10 Best Moments Of The Rock's WWE Comeback

It has been ten years since The Rock finally - FINALLY - returned to WWE after a seven-year absence.

On the February 14, 2011 episode of Raw, The Brahma Bull triumphantly re-emerged to announce himself as the Guest Host for WrestleMania XXVII.

It was, quite simply, an electrifying return. Fans had missed The Rock, whose last appearance (outside of inducting his dad and grandfather into the Hall of Fame in 2008) had been all the way back on August 23, 2004.

Since his homecoming, Dwayne has done quite a bit, to say the very least.

The Most Electrifying Man in all of Entertainment has won the WWE Title, main-evented WrestleMania and rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest stars in not only WWE but in the world of sports, too.

He hasn't wrestled a match since 2016, though there is still hope of a future showdown with Roman Reigns somewhere down the line.

Even if The Rock never steps foot in a WWE ring again, he's given us plenty of entertainment over the last decade, including some truly epic bouts and legendary moments.

10. The Six-Second Match

WWE

This one ruffled a fair few feathers at the time and I'm sure reading about it is likely to get some of you riled up all over again, too.

In the introduction, I mentioned that The Rock hadn't wrestled since 2016. Which is true, but obviously doesn't tell the whole story.

The Rock did wrestle in 2016, at WrestleMania 32, but his match wasn't scheduled and, let's be honest, it wasn't really a match.

The People's Champion was on hand to announce the show's (disputed) all-time attendance record of 101,763 people. Naturally, he made his entrance with the help of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and accompanied by a massive flamethrower, which he then used to set his name on fire.

His spiel was interrupted by the nefarious Wyatt Family and the whole thing ended with The Rock (who had his wrestling gear on under his street clothes, as you do) challenging them to a match, which was accepted by Erick Rowan.

One Rock Bottom, and six seconds later, and the two had set a new record for shortest match in WrestleMania history.

Before they could get their revenge, John Cena arrived on the same to dispose of the backwoods dwellers as the Hollywood heroes stood tall.

This left a sour taste in some people's mouths, as they felt it made Bray and his boys look bad at the expense of someone who wouldn't be around long-term, but The Rock is a legend and this is a moment and a record that will be talked about until it's broken.

Plus, I mean, flamethrowers and cheerleaders. What more do you people want?!

9. New Day Rocked

WWE

A few months before scrapping with the Wyatts at WrestleMania, Rocky was getting into it with another up-and-coming stable on Raw, as he found himself in a verbal showdown with The New Day.

But let's not jump ahead of ourselves, shall we, because The Rock's appearance on the January 25 2016 episode of WWE's flagship show involved much, much more.

The show was being held in Miami and, with three hours of airtime to fill, WWE gave the hometown boy plenty of time to flex his verbal muscles. And his actual muscles, of course. The man was jacked beyond belief.

His appearance started with a tease, as The Miz stepped out of a limo most thought contained The Great One, only for the man himself to show up seconds later in a truck, which he then instructed the Awesome One to park.

After stopping to chat with rapper Rick Ross, Rock then found The Big Show and reminded the giant that he had won the 2000 Royal Rumble match by last eliminating him, which included a funny tease about how the director of The Mummy Returns vowed to cast the winner of the match as the Scorpion King in the franchise film.

Next up our hero bumped into Lana and then Rusev, as the trio had an innuendo-laden confrontation playing off a prior meeting. The gist was that The Rock and Lana had spent some quality time together in a hotel room and she was 'flexible as hell'.

Yes, some of this stuff doesn't really wash well in the modern era.

Eventually, Rock came out to the ring and got into a war of words with Big E, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, but not before engaging with some rambunctious ringside fans dressed as Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan in a bit of ad-libbing that only somebody like him could get away with.

The segment ended with Rock and his cousins The Uso's predictably laying the smackdown, but the whole thing was entertaining and the crowd were molten for it.

8. The Rock Gives John Cena A History Lesson

WWE

The feud between The Rock and John Cena worked so well because it seamlessly blended fact and fiction, reality and make-believe.

Some of their beef was carefully-scripted storyline but there were genuine feelings of animosity that crept into their promos and segments and gave the whole presentation a sense of realism that you didn't really see on WWE programming at the time.

Cena, for his part, was annoyed at The Rock for leaving WWE and going off to Hollywood (oh, in hindsight, what bitter irony), while The Rock felt offended by Cena's comments and continually professed his love and respect for WWE and the fans.

The upshot was it seemed to compel both men to step up their game in their televised clashes.

One of the best moments of their feud came when The Rock decided to give Cena a history lesson via a tour of Boston. It started with him chucking a bunch of Cena merchandise into the harbour, continued on to Rock talking trash to a Cena cardboard cut-out next to a statue of Paul Revere, and ended with The Rock continuing his verbal beatdown stood outside the Massachusetts State House.

It was dynamite stuff and lead to an intense in-ring meeting at the end of the show.

The Rock needed this, since the previous week he had become flustered when Cena pointed out the promo notes on his wrist. This was a great response and showed that The Rock was on top of his game and ready for WrestleMania.

7. His First Match Back

WWE

Before Rock and Cena collided at the Showcase of the Immortals they were to team together, taking on The Miz and R-Truth in the main event of the 2011 Survivor Series.

There was automatic intrigue as to what would happen on that night in Madison Square Garden, as The Rock had previously cost Cena the WWE Title at WrestleMaia XXVII and the build to their hotly-anticipated match had started on Raw the day after.

While Miz and Truth were hardly a match for the two icons, at least on paper, they were quite hot during this time and more than warranted their marquee positioning.

As a match, The Rock and Cena versus Miz and Truth was far from a technical classic. But it was never going to be and, really, match quality was secondary here.

This was all about seeing The Rock wrestle for the first time in close to eight years, his last match having been at WrestleMania XX in March of 2004.

He looked sharp, too, not displaying an ounce of ring rust as you might expect as he fired off arm drags and rapid fire punches, before playing the greatest hits.

The bulk of the action was basic and I don't think you'd get any prizes for guessing who was going over. The Great One won with the People's Elbow, though that wasn't the end of it.

In the post-match scene, Rock dropped Cena with a Rock Bottom to keep their feud simmering, as the crowd roared in approval.

6. An Iconic Toast

WWE

WrestleMania XXX was a special night for a number of reasons.

The Streak was broken. Daniel Bryan became WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Justin Gabriel came sixteenth in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

Lots of reasons to remember it, as you can see.

The event kicked off with a moment that was, for some fans, the highlight of the night.

WrestleMania host Hulk Hogan came out to welcome everyone to the show, famously dropping a clanger when he referred to the Superdome as the Silverdome, before he was joined first by Stone Cold Steve Austin and then The Rock.

The sight of the three biggest stars in the history of WWE sharing a ring and doing their thing while hyping up the crowd was a great way to start proceedings on a historic show and, though there wasn't too much substance in what was being said out there, you cannot deny the outrageous amount of charisma and star power on display.

And, let's be honest, it was nice seeing the People's Champion and the Texas Rattlesnake score some points on the Hulkster after his audible flub, brother.

5. The Rock And Punk Face Off

WWE

In-between WrestleMania main events against John Cena, The Rock engaged in a short but compelling feud with WWE Champion CM Punk.

The Straight-Edge Superstar had turned heel on the Brahma Bull when he attacked him on Raw 1,000 and a match was set between the two for the 2013 Royal Rumble.

While the eventual match was certainly a mouth-watering prospect, the thought of the two microphone masters verbally duelling it out on the stick was in some ways even better.

Fans got their first proper taste of it on the January 7, 2013 episode of Raw, when Rock interrupted Punk and two men began sparring.

It was a real clash of the titans and a unique blend of personalities, characters and styles and it did much to build anticipation for their upcoming match.

The Rock was at his best here, expertly meshing his catchphrases and putdowns with a more focused, serious message, while the Second City Saint more than kept up his end, telling 'Dwayne' that his arms were simply 'too short to box with God'.

The segment ended with Punk eating a Rock Bottom in what had been a pulsating way to end the first Raw of the year and a phenomenal way to promote a dream match.

4. Punk Vs. Rock

WWE

Going into the 2013 Royal Rumble pay-per-view two things seemed set in stone; John Cena would win the Rumble and The Rock would leave as WWE Champion.

Punk had enjoyed a long, historic and memorable reign, but the money was in a WrestleMania rematch between Rock and Cena.

The question was not whether his reign would come to an end, but how, and would the diametrically-opposed pair be able to have a main event match befitting their reputations.

Thankfully, they had a belter of a contest. Rock worked hard in his first match in nine months and they gave fans a lot of big moves, canny reversals and close near-falls.

The match even had a Dusty finish, as Punk looked to have retained after the lights went out and Rock was put through the announce table (the implication being that it was the work of The Shield), before Vince McMahon came out and it was restarted.

From there, the result was inevitable, and following a People's Elbow, the 434 days of Punk came to an end.

Hey, if you're going to go down, go down to a wrestling legend and the biggest movie star on the planet in the headliner of the second-biggest show of the year, I say.

Their rematch the next month at the Elimination Chamber was also very good and worth seeking out.

3. The Rock Gets Rowdy

WWE

The Rock continued his WrestleMania streak going in 2015 at 'Mania 31, though his appearance here was a surprise.

For his fifth WrestleMania in a row, The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment came out to rain on The Authority's parade.

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were feeling happy with themselves and were more than willing to take the credit for the (disputed) 76,976 attendance record when they were interrupted by their old nemesis.

They teased a match between The Great One and The Game and traded barbs before Stephanie McMahon stood up for her husband with a slap.

Big mistake.

Rock wasn't about to hit a woman (this wasn't the year 2000 anymore), but he was happy to invite ringside celebrity pal and then-undefeated UFC superstar Ronda Rousey to do the honours.

The segment ended with Rowdy Ronda throwing Triple H ass over teakettle and threatening to remove the Billion Dollar Princess's arm.

It was a great, unexpected scene and the crowd were seriously into it. While it did (unfortunately) tease a Rock and Rousey versus Triple H and Stephanie match that couldn't quite be delivered, it was a fantastic introduction to Ronda, who would make her in-ring debut at the same event two years later (against McMahon and Helmsley).

2. The Return

WWE

The second best moment of The Rock's WWE comeback was the night of his return itself.

The People's Champion had popped up now and again since leaving WWE in 2004, usually via satellite or taped promo, or for a special occasion like the Hall of Fame.

The last time fans had seem him mixing it up in a WWE ring was in a throwaway segment with the Diva Search contestants, La Resistance, Jonathan Coachman, Rhyno and Tajiri, just to give you an example of how ancient that felt.

His reveal as the guest host of WrestleMania XXVII was expertly done.

First, WWE misdirected the audience by showing a women's feet exiting a limo and then when it was finally time to make the announcement they drew it out, shutting off the arena lights bit by bit and playing a video before the unmistakable strains of 'if you smell what The Rock is cooking' came over the PA.

The crowd completely lost their minds, to put it mildly, and hung on every word he said for the next twenty minutes.

Alongside the catchphrases and hyperbole, Rock also had a funny interaction with Michael Cole and laid the foundations for his feud with John Cena.

The man clearly hadn't lost a step and oozed confidence while taking care of business and making people care about seeing WrestleMania.

An epic return for one of the best ever and one of the loudest pops you'll hear this side of glass shattering.

1. Rock Vs. Cena

WWE

After all the talking, bragging and antagonising was done, it came down to The Rock versus John Cena, one-on-one in the middle of the ring, in the main event of WrestleMania.

Their rivalry had been captivating, producing some of WWE's best television in forever. Outside of the tag match at Survivor Series 2011, however, The Rock hadn't been tasked with doing much heavy lifting as far as in-ring wrestling was concerned.

Any questions over the quality of the match were answered early as it was evident Rock was there in shape and ready to go.

The two worked a smart match that played to each man's strengths (strength being the key word here, as there were a lot of power moves on display), and it built and built to a crescendo.

There was some doubt as to what the final outcome would be, but Rock was the one who left with his hand raised after a Rock Bottom.

He looked knackered, unsurprising since he had just wrestled for half an hour after years of inactivity, but he looked content.

I'm sure the smile on his face grew wider when he received his payoff, since WrestleMania XXVIII broke all prior records and attracted 1,217,000 pay-per-view buys.

Little wonder that they went for part two (so much for 'Once in a Lifetime') the next year. That match was also a spectacle, even if it wasn't quite as special as the original, a rare inter-generational dream match that really lived up to its billing.