“Pressure’s on Me”- Despite Portraying a Superhero, Dwayne Johnson’s Stardom Was “Not Easy” to Handle for WWE Legend

In a short span of time, Dwayne Johnson managed to achieve something in the WWE that many take years and even decades to achieve. Technically, his WWE career as a full timer lasted for close to seven years. That was enough for the 51-year-old to attain immortality in the hearts of fans. At the start of the new millennium, just four years after his debut, Johnson was already one of the hottest stars the WWE had in their payroll. With offers from Hollywood and gigs at Saturday Night Live, he managed to unlock a new level of stardom. While this worked wonders for The Rock and the WWE, this wasn’t always easy on others. A 49-year-old WWE legend recently opened up about tackling Dwayne Johnson’s stardom.

Shane Helms, who the WWE Universe fondly remembers as The Hurricane, a superhero gimmick with comedy chops, spoke to popular podcast host Chris Van Vliet. Helms recounted his iconic segment with Dwayne Johnson and what it meant for him during their hour-long chat.

Segment with Dwayne Johnson could have derailed WWE career, reckons The Hurricane

Having a match with The Rock is always going to be special. It means guaranteed numbers in terms of fans watching the match. But what many tend to forget is the psyche of the opponent. More eyeballs also means there’s less space for mistakes. This is exactly what kept Shane Helms on his toes.

For this, we need to travel back in time, to March 3, 2003. After insulting Jonathan Coachman in his signature style, Johnson returned back to his locker room to find The Hurricane hiding inside one of the cabinets. This leads to a fun segment that has since attained a cult status.

While Johnson has always been gifted behind the microphone, with an innate ability to entertain the fans, the other wrestler emerged as a surprise. For every insult that Johnson threw at him, Helms was able to counter and on a few occasions was able to deliver better.

It also went a little NSFW as The Hurricane poke fun at The Brahma Bull about the size of his manhood. And before leaving, he put a spin in one of the WWE icon’s nicknames- telling him he’s full of brahma bullc**p.

The segment was well received by the WWE Universe. But it could have been doom for the 49-year-old. “It’s not easy and all the pressure was on me,” he said. “Like, if I go out there and stink it up with The Rock, he’s still going to be The Rock, you’re never going to see me again.”

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Luckily it did, as it gave the WWE one of its biggest upsets in history.

When The Hurricane shocked millions around the world

What are the odds that after you verbally confront and steal a win against The Rock, you back it up inside the ring? History says the occurrences are rare. Only a handful of people have actually managed it. Shockingly, The Hurricane is among those who have accomplished the feat.

A week after the seven-minute-long backstage segment, the two wrestlers met inside the squared circle. It had several near fall moments, with WWE legend Jim Ross thinking The Hurricane had managed to win, several times. Ross’ wish came true, but with an intervention.

Later that month, Johnson was set to face Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIX. After subduing The Hurricane and preparing for The People’s Elbow, Johnson was caught off guard by Austin’s iconic entrance theme. As The Texas Rattlesnake made his way near the ring, The Hurricane took advantage of the distraction and was able to pin Johnson.

This was a shock win indeed as no one would have likely placed a bet on the 49-year-old to win the bout. Years later, Helms revealed that the match result was proposed by The People’s Champ himself, much to the dislike of many in the WWE.

This showed that while The Rock was a huge star in the company at that moment, he wasn’t afraid to go down to another less significant wrestler to entertain the fans.

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Luckily for Helms, everything went according to plan, and he managed to etch his name in history books. So, what do you think about Helms’ revelation? Let us know in the comments.