Below are a couple of top WWE news stories of the day, featuring The Rock and Vince Russo.
• Last week’s episode of SmackDown, which featured The Rock’s return, drew 1.74 million viewers with a 0.51 rating in the 18-49 demo, which is up from previous week’s 1.38 million viewers with a 0.42 rating.
The Rock posted the following about the increase in ratings:
“Thanks for watching the show, we got some disruptive moves coming up so tune in.
Love playin’ this audacious, unpredictable character known as Final Boss.
Toronto – I’ll see you this weekend at Elimination Chamber.”
The Rock wants Cody Rhodes to be “his” champion on the road to WrestleMania 41, and wants The American Nightmare’s soul. Cody will give his answer this Saturday.
RELATED: Condolences To The Rock
• Former WWF/WCW/TNA writer Vince Russo has revealed that he will quit watching WWE on his 65th birthday:
“As my retirement plan now comes into form, I can tell you that on my 65th birthday I will stop watching any and all WWF programming for good.
So, that leaves about 11 more months of me being one of the only podcasters who will be brutally honest with you about the poor, underachieving, creative quality of the show. So, enjoy the honesty and truth while you can.”
Russo will turn 65 on January 24, 2026. On the BroDown, Russo said the following about Rock’s segment with Cody Rhodes on SmackDown:
“My take away from this show was, bro, are they really and honestly going to make The Rock mean nothing? Like seriously? Because I got to tell you, bro, listen, I worked with the dude for years and years.
This is the worst Rock in-ring promo I think I ever saw. It really had nothing to do with his performance. It had to do with the subject matter. It had to do with the angle. It had to do with what the hell they were talking about because I walked away.”
