Dwayne Johnson Warned To Stay Away From A Billion-Dollar Franchise
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been sternly warned to stay away from a certain mega-franchise, but you can't keep him away for long.
This article is more than 2 years old
Dwayne Johnson famously dubbed himself “franchise viagra” on an episode of Saturday Night Live, and as people claim Walt Whitman said, “if you done it, it ain’t bragging.” The veracity of that actual quote aside, it is very true that Johnson has done well at essentially every franchise he has encountered. The Fast & The Furious? Check. G.I. Joe? Go, Joe, go. Jumanji? It’s getting its own theme park thanks to the once and future Rock. But the upcoming star of Black Adam is apparently being warned off the billion-dollar franchise that originally made him a star: Wrestlemania.
Specifically, Dwayne Johnson has been told not to show up at the upcoming Wrestlemania 38 by none other than fellow WWE Legend Bubba Ray Dudley. Speaking on the Busted Open Podcast, the ten-time WWE Hardcore Championship stated that he did not want to see Johnson at the premiere wrestling event of the year, which is set to feature Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns in their third, heavily-promoted championship fight. Dudley seems to feel that involving Johnson in this would involve some “chicanery,” and to be fair, far from his Hollywood, largely-good guy image, The Rock has been known to pull some cheap moves in the ring. Here’s what Dudley said:
I don’t want Rock getting involved in the match. I don’t want any chicanery with him, tripping somebody up. If he’s there, I want that challenge – I want face-to-face, family vs. family, blood vs. blood, ‘Head of the Table, I challenge you next year.
It is currently up in the air whether Dwayne Johnson will actually appear at Wrestlemania 38, and if so, in what capacity. Since its inception in 1985, Wrestlemania has consistently been the single most major event in professional wrestling and is frequently used as the culmination of long-running storylines. It also can kick them off, as the threat of “next year at Wrestlemania” has become something of an eternal promise. We have previously speculated that Dwayne Johnson is likely to appear at Wrestlemania 39, and likely to face off against current WWE main attraction Roman Reigns. Reigns has been pushed as the new face of the WWE for several years now, and a clash between him and the most famous (and electrifying) man in sport entertainment has been eagerly awaited by fans for some time. So, if it doesn’t happen at Wrestlemania 38, a showdown between the real-life cousins feels inevitable at some point.
Since leaving the WWE in 2004, Dwayne Johnson has only seen his star in Hollywood rise. Though he has made frequent appearances back in the ring over the years, he did officially retire in 2019. That said, The Rock’s loyalty to professional wrestling seems beyond it being a stepping stone to larger things; he is a member of the famous Anoa’i wrestling family (as is Roman Reigns) and comes from a long line of wrestlers. While his career leap into Hollywood had a clear precedent in Hulk Hogan (born Terry Bollea), no wrestler had previously achieved the kind of success he has had in film. Frequent in-ring rival John Cena appears close to catching up to Johnson in that regard, and the dual success of the two will doubtlessly usher in future crossover superstars. But for now, we will just have to wait and see them next year at Wrestlemania.
