In the mid-2000s, Dwayne Johnson made one of the boldest moves in his career. Up to this point, he was known all across the United States as The Rock, a WWE legend. However, he decided to finish with the wrestling career just to try his luck in Hollywood where he may or may not succeed. In this transition, he dropped the nickname which made him recognizable all over the country.
But it didn’t take long for Johnson to become “The Rock” again. All of this, Dwayne explained in a new interview for Jamie Foxx’s Grey Goose-sponsored digital series called “Off Script.” According to Entertainment Weekly, Johnson gave up on his nickname just before 2005 movie Southland Tales got released.
But the father of three girls, Dwayne Johnson, told Foxx that he wanted to quickly switch back to The Rock. “I reached a point in my career where I was tired of trying to be something I wasn’t,” Johnson said of switching back to the nickname. “I was told at that time, ‘Listen, you can’t talk about wrestling. You can’t go by The Rock. You can’t be as big.’ ”
What saved Johnson from making this foolish mistake was his fans. He is known for having a great relationship with his fans, and he calls it “the most important relationship I have.” Dwayne says that they helped him make the right move.
“So finally I reached a point where I said, ‘Alright, two things have to happen: I’m gonna surround myself with a different group of people, different management, and then I’m gonna make sure that I just gotta be me,’ ” he said.
