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After a seven-year absence, “the most electrifying man in sports entertainment,” The Rock has come back.

In all honesty I haven’t sat down to watch wrestling in close to 8 years, but when word began circulating through Facebook and Twitter last week that The Rock came back I immediately sought to validate the claims. What people were saying was true and I was consequently filled with excitement, but why? I was 8 or 9 years old when I first started watching wrestling, so why as a 20 year-old did I immediately get excited? When I watched the footage of The Rock’s comeback and heard his entrance music I felt like a kid again. It reminded me of when I idolized The Rock. It reminded me of when I would be on the couch every Monday watching, “Raw is War,” and Thursday’s, “Smackdown.” It also reminded me of the ridiculous price of $21.99 I paid to see Wrestlemania at Silvercity.

Why bring him back? What the WWF (yes I realize that it’s the WWE now, but this is my blog so live with it) used to have was shock value. The story lines that the company developed moved onto territory that other programs hadn’t dared to touch. It was what became known as the, “Attitude Era,” and that is exactly what it was. It was violent. It was provocative. It was risky. It was entertaining. Somewhere in the mid-2000’s that shock value dissipated. Was it the fact that times were changing? Perhaps. However, I attribute it to the fact that wrestling’s audience matured. The WWF realized its fan base was decreasing and instead of continually trying to arouse interest in them decided to switch its target audience from 14+ to PG. It began to target a younger audience with its content and for the most part has remained successful.

However, like any other profit-seeking company, the WWF recognized that there was a market segment that, given the right approach, could be recaptured. The WWF knows how to sell, and what better way to initiate interest than to bring back its most iconic superstar the industry ever had. Fans grew up watching The Rock grow up. We saw him rise to the top of wrestling and become the face of the company, and then Hollywood. When he left there was a wave of disappoint and a void that could never be filled. After seven long years, however, the wait is over and older wrestling fans around the world can’t seem to stop talking about it.

Will, “The Great One’s,” return generate enough interest to resurrect an aging fan base? Will I order the upcoming pay-per-view in April where the Rock will make his return to the ring? Maybe. For now, even the mere fact that I (along with the millions…and millions of The Rock’s fans) am considering paying for something I watched as a child is proof that what the WWF is doing something right.

…The Rock has come back…home.

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