The Rock consistently breaks character almost immediately after his appearances on WWE TV. It’s happened multiple times in 2025 when after a PLE or a WWE show— he shows up in a post-show press conference or an interview and immediately explains that it’s all just a storyline most recently on the Pat McAfee Show where he critiqued WrestleMania where a lot of fans expected him to show up as he was in the Cena – Rhodes storyline, alas he didn’t.
The Final Boss is designed to be the ultimate heel, and The Rock has received loud boos from fans over the past year. But despite being a savvy businessman and a veteran of the industry, he clearly does not enjoy being booed.
The Final Boss’ tendency to calm the critics with a reminder that everything they watch is a story gives a look behind the curtain, but it seems to remove fans from the immersion, and that’s not a good thing.
Yes, kayfabe is mostly dead—there’s no arguing that. Still, fans tune in every week precisely to suspend their disbelief and get lost in the characters and storylines. Everyone knows it’s scripted, but treating WWE like a regular TV show—where actors freely break character outside of filming—has never worked. There’s an unspoken rule in wrestling: while a storyline is active, wrestlers stay in character in public. That’s what makes WWE unique.
Take John Cena, for instance. He’s playing a heel now, yet still gets cheered. Fans know it’s a work, but Cena, being a consummate professional, always stays in character during public appearances and on social media. The same goes for Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and just about every top WWE star. But The Rock seems to be uniquely unaware—or uninterested—in this tradition.
Recently, Dave LeGreca, a sports media journalist and wrestling enthusiast went on a rant about this, and The Rock responded with his usual humor, saying that it’s all a work. Sure, fans already know that. But when the biggest villain on WWE TV keeps breaking character outside the show, it ruins the magic. The inconsistency of The Final Boss character is something fans have repeatedly pointed out.
Whether this is a business decision—where Dwayne Johnson wants to protect his off-screen image—or simply a case of no one being able to say no to him now that he’s on the WWE board, it’s disappointing at best and damaging to WWE’s storytelling at worst. As someone who grew up a massive Rock fan, I genuinely hope this new approach comes to an end soon.
