It’s Wrestlemania season in the WWE and the stakes have never been higher with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson spearheading the buildup to the magnum opus. The Rock is currently in his heel phase in the WWE. In layman’s terms, he is playing the bad guy right now. So it’s natural for him to troll every city that he goes with one thing that hurts them the most to get their boos. Unfortunately for Philly natives today, the Rock decided to rub salt in their wounds by bringing up Jalen Hurts and the Eagles’ dismal playoff records.
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Wrestlemania 40 is set to be this weekend at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Today was the WWE World event organized by the company as a pre-event PR tool. However one of the main attractions, The Final Boss aka Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson showed up two hours late. This gave fans all the more reason to boo the Black Adam actor.
However, being the ace smack talker Dwayne is, he set up a proper bait and hit to drive the Philly crowd mad. He first asked the crowd why they were booing him. “Are you booing because The Rock was supposed to be here at 4 o’clock, is that what you’re booing?” he asked. The boos grew louder, leading him to ask the crowd if they were ready to find out why he was late.
Finally, the WWE star responded by saying he was late because he was caught up watching Jalen Hurts highlights on YouTube losing in the playoffs again. The crowd booed even more after hearing this but in typical WWE style, The Rock immediately shut them off with his smack talk. Safe to say, The Rock cooked the Philly fans and they couldn’t even smell it coming.
“[The Rock] was watching YouTube, watching Jalen Hurts lose in the playoffs again,” he said. “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.”
DAMN.. THE ROCK RIPS ON JALEN HURTS and the #EAGLES
WOW. pic.twitter.com/og5EBLbTa8
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) April 4, 2024
While fans in person made their discontentment heard by booing The Rock, the NFL community and the Eagles’ fans online didn’t hold back their thoughts either.
Philadelphia Eagles & Jalen Hurts’ Fans Hit Back At The Rock
Despite his current WWE persona, The Rock is still a sweetheart for those who don’t follow pro wrestling. Hence a lot of Philly and Halen Hurts fans were disappointed at the Actor for his words and expressed their hurt in making them hate him.
Noooooooo I don’t wanna hate u https://t.co/iCpD4I8oMG
— Scary Hours (@bleed_green_5) April 4, 2024
Hate to see it https://t.co/cLIYO5v3w5
— Frankie Negrette (@R_ZR) April 4, 2024
The other section of the Eagles fanbase meanwhile completely shut down The Rock and asked him to stay in his own lane as he doesn’t know much about the NFL.
The Rock doesn’t know what’s cooking. Stay in his lane WWE.
— Patrick Lac (@PatrickLac007) April 4, 2024
I love the rock and I know he’s joking but he couldn’t even sniff the nfl playing field
— PhilaEagles (@PhilaEagles99) April 5, 2024
Amidst the triggered NFL fans, there was also a voice of reason from the WWE fanbase who explained that this is all an act by Dwayne as he is currently playing the bad guy. He assured fans that The Rock doesn’t mean it and all he wanted was this reaction from the fans.
I feel like people aren’t understanding what’s going on here.
The Rock is currently a bad guy in WWE. One of the key things bad guys do in WWE is insult the crowd. This is a very typical thing for a heel to do in a place like Philly.
Relax, y’all.
— Mark Harbison (@darthharbison) April 4, 2024
Safe to say, The Rock got the desired effect of getting hate from the fans as villains are intended to do. But if one were to play the devil’s advocate here, one cannot deny an element of truth in The Rock’s claims. The Eagles were 10-1 in the middle of the season. Many expected them to go all the way this season and challenge for the Super Bowl again as they did in 2018 and 2023.
However, they somehow bottled their 10-1 lead by losing six of their last seven games including the wild card round of the playoffs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For a team boasting all pro veterans, Jalen Hurts and a Super Bowl coach, consistently fumbling when the stakes are high is a bad look.
Who is to blame for such losses? The coordinators Brian Johnson and Sean Desai for their lack of adaptability when teams used to figure them out mid-game? Or the defense for suddenly playing like school kids after having a record 70-sacks season in 2022? While people can go on and pick their poison, it’s high time that the Eagles perform better in the playoffs. They certainly have the team for it.