Do you remember when Dwayne Johnson just went by the name The Rock and talked about the People’s Elbow? Yeah, neither do most of those at the Nickelodeon’s Kid’s Choice Awards show he hosted last night. Wrestler turned actor John Cena appeared on the award show last night, but Cena doesn’t seem to completely agree with the path Johnson has taken.
Johnson came from a family of wrestling legacy (both is father Rocky Johnson and maternal grandfather Peter Maivia were wrestlers), but he hasn’t wrestled in the WWE full time since 2003. After an attempt at the obvious action hero films, Johnson seems to have settled for a pretty lucrative family friendly film career with Disney.
Cena, whose second film 12 Rounds opens on Friday, says of Johnson “He’s the guy I say I won’t be like.” Hum, Johnson’s almost seamless transition from wrestler to movie star hardly seems a bad thing, but Cena adds “Cause he – although a very, very successful actor and super-nice guy, consummate professional, one of the hardest-working guys I’ve ever met – he left the WWE.” Hulk Hogan, who himself ventured into a movie career albeit briefly, told Johnson to drop the wrestling gig or Hollywood would never take him seriously. It seemed to be words of experience as Hogan was never offered anything much outside the C-grade goon roles.
Cena went on to say it bothers him that Johnson dropped “The Rock” from his name. In case you haven’t been keeping up, Johnson’s movie billing has gone from The Rock in The Scorpion King to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for Gridiron Gang to just plain Dwayne Johnson for his latest flick, Race to Witch Mountain.
Cena says that he loves his job with the WWE and doesn’t plan to leave it for a movie career, but would rather do both at the same time. His first film, The Marine, earned approximately $20 million at the box office and $30 million in home sales and rentals. He thinks WWE’s loyal fan base may be a bit put off by the fact that Johnson professed to love the wrestling world, but then abandoned it for Hollywood.
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So, how can this playful dispute be settled? Cena seems to think he has the answer. He said,” I’ve been trying to wrestle him. It’s not that I don’t think he’ll accept the challenge; he truly has a full plate. I think our fans would like to see him come back to the ring. Dwayne Johnson or the Rock or whatever he wants call himself vs. John Cena. Let’s say ‘WrestleMania XXVI.”
The gauntlet has been thrown down Dwayne.