Tommy Dreamer Outlines Rationale Behind WWE Fans' WrestleMania 40 Outrage

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson made his return to WWE last month, seemingly with a feud against his cousin, Roman Reigns, on the table. However, that soon changed, with Johnson reportedly deciding himself to turn heel and join forces with Reigns. Speaking on "Busted Open Radio," former WWE and ECW star Tommy Dreamer offered his perspective on the decision.

"If I can quote a famous philosopher: 'It doesn't matter what you think. Know your role and shut your hole,'" Dreamer said. "If you think about how Rocky Maivia got over, he listened to the crowd. And they were pushing him as this mega, mega babyface."

To Dreamer's point, the company decided to turn Johnson heel when the crowd vocally rejected him as a hero. He joined the Nation of Domination in 1997 and his career took off from there. This time around, after an initial pop upon his return, the crowd once again rejected Johnson as a babyface and he responded by once again turning heel.

"Your audience was mad at that decision," Dreamer continued, talking about the apparent decision to replace Rhodes with Johnson in the match against Reigns. "It's all placement and timing. That's why I say, 'Know your role.'"

According to Dreamer, announcing Johnson's new position on the TKO Board of Directors, almost immediately followed by the perception that Johnson was taking Rhodes' role at WrestleMania, made it inevitable that fans would reject the idea. The perception was that Johnson was using his power within the company to take Rhodes' position, and a vocal segment of the fans were not having it.

In the end, those fans won out. Rhodes will officially face Reigns at WrestleMania 40, but it also looks like The Rock will be active in some form. The next few weeks should provide some insight into what the situation will look like heading into WrestleMania.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.