Entertainment: Dwayne Johnson
Dan MacMedan

"The People's Champ" is returning to the WWE television show that adopted its name from one of his signature catchphrases. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson took to Twitter on Monday to end the speculation and announce that he will indeed be in attendance on Friday night in Los Angeles at the Staples Center when SmackDown makes its long-awaited debut on the Fox network. 

Johnson became a massive superstar in the ring as a full-time performer, and that momentum carried him to a career in Hollywood where he has become one of the highest-grossing movie stars to ever grace the silver screen. He has returned for sporadic non-wrestling appearances, but in August made it clear he'd "quietly retired" from wrestling during an appearance on "LIVE with Kelly and Ryan." Johnson's last official WWE match took place at WrestleMania 32 in Dallas in 2016, where he defeated Erick Rowan in an impromptu bout in a mere 6 seconds. 

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"I quietly retired from wrestling because I was lucky enough to have just a really wonderful career and accomplished what I wanted to accomplish," he said. "But there's nothing like a live crowd, live audience, live microphone. Plus, I grew up in wrestling. My grandfather wrestled. My dad as well, my whole family. And I actually had my very first match ever in the WWE in Madison Square Garden, and it was a big pay-per-view. And it's funny, because I always credit my time and my journey in pro wrestling to get me to where I am today, especially that particular night."

So don't get your hopes up for anything more than a standard legend appearance from "The Great One" on Fox this Friday night, but that doesn't necessarily mean someone won't be checked into the SmackDown Hotel courtesy of a Rock Bottom and People's Elbow.