Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Set To Return To WrestleMania

The 'Tooth Fairy' star will host the 27th installment of the wrestling event on April 3 in Atlanta.
By Eric Ditzian

Dwayne Johnson
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has spent the last few years flexing his muscles on the big screen rather than in the wrestling ring, starring in family-oriented fare like "The Tooth Fairy," bawdy comedies such as "The Other Guys" and a slew of in-your-face action flicks from "Faster" to "Fast Five."

Now, however, the Rock is returning to the world in which he first made his name, hosting WrestleMania XXVII on April 3 at Atlanta's Georgia Dome. He made the announcement during an appearance on "Monday Night Raw," clearly relishing being back in the WWE mix and issuing challenges to fellow wrestlers John Cena and WWE Champion the Miz.

The Rock also posted a short video on YouTube in which he bombastically declares, "Finally, the Rock has come back to WrestleMania. The most electrifying man in all of entertainment is hosting the most electrifying event in all of entertainment!"

The announcement coincides with the Rock joining Twitter. After just 12 hours of activity and only three tweets, he'd managed to attract nearly 80,000 followers. "Finally... Twitter just got Rocked!" reads his first post.

While he's taking on hosting duties and directing a barrage of trash talk at other WWE talent, it's unclear if the Rock will actually step into the ring at WrestleMania. His last appearance as a wrestler came at WrestleMania XX in 2004.

The hosting gig comes shortly before the April 29 release of "Fast Five," the fifth installment in the "Fast and the Furious" franchise.

And the return to the WWE comes at a time when the Rock has stepped away from fun-for-the-whole-family comedies and embraced darker big-screen projects.

"It's a great space to be back into," he explained to MTV News last March while promoting "Faster." "I left the action genre for a couple of years, I did comedy and some family movies as well. But to get back into the pure action genre [in a] revenge thriller is just awesome. I'm back into the space of kickin' ass, which I love to do."

Check out everything we've got on "Fast Five."

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