Hollywood superstar and future WWE Hall of Famer Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is arguably one of the most popular people on the planet. Defying all odds throughout his life, The Rock has carved out a successful career.

However, not everything he touched turned to gold. Now, there is no denying that WWE chairman Vince McMahon struck gold in The Rock and he was the one who helped put WWE on the mainframe in modern time.

But there are still sour memories for Rock and his fans when he first debuted for WWE in 1996. Back then, Dwayne Johnson was the first superstar who was a third-generation superstar in WWE.

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Vince McMahon was not high on The Rock

Throughout Rock’s career, Vince McMahon was the one who always stood beside him and The Rock has openly admitted several times that he sees a father fighter in Mr. McMahon.

Surprisingly, Vince McMahon was hesitant to bring The Rock in WWE back then in WWE. The Senior vice president of WWE, Bruce Prichard recently revealed on the latest episode of the “Something To Wrestle With” podcast that Vince was not confident at first.

“Vince [McMahon] was a little hesitant, believe it or not. And we got into an argument because everybody called him ‘Dooey’ and [The] Rock hates that name.” 

However, other WWE executives like Jim Cornette convinced the boss to give the young Samoan a chance in wrestling. And that’s when they came up with the name Rocky Maivia (yes, The Rock was called that).

But, The Great One‘s initial run with the company was a bumpy ride as it felt like WWE is pushing him hard to be a babyface.

However, everything changed for the former champion when he turned heel and joined the ‘Nation of Domination’ faction. It was there when The People’s Champion found his groove and turned heel.

After this heel turn, The Rock never looked back as his career sky-rocketed when The Attitude Era came along. Dwayne Johnson will undoubtedly go down as one of the most gifted athletes to ever grace professional wrestling.

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Currently, the fans are hoping to see the Brahma Bull one last time in a WWE ring against his cousin Roman Reigns.