Can you smell that? Someone’s cooking up something pretty familiar.

That someone happens to be Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who was revealed Monday night on WWE RAW as the special guest host for this year’s Wrestlemania XXVII pay-per-view. The last time “The Great One” graced a WWE ring, it was at Wrestlemania XX in 2004, when he and Mick Foley teamed up as the Rock ‘n’ Sock connection one last time. However, it’s been even longer since he’s actually been a full-time wrestler, Johnson having established his film career with 2002’s The Scorpion King.

The People’s Champ went on for twenty minutes, revisiting classic catchphrases (“Know your damn role and shut your damn mouth!” and “It doesn’t matter!” were highlights), thanking the fans for their continued support, and most notably, calling out John Cena. Cena, himself a WWE Champion on multiple occasions, is arguably the biggest draw in the company today, and pretty much the face of the company. Though Johnson has previously ruled out a return to active competition, it’s hard to deny that a Rock-Cena showdown would do well for the company’s sagging pay-per-view buyrates.

Wrestlemania XXVII airs live on pay-per-view from the Georgia Dome on April 3. For more information, check out the full press release after the jump!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE ROCK® BRINGS IT TO WRESTLEMANIA®

STAMFORD, Conn., February 15, 2011 – Do you smell what’s cookin’? The Brahma Bull™, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will `bring it’ to WrestleMania® XXVII.  WWE® (NYSE: WWE) announced last night that The Great One™ will return home to be The World’s Most Electrifying Host of WrestleMania on Sunday, April 3rd at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

As The World’s Most Electrifying Host of WrestleMania XXVII, The Rock will lay the SmackDown® on all of the pomp and festivities that makes WrestleMania the world’s greatest, annual pop culture extravaganza.

“I’m absolutely thrilled and fired up to be the host of WrestleMania. My goal was to partner up with Vince McMahon and WWE to create and deliver something globally entertaining and electrifying,” said Johnson.  “As an actor, entertainer and someone who both loves and has grown up in the sports entertainment business, the opportunity to host 75,000 passionate fans in a live venue, not to mention the millions that will be watching worldwide, is not only thrilling but quite honestly the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s going to be one helluva an epic night.”

In making the monumental announcement of his return to WWE last night on Monday Night Raw®, The People’s Champion™ whipped the crowd into a frenzy and was showered with thunderous applause.

For exclusive video of the announcement and a message from The Rock, go to www.wwe.com. For all the latest updates, ‘Like’ The Rock at www.facebook.com/DwayneJohnson or follow him at www.twitter.com/TheRock.

WrestleMania XXVII will be broadcast in more than 80 countries around the world.  Check with your local cable operator or satellite provider to order the pay-per-view on Sunday, April 3rd.   For more information on WrestleMania and WrestleMania events, please visit www.wrestlemania.com. 

About WWE

WWE, Inc., a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family-friendly US PG rated content across all of its platforms, including television programming, pay-per-view, digital media, publishing and studios. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages, reaching more than 500 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and Mexico City.  Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at corporate.wwe.com.