The Rock Accused of Gaslighting WWE Fans Over WrestleMania 41 Absence

Many fans were disappointed that The Rock didn’t appear at WrestleMania 41, especially since Travis Scott showed up and helped John Cena win the Undisputed WWE Title. After the event, The Rock explained why he didn’t show up, but now The Final Boss has been accused of gaslighting fans.

While speaking on the Stevie Richards Show, Stevie Richards accused The Rock of gaslighting fans after The Rock claimed he skipped WrestleMania 41 because he didn’t want to take attention away from John Cena’s 17th World Title win.

Richards said The Rock was trying to rewrite history by pretending that everything went according to plan, even though fans saw something completely different happen. He criticized The Rock for making it seem like fans were too stupid to understand what was going on, when in reality, there was no clear plan in place until after the fact.

“The Rock is gaslighting the fans and everybody else. He’s trying to say, ‘This was the plan all along,’ when we all know it wasn’t. This interview is just good old-fashioned hardcore gaslighting — acting like what we saw with our own eyes wasn’t what really happened. It’s like he’s telling the fans: ‘You’re stupid. You didn’t understand what we were doing. We had it figured out all along.’ It’s gaslighting, plain and simple.”

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Richards also called out The Rock for trying to explain the “soul” storyline as if it was part of a grand design from the start. According to Richards, the storyline didn’t even exist until it was made up later.

Richards compared the situation to a Hollywood country club meeting, saying it felt overly complicated and full of PR language. Richards stressed that wrestling is supposed to be simple and hit people with pure emotions, not confuse them with overcomplicated metaphors.

“He’s literally trying to retroactively explain this whole ‘soul’ storyline after the fact like it was some grand design. No one understood it because it didn’t exist until after the fact! This feels like a Hollywood country club meeting. It’s overly complicated, it’s PR speak, it’s garbage! Wrestling is simple — it’s supposed to slap you in the face with emotions.”

Richards also questioned how The Rock, who was supposed to be the anchor of the story, could just disappear at the most important moment. Richards found it unbelievable that The Rock claimed he didn’t know Travis Scott was making an appearance. Especially since he sits on the TKO board and has branded himself as the Final Boss.

Richards finished by calling out the insult to fans’ intelligence, suggesting The Rock thought people were too dumb to see through it.

“If you’re the anchor of the storyline, how can you just vanish at the finish? The anchor doesn’t float away when you need it the most. You’re telling me you didn’t know Travis Scott was coming out, but you’re the Final Boss? You’re on the TKO board! How stupid do you think we are?”

Many people backstage in WWE were also confused over The Rock’s comments on the Pat McAfee Show, among other things. Regardless, we’ll have to wait and see when The Rock does return to WWE television, as it’s very clear many people are simply fed up with him at this point in time.

What’s your view on Stevie Richards’ criticism of The Rock? Do you think fans are being gaslighted, or is it all just part of the business? Share your thoughts and feedback in the comments below!

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