Heading into the big WWE Raw premiere on Netflix, The Rock was a hot topic as everyone was wondering if he would be making an appearance on the show. The former WWE Champion confirmed ahead of time that he would be there, and he electrified the fans at the Intuit Dome when he made his way out to the ring for a promo. During Raw another surprising announcement was made when it was revealed that The Rock would be making an appearance at NXT New Year’s Evil on Tuesday night.
At the beginning of the show The Rock pulled up in his truck with The People’s Championship on his shoulder. Later in the show Ethan Page was talking to Ava and The Rock appeared behind him. He told Page that he heard he broke Je’Von Evans’ jaw, and that “payback is going to be a b****.”
Rock then acted friendly toward Ethan Page and told Page that he can come to him if he needs anything. The Great One followed up and told Page that he may be The Final Boss, but Ava is The Final Boss in NXT, so if he and Ethan Page are going to be cool, Page has to be cool with Ava. Ethan Page agreed and left the office. The Rock asked Ava if she had any advice for his promo as he told her that he didn’t know what he was going to say.
The Final Boss made his way out to the ring during the main event segment to massive reaction from the NXT fans. When The Rock arrived in the ring the fans chanted “Rocky” followed by “NXT.” The Rock told the fans they’ve got six minutes and he ran down all his nicknames as he introduced himself. The fans chanted his name once again.
Rock said everywhere he went last year people couldn’t stop asking him why he was being so mean to Cody Rhodes. The Final Boss then talked about how he wanted to give Cody his flowers at the Raw premiere, and now people are complaining about him being nice to Cody, telling him he shouldn’t be drinking tequila with The American Nightmare. He reminded everyone that he’s The Final Boss, thinking twenty steps ahead, so the best thing for them to do is to shut their mouth, know their role, and enjoy the ride that The Rock is taking them on.
"The Rock is The Final Boss, thinking 20 steps ahead."@TheRock ALWAYS has a plan… #WWENXT | #NewYearsEvil pic.twitter.com/gG1hH6q1RB
— WWE (@WWE) January 8, 2025
The former WWE Champion claimed he knew he would be coming to NXT weeks ago. He pitched the idea to Nick Khan, but he didn’t know what he was going to say. Rock followed up and told the fans the main thing he wanted to say is “thank you.” While talking about the Raw premiere he said it’s the show you have to go to because all the stars are there, but NXT is the show you want to go to. The fans chanted “NXT.”
The Rock stressed how important the fans are for supporting NXT. He said in three years the stars of NXT could be main eventing WrestleMania, or they could be out of the business, but it all depends on how the fans react. The Final Boss told the NXT fans that they matter more than anything. He finished up by saying he goes a lot of places, but he will always come back home.
"NXT, The Shrine here in Los Angeles, this is what you want to go to!"@TheRock knows that there's something special with #WWENXT.#NewYearsEvil pic.twitter.com/0d8RoZ2FHI
— WWE (@WWE) January 8, 2025
