Meltzer: People in WWE 'Resentful' of The Rock for Taking Credit for WWE's Success

The Rock has credited himself with making WWE "cool" again on numerous occasions since returning earlier this year, but that reportedly hasn't sat well with some in the company.

Speaking this week on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer (h/t WrestleTalk) said the following about how some unnamed people in WWE feel about The Rock's declarations:

"No one can say anything bad about him publicly, but there are people who are very resentful of him going like, 'I came back and wrestling is cool,' after WWE had a tremendous year, and the idea that he's kinda trying to take credit for this resurgence that happened a year before came back."

In January, The Rock was named a member of TKO's board of directors, leading to speculation that he was about to take a hands-on approach with WWE both on and off the screen.

The Rock then returned to WWE programming on the SmackDown after Royal Rumble, initially challenging Roman Reigns, although he ended up joining forces with The Tribal Chief in a rivalry against Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.

Despite his popularity, The Rock took on a heel character and began calling himself The Final Boss, leading to him and Reigns facing and defeating Rhodes and Rollins in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 40.

During the build toward the WrestleMania match, The Rock often used his status as a heel to gloat and give himself credit for WWE's success, such as in the following X post:

While it primarily felt like The Rock credited himself as a means of furthering his character, Meltzer's report suggests it rubbed some people the wrong way.

At the same time, it can be argued that there is some legitimacy to what The Rock was saying, as he undoubtedly helped generate additional interest in the product and was consistently among the most entertaining parts of WWE programming leading up to WrestleMania.

Despite not having had a true match in 11 years, The Rock put on a great performance at WrestleMania, leaving fans clamoring for him to return and wrestle again.

WWE has already set the stage for a likely future undisputed WWE Championship match between The Rock and Rhodes, and there is little question that WWE will benefit from an uptick in viewership and popularity when that time comes.

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