Vince McMahon would have never let The Rock cut this week’s SmackDown promo, claims ex-WWE writer (Exclusive)

WWE star and TKO Board member The Rock showed up on SmackDown this week. Former WWE head writer Vince Russo shared his thoughts on The Final Boss’ appearance.

During his appearance on the blue brand’s show, The Final Boss announced that WrestleMania 42 would take place in New Orleans in April 2026. He then turned his attention to Cody Rhodes and put forth a unique offer for the Undisputed WWE Champion. The Hollywood megastar asked Rhodes to be his champion, and he expects an answer from the 39-year-old at the Elimination Chamber PLE.

This week on BroDown with host Mac Davis, Russo felt The Rock’s entire promo was directed at internet fans. He pointed out that casual fans tuning in didn’t know or care about higher management figures like Ari Emanuel and Nick Khan. The veteran writer pointed out that such segments would have never made it to TV during the Vince McMahon regime.

“This stuff would not happen if Vince was there. Rock is speaking one hundred percent to the mark crowd; to the internet crowd. When he’s talking about TKO Board, Ari Emanuel, Nick Khan, nobody knows this. The casual fans, number one, they don’t have a clue what any of these things mean, nor do they care. Nobody knows who Nick freaking Khan is, bro, nor do they care. These are the things that never happened with Vince,” he said. [From 21:47 onwards]

The Rock will appear at the Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event next Saturday. It will be interesting to see what happens when he once again confronts Rhodes.

If you use the quotes from this article, please credit BroDown and add an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcript.