The Rock Trolled Philly After Arriving Late to WrestleMania Event
The 51-year-old brought up some painful recent memories for the City of Brotherly Love.
WrestleMania 40 is descending on the City of Brotherly Love this weekend, with some of the biggest stars in the WWE set to perform at Lincoln Financial Field. And ahead of the main showdown, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson made an appearance at a fan event at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia on Thursday evening, where he made short work of firing up attendees after showing up nearly two hours late.
As he took to the stage to booing from the crowd—this is Philadelphia, after all—Johnson asked the crowd: "Are you booing because The Rock was supposed to be here at 4 o'clock, is that what you're booing?"
"You're booing because The Rock was a little late," he continued. "Is that why you're booing? Why was The Rock late, you wanna know? You wanna know why The Rock was late?"
After asking fans if they were sure they wanted to know, Johnson delivered the death blow.
"He was watching YouTube, watching Jalen Hurts lose in the playoffs again," he said, referring to the Philadelphia Eagles heartbreaking loss last year. "You boo because it's the truth. Now, The Rock has shown up, you got greatness in front of you, you stand there, shut your mouth and enjoy the ride that The Rock is cooking for you."
But despite the general candor from the crowd, most fans took both the lateness and trolling in stride.
"He's The Rock, he's got important things to do," Joe Tomczak of Northeast Philadelphia told 6 ABC News. "The Rock proved why he is the final boss and why he is the most electrifying man in sports entertainment today."
Another family who had traveled from Pittsburgh for the event said that the WWE star picked up their five-year-old son out of the crowd after noticing that his shirt said he was born at a WrestleMania event. "We were doing meet and greets and I was having contractions every five minutes but in denial," the boy's mother explained.
Never underestimate the devotion of WrestleMania fans.
The Rock will take to the ring on the first night of the event on Saturday, April 6, facing off against Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a tag team event alongside Roman Reigns.