WWE News: WWE Teases The Rock’s Return, & Triple H Talks Women Empowerment & Inter-Gender Matches
We are just over a week away from SmackDown 1000, and the WWE is lining up the superstars from both past and present. As the WWE website reported, Ric Flair and Batista will be appearing on the show to reunite with Evolution members Triple H and Randy Orton. In addition to the Evolution reunion — and the usual SmackDown superstars — Rey Mysterio is also rumored to appear.
SmackDown debuted on April 29, 1999, and Dwayne Johnson — known to wrestling fans as The Rock — was one of the most popular wrestlers worldwide, becoming ingrained into our pop culture. “The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment” had numerous catchphrases that the WWE universe latched onto. The word caught on so well that “smackdown” is now officially in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Though this is debatable, according to Uproxx, The Rock coined the famous word. One fact remains that isn’t so debatable — that the WWE named their show SmackDown after Dwayne Johnson’s catchphrase.
In addition, The Rock was the primary star on SmackDown during it’s nascent stages, and the now famous actor has always been synonymous with the show. Because of all of this — and the fact that Dwayne Johnson remains one of the most popular figures in the world — many wrestling fans are hoping that The Rock will return for the 1000 episode of SmackDown. As seen in the tweet below, the WWE has certainly teased the return of The Rock at SmackDown1000.
FINALLY…it's almost here! #SD1000 @TheRock pic.twitter.com/IEprsLKKFB
— WWE (@WWE) October 6, 2018
In other WWE news, while in Australia for Super Show-Down, Triple H spoke with Manny Tsigas for a sit-down interview. Manny told Triple H that local wrestlers believe that there should be more intergender matches. Triple H commented on whether the WWE sees a time where male and female superstars will square off one-on-one, as EWrestling reports.
“Women WWE Superstars don’t need a man to make them successful in the ring. They don’t need a man to step in the ring with them to make them have a spectacular match… They don’t need a man in the ring with them, they need each other, they need the opportunity, they need the platform, and they need to be set free to do what they need to do. And when we do that, they rise to the occasion, they have stolen the show, they’ve been the main event, and they will have their PPV on October 28 from New York, the first all-female WWE PPV.”
Triple H would go on to say that intergender matches don’t empower women, and that female WWE superstars are empowered when they put on such a great match that no man on the card can stand up to them.
