Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is one of Hollywood's biggest actors, and has been for so long younger generations may not even remember his humble beginnings in the WWE. The actor hasn't had an official match in a professional wrestling ring for quite some time, but that doesn't mean he's lost love for the art that brought him to the limelight.
During a Q&A on his official Instagram (via WrestlingInc.com), The Rock fielded questions from fans and, inevitably, his pro wrestling career came up. The Ballers and Jumanji actor talked about what wrestling meant to him, and whether he missed having matches inside the squared circle.
I do miss wrestling. I love wrestling. I loved professional wrestling. I loved it. Here's what I loved about it. I loved creating with the pro wrestlers that I had great chemistry with, but the thing I miss the most about professional wrestling is just being able to connect with an audience every night. Every night was just a showcase. I didn't give a shit about being, as many of you know if you followed my career in pro wrestling, I didn't give a shit about being the biggest guy, the strongest guy, the loudest guy, the toughest guy, the guy who won all the time, the guy who was the craziest and jumped off the top of the cage, and moonsaults, and all that shit... No, but by the way, there's a purpose for those guys and many of those guys are my friends. I just always cared about connecting with an audience, that was really the most important thing for me, so I do miss that part about pro wrestling, because there's nothing like it. And there's nothing like being able to listen to an audience, I love it.
The WWE didn't call him the "Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment," for nothing. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is all charisma, and while he may not have done the craziest moves in the ring, he could work an audience like few people in pro wrestling ever could. That ability helped propel him to the top of the WWE, with his popularity only rivaled by Stone Cold Steve Austin.
The Rock hasn't been a stranger to the WWE since becoming a full-time actor, and has made various in-ring appearances over the years. With that said most appearances are quick segments, and nothing as long as the full-length match he had against John Cena at WrestleMania 29. The Rock didn't get into specific reasons why that was, though speculation has ranged from movie contracts barring him from in-ring activity, to Dwayne Johnson simply not wanting to risk his health for a match he doesn't really need.
While he may not be stepping into a wrestling ring anytime soon, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is still a fan of the genre. He's even checking out wrestling that isn't a part of the WWE umbrella, as Johnson revealed he's been keeping tabs on AEW as well.
Yeah, I do watch AEW. Of course I do, I'm very happy for the success of that company because it's always a good thing, and it creates a hunger, which is good.
Many wrestling fans are probably salivating at that response, and dreaming of a scenario in which The Rock appears in an AEW event. That would certainly be a sight to see, especially with the rivalry between WWE and the new upstart building as time goes on. While I personally think it's very unlikely, I would love to see a future where The Rock's in-ring return happened somewhere that wasn't the WWE.
While it's unlikely Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will get in a wrestling ring anytime soon, anyone can still watch some of his greatest matches right now on the WWE Network. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest news happening in television and movies.
