WWE: The Rock on Appearance at RAW Day 1 Show, Oba Femi on Winning NXT’s 2023 Men’s Breakout Tournament, More News

The Rock Comments on His Surprise Appearance at This Past Monday’s WWE RAW Day 1 Show

As noted before, this past Monday’s WWE RAW Day 1 show in San Jose, California featured Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson making a surprise appearance and return to WWE.

Johnson recently reflected on Twitter about his recent surprise appearance in WWE.

“It all hits differently.

The theme, the crowd, the connection, the reaction, the electricity, the chills.

Helluva way to bring in 2024. Grateful, blessed & inspired to forever be, the People’s Champ. @WWE

#WWERaw

It all hits differently.
The theme, the crowd, the connection, the reaction, the electricity, the chills.
Helluva way to bring in 2024. Grateful, blessed & inspired to forever be, the People’s Champ. @WWE #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/uTN9469WEm

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) January 3, 2024

---

Oba Femi Comments on Winning NXT’s 2023 Men’s Breakout Tournament

Tuesday’s WWE NXT New Year’s Evil 2024 show featured Oba Femi defeating Riley Osborne in the Finals of the 2023 NXT Men’s Breakout Tournament.

WWE held a digital exclusive backstage interview with Femi discussing his thoughts about his tournament victory.

“This moment to me means everything has finally come to fruition. When I was back home in Nigeria, I consulted a fortune teller called Eshema, Sister Eshema. She told me she sees me conquering industries in the future. She sees me bringing down industries in the future. She sees me winning contracts in the future. She sees me winning gold in the future. Eshema, whatever you are, destiny fulfilled.“

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

---

WWE News & Notes

As noted before, Andrade El Idolo departed from AEW following this past Saturday’s Worlds End event and is currently expected to be returning to WWE. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Andrade was recently pulled from a scheduled booking for Game Changer Wrestling. This is typically an indication that someone had recently signed a new contract with WWE.

WWE Hall of Famer Sean “X-Pac” Waltman reportedly is currently expected to work as a guest coach at WWE’s Performance Center this week, according to PWInsider.

WWE recently announced that Logan Paul and Roman Reigns will be making an appearance at this Friday’s WWE SmackDown New Year’s Revolution show in Vancouver, Canada.

As noted before, this past Monday’s WWE RAW Day 1 show in San Jose, California featured Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson making his surprise return to WWE. During his promo segment, Johnson called out Roman Reigns for a potential match between the two in the future. Reigns recently responded on Twitter to The Rock’s comments with a crying laughter emoji.

Becky Lynch recently reflected on Instagram about reuniting with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson backstage at this past Monday’s WWE RAW Day 1 show in San Jose. Lynch stated “One of us was asking the other for advice on how to beat up their cousin.“

As noted before, Tuesday’s NXT New Year’s Evil 2024 show featured Carlito making a surprise appearance. Following the show, WWE held a digital exclusive backstage interview with Carlito discussing his thoughts about his surprise appearance on the show. Carlito stated “They thought the LWO was down and out at the end of 2023. They thought we were finished. But we’re back at NXT, new year, new energy, and we got the win.” Carlito also gave his thoughts about filling in for Dragon Lee for the LWO’s Six-Man tag team match on the show. Carlito stated “That’s the thing about the LWO. We lose a guy, we gain a guy. Dragon Lee, I know he’ll be back soon, but until then, we’re gonna hold the fort down, and that’s cool.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

Tuesday’s NXT New Year’s Evil 2024 show also featured Kevin Owens making his surprise return to NXT. Following the show, WWE also held a digital exclusive backstage interview with Owens discussing his thoughts about his reason for wanting to make his surprise return to NXT. Owens stated “I was watching at home, I don’t live too far from here, and once I saw that Grayson Waller was gonna be involved, I figured, what better what to start 2024 than by getting some payback for the broken hand? He and Theory broke my hand, and then I figured Theory might not be there, so great opportunity. Now 2024 is off to a great start, and Friday I make it better by beating Santos Escobar and moving on, winning the whole tournament, and then I go on to the Royal Rumble, beat Logan Paul, restore some sort of prestige to the US Title because he’s done a hell of a job bringing it way down. Then 2024, we’re rocking.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

This past December’s Steel City Comic Con convention featured WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle among the guests. During his Q&A panel, Angle revealed that he is still under contract with WWE when asked a question about a potential return appearance to the company. Angle stated “Yeah, I’ll talk all day and night, but I’m not going to wrestle. I’m 55 going on 80. WWE has utilized me. Last year, I did a segment in Pittsburgh where I had the milk truck in the arena and I sprayed down Chad Gable and Otis with milk. That was a remake of what I did against Steve Austin in 2001. They also had a birthday celebration for me. I do certain events with them. I’m still signed with them, I have a contract with WWE. I’m sure they’re going to possibly use me for something at WrestleMania or Royal Rumble or something. They always come up with something. I’ll eventually do something crazy with WWE and I’m sure I will in the future.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)