The Rock Teases Roman Reigns Feud In Surprise Return To WWE ‘Raw’

Is it finally time for The Rock and Roman Reigns to throw down inside a WWE ring?

The most electrifying man in sports entertainment made a surprising return to the squared circle Monday night when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson appeared on the first episode of "Raw" in 2024.

The crowd in San Diego lost its mind as The Rock's music hit, interrupting Jinder Mahal's in-ring promo.

Johnson's return was a surprise, but it wasn't shocking. He made a similar appearance on "Friday Night Smackdown" in September. Monday's spot, however, might end up being massive for what it could mean down the road. After running down Mahal and getting physical with the former WWE champion, Johnson grabbed the mic and made a "head of the table" reference. WWE fans, of course, will recognize that as an allusion to current WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns.

A Rock-Reigns feud would be arguably the biggest in the history of the company. Johnson is obviously one of the best-known stars on the planet for the post-WWE work he has done in Hollywood. Before becoming a movie star, he was one of the most decorated WWE superstars of his generation as one of the pillars of the company's "Attitude Era," its most popular run of all time. Reigns, meanwhile, has ascended to the de facto throne over the last half-decade to become the most successful wrestler of his own generation.

The two are also "related," with ties to the same Samoan family. They have on-screen history, too, with The Rock (unsuccessfully) trying to put over Reigns when he won the 2015 Royal Rumble, and Reigns also appeared alongside his "cousin" in the "Hobbs and Shaw" installment of the "Fast and Furious" movie franchise.

There has been plenty of speculation about Johnson potentially returning for an in-ring run culminating with a match against Reigns at WrestleMania. It would have made a lot of sense last year with the event taking place in Hollywood, but Johnson's busy schedule might have made that difficult. Monday night's segment was the first real tease of a potential run with Reigns, and it kicked off the WWE's de facto WrestleMania season. The tentpole event takes place over two nights -- April 6 and 7 -- in Philadelphia this year.

The two-night event already was shaping up to be one of the biggest in industry history with CM Punk's recent return to WWE. Getting The Rock back for his first real match since 2013 would take it to even higher levels.