No matter how successful he has become in Hollywood, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson never seems to completely leave the wrestling business.
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It has been years since he last wrestled a real wrestling match, but Johnson has continued to make appearances with WWE cameras filming him. One such appearance happened when WWE’s Cathie Kelly caught up with “The Most Electrifying Man in Entertainment” during the premiere of his new film, Skyscraper.
Asked about a return to WWE, Johnson replied, “I can’t wait to get back into the WWE ring. Everybody always asks me, ‘what’s it like being in a WWE ring?’ I always tell them there’s nothing like it. There’s a certain live crowd acumen, there’s great connective tissue that’s second to none. That was, and will always be the best part of my job, whether I’m actually wrestling a match, or just giving a promo. That connection with the audience, there’s nothing like it.”
It’s not clear whether Johnson will ever actually perform a wrestling match again, though he clearly seems open to another appearance in front of the live crowd at least with a microphone in hand. Johnson obviously loves doing it and WWE can only benefit by having one of the most famous and successful actors in the world on their programming.
Johnson’s last real match was in 2013 at WrestleMania 29. On that night, The Rock walked in WWE champion and lost the title to John Cena. The previous year at WrestleMania 28, The Rock defeated John Cena. WrestleMania 29 marked the culmination of their feud.
That match was also notable in that Johnson experienced severe injuries (torn tendons in his pelvis) during the bout which has made returning for a full-on wrestling match problematic. The risk of injury causes insurance problems in Hollywood, given Johnson’s typically full schedule for upcoming filming (he’s currently booked solid beyond 2020). That injury in 2013 caused filming of Hercules to be delayed, costing the production company millions of dollars.
Johnson did wrestle a very brief, six second match at WrestleMania 32 in 2016 against Erick Rowan, but that was so brief there was no real risk.
There was talk of an appearance at this past April’s WrestleMania in New Orleans, but ultimately, Johnson’s schedule made that an impossibility.
