainment came out to a raucous cheer from the Los Angeles crowd. 

King Corbin, as usual, was on his high throne—figuratively speaking—before The Rock and The Man teamed up to issue a verbal beating on him.

Lynch also channeled her inner Rock for a brief second, as seen in this video: 

After the verbal beating was finished, The People’s Champ and The Man teamed up to give Corbin a physical smack down that ended with a Rock Bottom and the most electrifying move in all of sports entertainment—the People’s Elbow.

The Rock seemed to enjoy his appearance on the show he helped launch into the limelight. He tweeted some kind words of Lynch, and even a few for Corbin, throughout the weekend.

As if that opening wasn’t enough, the action on SmackDown only got wilder as the night went on. Heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury sat ringside during the event and traded a few words and taunts with Bruan Strowman during the “Monster Among Men’s” eight-man tag match. After Strowman’s team won, Fury attempted to charge the ring, but was held back by security. 

And in one final shock, Brock Lesnar was greeted by a familiar face after he annihilated Kofi Kingston in mere seconds to win the WWE Championship—Cain Velasquez. Yup, the same guy who defeated Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight Championship now apparently wants to take on “The Beast” in the WWE. 

Velasquez, who was accompanied to the ring by Rey Mysterio, is known for his work in the Octagon, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle, either. He’s wrestled in Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide and reportedly trained in the WWE Performance Center in 2018. 

SmackDown came to the Fox Network with quite a bang, and it’ll be interesting to see what else it has in store for its new home.

Here’s an in-depth look at the great run on SmackDown to start the season: