If you ask the Rock — who was indeed questioned directly about it on Saturday night — Travis Scott is inching closer to his apparent dream of participating in an actual professional wrestling match, albeit with backup. Scott didn’t just accompany the Rock into the ring, he got physically involved in a memorable moment in wrestling history.
At the WWE’s Premium Live Event “Elimination Chamber,” before some 40,000 fans, the Rock and Scott joined forces with another superstar, John Cena — who turned from good to bad guy — as all three jumped WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. The hip-hop icon got his first taste of what it really feels like to throw hands in a wrestling ring, striking Rhodes in the head, who was already bleeding profusely.
“He wanted to get his hands bloody,” The Rock said during a press conference after the event about Scott. “I whispered to him as he was going out [to the ring]. I said, ‘if you’re gonna get your hands bloody, make it count. Make it count. He slapped the shit of Cody tonight. He was really, really hyped up.”
The event took place at Toronto’s Rogers Center, and sure enough, hometown hero Drake was in the front row with Lil Yachty — a surprise appearance since just days earlier he’d canceled the remaining four dates of his Australia-New Zealand tour due to a “scheduling conflict.”
Scott has been a regular WWE celebrity guest for years. Prior to Saturday, he last came out at to a WWE ring on January 6 in Los Angeles as “Monday Night Raw” made its debut on Netflix, performing a segment from “Fiend,” and accompanied Rock’s real life cousin Jey Uso to the ring. The Houston native’s music has been official theme to WWE’s Premium Live Events, and he has also debuted songs on WWE programming: “4X4” was first heard on the January 6 “Raw.”
“He loves the business,” the Rock said. “We get guys and girls like that who want to come in and who are already tapping in culture and disrupting culture in their own cool way. Maybe they want to sit and enjoy, maybe they want to be on camera.
“But then some want to get involved,” the Rock continued, “and then some, like Travis, deeply want to get involved. And that’s what you saw tonight.”
The interviewer asked, now that Scott has gotten his first taste of blood in the ring, will it lead to an actual match as a tag-team partner with himself and Cena?
“Yes, that’s why we’re doing it,” the Rock replied. “I love Travis. That’s my guy.”
The Rock and Cody Rhodes have been at odds for over a year. They fought each other at WrestleMania last year and, as he did Saturday, the Rock whipped Rhodes with a leather belt and bloodied him en route to their main event tag match against each other. It all seemed squashed on the “Raw” Netflix world premiere when they shook hands in the ring and saluted each other.
And two Fridays ago, the Rock appeared on WWE’s “Friday Night Smackdown” and took the love fest even further. He told Rhodes he could make the champ’s wildest dreams of money and fame come true: All Cody had do was embrace the Rock as a “brother” and surrender his “soul.” He told Cody take the week and consider his offer, and answer on Saturday.
Cena had the second match of his year-long retirement tour on Saturday. He fought and won the Elimination Chamber match (besting five others) and was crowned the number-one contender to face Rhodes at this year’s WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas (April 19 and 20). After his victory, Rhodes came to the ring to congratulate Cena, his former mentor.
The seemingly friendly reunion was interrupted by Travis Scott’s song “Fiend,” which blared from the arena’s sound system. Sure enough, Scott came out at the wrestler’s ring entrance, carrying his own custom WWE Championship belt.
Next, the Rock’s theme music hit, and the pair moved to the ring to confront Rhodes. While Rock and Rhodes went back and forth on the microphones, Cena looked on, urging Rhodes to say no, while Travis stood in the corner.
Finally, Rhodes told Rock, “Go fuck yourself.” Cena hugged him, but then followed a signal from the Rock to attack.
The move was a classic WWE “surprise,” because Cena has been good guy — a “babyface,” in wrestling jargon — for the majority of his career, although he first rose to fame as a trash-talking “heel.” It was the biggest switch up since Hulk Hogan turned his back on his “Hulkamaniac” fans in 1996 and joined the villainous faction the N.W.O.
As the former rivals Cena and Rock pounded Rhodes, drawing blood, Scott joined in the beatdown, which included Rhodes getting punched in the face with his own Rolex watch, choked with his own neck tie and getting whipped with the Rock’s custom-made leather belt, which had the words “Cody’s Soul” emblazoned on it and the date “June 11, 2015” — the date Rhodes’ real-life father, WWE Hall of Famer Dusty “American Dream” Rhodes, died.
At the end of the beat-down, the Rock, Cena and Scott stood over Rhodes’ prone body — Cena even had one foot on the back of Rhodes’ head.
Drake was so enthused by the proceedings that he posted several photos from the event on his Instagram page (one of which was of Logan Paul writing “OVO” on the glass of his Chamber cell), writing “I’m sold @lilyachty.”
Yachty replied, “Nothing better than @wwe.”
