The Rock has rolled back into World Wrestling Entertainment after almost a decade in the Hollywood hills. On Monday night’s episode of “WWE Raw,” the 38-year-old wrestling champion and star of “The Scorpion King” was announced as the first host of Wrestlemania in its 27th year.

He will return to the WWE and will host Wrestlemania 27 on April 3, 2011 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The announcement was made on Monday night by WWE.

Johnson left professional wrestling in 2004 — making his last appearance at WrestleMania XX — for the movies. He has since appeared in blockbusters like “Walking Tall,” “Gridiron Gang,” and “The Other Guys.”

On “Raw” Monday, he claimed that he was “never, ever” leaving the WWE again, issuing a valentine to his fans.

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Eki “Eddie” Fatu died in Houston on Friday after a massive heart attack, adding to a long list of professional wrestlers who died by the age of 40.

The 36-year old Fatu, who achieved his greatest fame in recent years as a star in the industry-leading World Wrestling Entertainment under the name “Umaga,” was found unconscious in his Spring, TX living room by his wife, who had him rushed to the hospital. Fatu had a second heart attack in the hospital before he died.

Fatu, who was memorable for his distinct facial tattoos, comes from a large family of Samoan wrestlers who have influenced the business for several generations, beginning with his uncles, the brother combination of Afa and Sika Anoi’a, who formed a successful act known as “The Wild Samoans” in the 1970s and ’80s. The most famous member of the clan is cousin Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who left wrestling for Hollywood fame.

Fatu’s career peak came in 2007, as he co-headlined Wrestlemania 23 in Detroit, a card that received a ton of publicity for a storyline involving WWE owner Vince McMahon and Donald Trump. But his run at the top was short-lived, and he was released from his WWE contract on June 8 when he refused to go into rehab after a second violation of the WWE’s drug policy.

A staggering number of young pro wrestlers have died over the past 10 years, leading some to believe the industry has a curse. Among the most notorious cases were Chris Benoit, 40, who committed suicide in Georgia in 2007 after murdering his wife, Nancy, and son Daniel; Eddie Guerrero, 38, who died of a heart attack in 2005 in a Minnesota hotel room; and Owen Hart, 33, who died in Kansas City in 1999 after a stunt went awry during a live television shoot. In March, another former WWE wrestler, Andrew “Test” Martin, 34, died after an Oxycontin overdose.

photo from photobucket.com

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