The Rock made a shock appearance on Friday’s SmackDown, feuding with Austin Theory in the ring.

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Johnson teased a WWE comeback on the Pat McAfee Show earlier in the day, discussing the possibility of showing up at WrestleMania 40 in April 2024.

A few hours later, McAfee started the latest episode of SmackDown, trash-talking with Theory in the squared circle for a brief moment.

Then, The Rock’s entrance music blasted from the speakers – and the audience lost it.

The Rock and Theory stared each other down after the WWE icon made his way to the ring.

The SmackDown star then boastfully vowed to beat the entire Mount Rushmore of wrestling.

He further aggravated The Rock by claiming it didn’t matter what the 10-time world champion had to say.

“The Rock is going to whoop your candy a** all over Denver,” Johnson finally said.

Theory dealt the first punch, grabbing the 51-year-old by his head and punching him a number of times.

But just a few seconds later, Johnson sent him bouncing off the ropes and tumbling to the mat.

He then delivered the people’s elbow to Theory, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

And McAfee piled on, using The Rock’s signature move to make the 26-year-old writhe again.

Later in the episode, Johnson was seen embracing John Cena in a touching moment for WWE fans.

“Welcome home,” Cena told The Rock.

“Good to be here,” The Rock responded with a smile.

Johnson returned to the WWE for the first time since October 2019 when he appeared on the 20th anniversary episode of SmackDown.