As the wrestling world mourned the untimely death of AEW star PAC last weekWWE legend and TKO board member Dwayne โThe Rock Johnson He posted his own tribute on Instagram just days later. In the minutes-long video, Rock not only offered his support to not only the PAC family, but also AEW and AEW owner Tony Khan, reaching out to AEW as a growing company while calling Khan his “good friend.” Many found The Rock’s remarks touching, though it seems like it might ruffle feathers in WWE. On Friday “Wrestling Observer Radio”, Dave Meltzer didn’t say that WWE members were upset with The Rock over his praise of AEW, but did reveal that some were caught off guard by it.
โWere there people in WWE who were very surprised by the way he worded it and what he said, especially when he was on the TKO board of directors? Yes, good.” Meltzer said: “They were very surprised. And Nick might not be, he might tell Nick ahead of time. Maybe he didn’t. He can do whatever he wants, you know what I mean?
โBut yeah, people (were surprised) not that he did the video or anything, but the wording of the video where he was praising them and basically giving them a stamp. (That’s) not the message I think the company wants to get out. The idea of โโmaking a video, no one will be mad about it. But yes, the wording? People brought it up to me, yeah.”
As of now, AEW has yet to acknowledge Rock’s announcement, though the promotion has been busy with more than just the Grand Slam. Parisโ and in preparation for WrestleDream over the next few weeks, but also in mourning for PAC. their tribute to the late star on last week’s AEW Dynamite.
If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Wrestling Observer Radio and credit ah/t Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
WWE’s response to Rock’s PAC tribute continues to show they have the wrong priorities
There are very few things that surprise me about WWE these days, and unfortunately that includes some of their actions this past week. I wasn’t at all shocked that WWE decided to counter-schedule AEW’s PAC tribute on Wednesday night with their pre-taped Worlds Collide event, and I’m not shocked to see some WWE staff caught off guard when The Rock praised AEW in his tribute, with a strong hint that many were unhappy with it. This is unfortunately another example of WWE. an entity so caught up in its own orbit that they hardly ever look outside of it, and when they do, they will a) do the bare minimum and b) continue to act ruthlessly anyway. Some may argue, and rightfully so, that’s not what happened last week, that since Worlds Collide was streamed on YouTube, it can be watched at any time (and therefore isn’t really counter-programming to the PAC tribute), and that The Rock is part of WWE and shouldn’t be praising the rivalry for whatever reason.
I have no time for these arguments. If Worlds Collide could be watched at any time due to being on YouTube, then WWE could put it on any other day. they chose to keep it on Wednesday even under the circumstances. And while The Rock may be a WWE guy, as he mentioned, some things are bigger than your three letters. Hell, even AEW seemed to get it, as evidenced by the recent “Dynamite,” which featured shots of several WWE big names and some other photos. Honestly, it’s not even that big of a deal. that should be the standard for these things. But that’s still more than WWE seems willing to do for a guy as important to their recent history as he was to AEW. The fact that WWE not only counter-programmed it, but expressed confusion over The Rock’s basic decency shows that they are a promotion with the wrong priorities.
