A lot of kids these days may well know Dwayne Johnson as ‘that guy who is in almost every film’.
But he of course made his name in the WWE as The Rock – ‘the most electrifying man in sports entertainment’.
Now, don’t go telling the nippers, but professional wrestling is scripted and the performers don’t actually try to hurt each. That’s not to say it’s ‘fake’ though and evidently The Rock didn’t appreciate it when a bloke described it as such, responding by ‘piledriving’ the guy on the gym floor.
Johnson admitted to laying the smack down on the bloke after somebody commented on one of the 47-year-old’s Instagram posts to say: “My buddy Dave Racci went to Hamden High with you and he said a guy said wrestling was fake to you and you body slammed the kid….. You’re the man D.”
The Rock confirmed that the story was indeed true, identifying his victim as ‘Randy E’ (it doesn’t matter what his name is).
He said: “Ah yes, unfortunately that’s a true story. His name was Randy E and I piledrived him on the gym floor and got in huge trouble.”
Clearly, this was a bit of an overreaction from the People’s Champion, but presumably what he was trying to teach this Randy fella is that there’s nothing fake about being slammed on the ground by a 6ft 4in beast.
The Rock made the admission in the comments section of a post in which he announced a new show inspired by his early life, named Young Rock.
The Rock receives staggering payment from WWE after WrestleMania 40 success
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has received a staggering payment on the back of WrestleMania 40.
Over the weekend, WWE fans were treated to an incredible spectacle as WrestleMania 40 took place at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Some of WWE’s most iconic names, including Johnson, John Cena and the Undertaker all made an appearance as Cody Rhodes beat Roman Reigns to become the Undisputed Universal Heavyweight World Championship.
After the event, it was claimed that WrestleMania 40 was WWE’s biggest WrestleMania of all time in terms of viewership, social media and live gate, and played in part towards an overall attendance of over 200,000 at company events.
The Rock, who was appointed to the board of TKO, which is WWE’s parent company, in January, which also paved the way for him to make his return to wrestling.
Now, on the back of the latest WrestleMania, it has been claimed that The Rock has seen his TKO stock shares boost by 96,558 on Sunday.
According to reporter Brandon Thurston, who wrote on social media: “Dwayne Johnson received 96,558 TKO shares on Sunday, which vested “upon completion of certain services described” in his Jan 2024 WWE contract.
“The shares have a value of $9.41M as of the close of the market today.”
Speaking after the event, Johnson said: “I think that Triple H has done a tremendous job as our chief creative officer.
“I like pushing things and new times. It feels like in professional wrestling that this is a new era.”
The Rock added: “[Saturday] was a special night. This was the beginning of something, the beginning of something new.
“I think from a company standpoint, this is an exciting time for the company, for WWE, for TKO.”
However, despite the success, Johnson has hinted that he could take some time away before deciding whether to return to WWE again.