In an interview with Fortune, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gave his thoughts on his last run with WWE and his critics. Here are highlights:
On returning to the WWE and winning back fans who felt he abandoned them: “We set pay-per-view buy-rate records and attendance records each time… I think fans realized, ‘Wow, you’re back, and you committed for three years, and you don’t have to be here.’ I had the balls to be authentic.”
On how moving from Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to William Morris Endeavor (WME) led to his WWE return: “The management I had around me was adamant about shedding the moniker of ‘The Rock,’ and I bought into it. In their defense, it made sense, because I was attempting to do something that nobody had done. If I want to be called ‘The Rock,’ I’ll be called ‘The Rock.’ If I want to go back to wrestling, I’ll go back to wrestling. It’s all the same guy.”
On critics in online forums accusing him of using steroids: “Training is my anchor. Being on a regimented schedule, setting a goal, failing at a goal. It’s the philosophies of being an athlete that carry me today… Sure, you get a lot of people out there who will suspect, and say s–t. They want to negate the hard work you put in.”
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