Nick Khan Explains Why The Rock Thought It Made Sense To Return Following WWE-UFC Merger

Nick Khan provides insight into The Rock’s return. 

Since returning to WWE at the SmackDown on Fox premiere in October 2019, The Rock largely remained out of the wrestling spotlight, save for some video appearances. That changed when he returned on WWE SmackDown in September 2023, joined the TKO Board of Directors in January, and has been part of the road to WrestleMania since the beginning of February. 

Speaking on The Town with Matthew Belloni, WWE President Nick Khan was asked why it made sense for Rock to return now. 

“It’s something that…the first bell-ringing day for TKO was September 12th. The conversation that Ari [Ari Emanuel], Mark [Mark Shapiro], Andrew [Andrew Schleimer], myself, others was ‘Dwayne Johnson would be really interesting for the board.’ Ari, Dwayne, and others, Brad Slater, who is an agent there, Ari and Brad have been across Dwayne’s business for a long period of time. The idea of Dwayne and having his input on TKO, which is part of WWE, was something we were desirous of. In having an on-going dialogue with Dwayne in the past two-plus years about, ‘when are you going to come back?’ It finally made sense to him. ‘The why,’ he would always say. ‘I need to figure out the Why.’ The interesting part for him is he’s developed all these other businesses. Now he sits on the board of a publicly traded company that has an incredibly strong valuation and that’s great for him and great for us that we can have him back on camera and in the ring. 

“I think when it was just WWE, the board operated in a different way. I think because TKO is growth-minded—that’s not to say WWE wasn’t—we wanted to be the best sports entertainment/wrestling company in the world, but with MMA in mind and what could be out there and with all of the great success the UFC had. Our fans love him. I think he loves our fans. Wrestling is in his blood.”

Khan noted that The Rock will be filming “Smashing Machine” one or two weeks after WrestleMania and then film the live action “Moana.” 

The Rock will return to the ring for his first advertised match since WrestleMania 29 when he teams with Roman Reigns to face Seth Rollins & Cody Rhodes at night one of WrestleMania 40. 

Elsewhere during the interview, Khan commented on the allegations against Vince McMahon. Fans can find his full comments by clicking here. 

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