Report: WWE 'Very Surprised' By The Rock's Praise For AEW In PAC Tribute

Tributes have poured in for PAC from across the professional wrestling world since his sudden passing on Sunday, September 26, including from a whole host of pro wrestlers, a tribute episode of AEW Dynamite on September 30, and a spontaneous memorial to Benjamin Sattereley at Grey's Monument in Newcastle upon Tyne, PAC's hometown.

The Rock joined others in paying tribute to PAC in a short video on Instagram, during which he offered his condolences to the Satterley family, Tony Khan, QT Marshall, and wrestlers in WWE and AEW. Dwayne Johnson said, in part:

"As global as professional wrestling is, as global as WWE is, as much as AEW is growing into this phenomenal wrestling company, and wherever you're wrestling at around the world, Asia, Latin America, Europe, it doesn't matter. As global as professional wrestling is, we're still a very tight-knit unit and a tight-knit group because we all share the same DNA and that is our love and our passion for the squared circle and to perform for audiences around the world. And we're a little crazy, and that's okay, but when we lose one of our own it hurts. When they're young and so insanely talented, it really f*cking hurts. Especially when a life is robbed and you don't get that opportunity to live a full life. I've lost a lot of friends, as we've known. To my friend Tony Khan, I'm so sorry for your loss. My friend QT and all the locker rooms, the men and women of AEW, I'm so sorry for your loss. To those, of course, my colleagues in WWE who knew him well, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry all around."

That praise for AEW within the tribute to PAC reportedly left people within WWE "very surprised", according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

"The Rock and Nick Khan are close. I do not believe that that has changed. Were there people in WWE who were very surprised at his wording and what he said, especially with him being on the TKO Board of Directors? Yes, they were very surprised… Not that he did the video or anything like that, but the wording in the video where he praised them and essentially gave them the stamp of, 'Yeah, you guys are good for business and work hard and you're helping make wrestling.' Not the message that I think the company wants out. The idea of him doing the video, no one is going to be mad at that. But yeah, the wording, people brought it up to me. As far as Nick Khan, I couldn't tell you," Meltzer stated.

While he hasn't appeared on WWE TV since Elimination Chamber 2025, Dwayne Johnson remains closely linked to WWE through his position on the TKO Board of Directors and his long history with the company. WWE have been aggressive in counter-programming AEW in recent years in an attempt to prevent All Elite Wrestling from securing another US TV deal when their current contract with Warner Bros. Discovery (soon to be Skydance) expires at the end of 2027, or the end of 2028 should the option year be activated.

That counter-programming included holding WWE/AAA/NXT Worlds Collide in Chicago, Illinois, at the same time as AEW All Out was taking place at the nearby NOW Arena on September 26. Worlds Collide was then broadcast on YouTube while the PAC tribute episode of AEW Dynamite was on the air, beginning one hour before Dynamite at 7 pm ET, a decision that received opposition within WWE.

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