The Rock swore again on live TV despite WWE asking their wrestlers not to do so.
The Hollywood star was involved in a bloody brawl with Cody Rhodes to close out Monday night’s RAW show, effectively beating up his rival in the rain and causing him to bleed from his head and telling him: ‘This is what happens when you f*** with the final boss.’
The re-introduction of blood onto WWE TV has left fans wondering whether the PG era – having been in place since 2008 – is coming to an end, with a number of wrestlers also swearing in recent weeks.
Reports however have surfaced that WWE has in fact asked its wrestlers not to swear on TV – though that was an instruction clearly ignored on Monday.
The Rock led the way with the expletives, following both Rhodes – who branded The Rock’s desired match with Roman Reigns as a ‘w***fest’ and CM Punk – who used the word ‘s***’ – earlier in the show.
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The Rock once again swore on WWE TV on Monday night despite requests for him not to do so
WARNING: Graphic content and strong language
He was involved in a bloody brawl with Cody Rhodes (left) to close out Monday’s RAW show
Having returned on-screen to WWE at the start of the year, The Rock, real name Dwayne Johnson, entered a feud with Rhodes and will take on his rival and Seth Rollins alongside Reigns at WrestleMania.
The original plan to pit The Rock against real-life cousin Reigns was met with stern backlash from fans, leading to WWE changing their plans and moving forward with the tag team match.
Reigns and Rhodes will then go head-to-head on the second night of the event in a match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
The Rock, who debuted in WWE in 1996, meaning he has performed in four different decades, was also added to the board of directors at TKO earlier this year following their takeover of the company in a merger with UFC.
He had previously rubbished reports that TKO had shown desire for him to set an example for WWE’s guidelines of a TV-PG product.
SEScoops.com reported that a memo had been sent to WWE stars informing them of their responsibility to adhere to PG guidelines on TV and social media.
It stated that some in the organisation felt that the fact the returning star did not have to abide by the same instructions was a double standard.
When Wrestlelamia shared a report from the Wrestling Observer News suggesting so, Johnson replied: ‘This story is complete horses**t.’
‘Networks and “standards & practices” have issues with my language, but I’d rather be real than not. I talk from the heart, shoot from the hip and try to always have fun,’ Johnson also posted on Instagram.
The Rock is on the board of directors at WWE umbrella company TKO and there had been reported worries of ‘double standards’
The Rock had hit back at the report that claimed some in the organisation were angered by his antics
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, the TV network FOX is able to bleep out his profanity as they are provided with a copy of his script before SmackDown begins.
‘The deal with the TV is what they have to do is FOX gets the script ahead of time so they know when to bleep.’ Meltzer said. ‘The whole thing is The Rock promo is completely scripted but if it was anyone else they would just be not allowed to say it.
‘With The Rock, it’s like he can say whatever he wants but we know what he’s going to say and when he’s going to say it so anything they want to bleep out they will bleep out. And they know when to bleep it out because they are told ahead of time.’
