Dwayne Johnson also known as The Rock, is one of the most popular actors in Hollywood. He is one of the few wrestlers who have successfully transitioned into acting. With over $10.5 billion global gross in his films, Johnson is one of the most commercially successful actors.
Before joining Hollywood, Johnson was a successful wrestler in WWE (then WWF) and he comes from a wrestling family. He left the company at the peak of his career to pursue acting. So let’s find out why Johnson did it in the first place. Keep reading to know more.
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Why Dwayne Johnson Left WWE And Turned To Hollywood?
Johnson was one of the most popular wrestlers in the entire WWE. With his stage name The Rock, Johnson was good with the mic and delivered some of the best and funniest lines in the entire roster.
However, he decided to leave the company in 2004 once his contract expired, at the peak of his career. In one of his Q&A videos, the Brahma Bull explained: “If I could leave and become successful outside the world of professional wrestling, and then I could come back, this time as a global entity. This time I could bring a greater value to the company of the WWE.”
Before leaving, Johnson had already started appearing in Hollywood films like ‘The Mummy Returns’, ‘The Scorpion King‘ and ‘The Rundown.’ After leaving in 2004, he focused on his acting career and returned to the company in 2011 to challenge John Cena for a WrestleMania match.
In his last match, Johnson once again fought Cena but lost. He said his wrestling career “ended the only way I was willing” and he is grateful for it. After sporadic appearances in WWE, Johnson announced his retirement from wrestling in 2019.
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Why Is The Actor Called ‘The Rock’?
In his young days, Johnson wanted to become a professional football player in the Canadian football league. However, he was cut two months into Calgary’s 1995 season.
Coming from a wrestling family as his father and grandfathers were also wrestlers, Johnson decided to join WWE. He made his debut in 1996 under the ring name Rocky Maivia. It was a combination of his father’s and grandfather’s ring names (Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia).
Vince McMahon and Jim Ross convinced him to use the name for two years after which he became unpopular with the audiences in 1997. He then turned heel (antagonist) and started referring to himself in the third person as The Rock and he gained global fame with it. Even after leaving wrestling, the name stuck with him.
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