The Rock’s return to wrestling was a success thanks to his adaptability, which continued throughout his career

A number of months ago, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson agreed with WWE to return to the ring. When he did this, everyone involved thought he was going to important event WrestleMania 40 against his cousin Roman Reigns. Instead, fan revolt, a creative pivot and the necessity to save a potentially ruined marquee event caused Johnson to do what has defined his career since he began as a wrestler: he had to change. Johnson created a completely recent character and evolved into a new edition of himself. That’s what he does best – because if there’s one thing The Rock has to do, it’s reinvent himself to survive.

Johnson began his WWE career as a guaranteed star. The sport’s first third-generation star – his father was Soul Man Rocky Johnson and his grandfather was High Boss Peter Maivia – he was called “the company’s best player.” Rocky Maivia, as Johnson was known on the time, arrived in WWE as a 24-year-old version of what wrestlers call a “white meat babyface” – a smiling, jovial, good-natured athlete like Hulk Hogan or Sting. However, this coincided with the brand new WWE “The era of attitudes”, which blurred the road between good and bad people. Good guys like Stone Cold Steve Austin swore, drank beer and were rebellious. So there was just no room for the banality of Rocky.

It didn’t take long for fans to boo him at every turn. They chanted “Rocky sucks” and “Die, Rocky, die,” although Johnson was supposed to be a good guy. His career was doomed to failure.

Then Dwayne Johnson reinvented himself.

After an injury sidelined him for several weeks in 1997, Johnson returned as a completely different person. He became a bad guy heel by joining the Nation Of Domination, an all-Black Nation Of Islam inspired group that antagonized fans, especially white ones. This is where Rocky Maivia died and The Rock was created in his place.

“I grabbed the microphone. The fans were already booing. They started chanting, “Rocky sucks,” Johnson I said in 2016. “At that moment, The Rock was born… A month later, I was the hottest heel in the company.”

Johnson would not just be the most well liked bad guy in the corporate. He became a fan favorite, spending the subsequent 4 years rivaling Stone Cold Steve Austin as the most important star of wrestling’s hottest era. Part of Johnson’s greatness was his improvisation, summoning the audience to the ring and dropping comedy gold on the mic. It was clear that he may very well be a star not only in wrestling. He will soon turn this potential into reality.

Johnson’s foray into film and tv proved to be his most important transformation. And it wasn’t all the time so smooth. When The Rock entered Hollywood, it gave the look of a sure-fire move, and it was treated as such. His first starring role in 2002 brought then April’s biggest Box Office performance every time. His next big feature film featured Arnold Schwarzenegger, which can be a move mark the passing of the torch to the subsequent great motion hero. Still, Johnson had his feet firmly planted within the wrestling world, even when fans were starting to hate him.

By 2003, Johnson had transformed himself from a skilled wrestler into a megastar who occasionally competed in wrestling. Fans noticed this alteration and have become indignant with the previous audience champion, claiming that he had abandoned them for Hollywood glitz. They began booing Johnson each time he made a guest appearance, leading to mass chants of “Sold out.” The Rock was supposed to be beloved when he returned, but fans had other ideas.

That’s when Johnson pulled off considered one of his most good twists. He evolved into Hollywood Rock, a character that was based on every thing his fans said about him. He interrupted interviews with calls to his agent. He complained that he hated the small towns where he was scheduled to perform. In every city he went to, he delivered hilarious, wicked ads, from Sacramento Down Toronto. Johnson took fan reactions and turned them into his best work. He was such a great villain that he left fans clamoring for more. And although he made a few one-off appearances over the subsequent few years, The Rock essentially ended his wrestling career.

It’s time to take over Hollywood for good.

When we have a look at Johnson’s film career in 2024, it’s hard to imagine a time when he wasn’t a guaranteed hitmaker. But Johnson’s journey into acting has been, well, rocky. This was largely due to his decision to distance himself from skilled wrestling.

“I was then told… these are the biggest stars in the world: Will Smith, George Clooney, Johnny Depp,” he said in an interview for last 12 months. – You are nothing like them. You need to stop talking about wrestling. Stop calling yourself Rock. You’re too big, go on a weight loss plan, leave the gym.

Johnson did exactly as he was told, starting a period from 2005 to 2010 when he seemed lost. He debuted a recent, leaner body that was a far cry from the wrestler he once was. He has done family movies reminiscent of (2007) and (2010). The former was panned but did well on the box office; the latter was a disaster and compelled Johnson to rethink his entire approach.

“After (2010)” – his manager and ex-wife, Dany Garcia, he said in 2014. “We felt that Dwayne was moving away from the core of who he was.”

When Johnson and Garcia decided to change representation, he returned to what made him great: wrestling and motion movies. In 2010, The Rock returned and hosted WrestleMania 27, immediately starting a feud with the best wrestler on the planet, John Cena. The two competed at two WrestleManias, and the result was a match at WrestleMania 29 that broke all WWE records on the time. It was also a probability for The Rock to reconnect with fans who felt he had abandoned them.

As Johnson regained his interest in wrestling, he also became the go-to person for major film franchises. He starred in a movie that reminded everyone what a star he may very well be and reminded the studios how much they liked Johnson. He did the identical with; a franchise that has grossed nearly $2 billion since he became the star of the reboot. These moves led Johnson to the box office success that seemed obvious when he left skilled wrestling. Films like , three sequels and his frequent comedy collaborator Kevin Hart made Johnson feel like a guaranteed box office star.

But for Johnson, not all changes bear immediate fruit. Some of them destroy careers.

Throughout Johnson’s rise to mainstream success, his approach to politics has been surprising. Johnson has flirted with the thought of ​​running for president for nearly a decade. His television program focused on the longer term presidential campaign. In 2020, Johnson shared a video on Instagram in which he endorsed Joe Biden – which was the primary real endorsement of the president in his career (he attended the 2020 Republican National Convention. However, it was a part of a WWE-branded appearance in which wrestlers attended the conventions of each party). Earlier this month, he said he regretted the endorsement.

“Then the takeaway was it caused an incredible divide.” he said . “Now I realize that going into this election, I won’t do that. My goal is to unite this country. I believe it. There will be no support. At this level of influence, I will keep my politics to myself. This is between me and the ballot box. But I will tell you this: Like many of us, while not trusting all politicians, I truly trust the American people and whoever they vote for is my president and who I will support 100 percent.”

The comment was mostly met with eye rolls and reminded fans that Johnson has never had enough distance to engage in politics, yet he still tries to insert himself.

Just like he did with the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) – and the outcomes were damaging. Johnson has apparently based his acting career on the character of Black Adam, which can be a cornerstone of the DCEU for years to come. But the movie was a box office disappointment and truly terrible. An internal power struggle over the longer term of the DCEU led to Johnson being kicked out of any future plans. On the opposite side of the chaos got here a series of movies that left Johnson without a major hit from 2019

Still, Johnson managed to turn out to be as popular as ever, thanks to his latest and creatively fruitful adaptation: Wrestling. Johnson returned as a part of the deal that secured him on the management board for TKO Group Holdings, a company created as a results of the merger of WWE and UFC. As a part of the deal, Johnson returned to the ring with a storyline ready to face his real-life cousin Roman Reigns within the important event of WrestleMania 40. The fight would pit the most important star the game has ever seen against the person who ruled WWE for last decade and who was champion for over 1,000 days.

But there was one problem: the fans got behind him Cody Rhodes be the person to end Reign’s belt at WrestleMania.

Johnson believed his star power would persuade fans to support a match between him and Reigns. But fans revolted when WWE announced that Johnson can be within the match as an alternative of Rhodes. The announcement became probably the most most disliked YouTube video in WWE history. Fans bombarded Johnson’s social media pages with complaints concerning the decision. Johnson and WWE miscalculated. And they’d to adapt. Quick.

Within days, Johnson was on a recent story. Not only did he make the choice to write himself out of the match, giving Rhodes the important event against Reigns again, but he also allied himself with Reigns, joining as a heel Bloodline Faction. This time he created a recent character, The Final Boss, who’s a mixture of every villain he has ever been. He was The Rock of the 90s, antagonizing the audience and calling them trailer trash. He was the Hollywood Rock of 2003, acting greater than a sport, resentful that a wrestler like Rhodes would not dare match him. But in the brand new layer, magic happened.

The Rock was now off-balance, terrorizing and dropping F-bombs within the air. At 51, Johnson is at his prime, adding a commanding presence from every angle. When he attacked Cody Rhodes on March 29, he made a bloody spectacle that was intense, intimidating and a little terrifying. Rock’s entire 2024 comeback was truly the perfect acting of his career, including in Hollywood. And all of it culminated in a 40-plus-minute match on the primary night of WrestleMania 40. Even as fans booed Johnson, they still cheered when his music played. His return helped WrestleMania turn out to be the highest-grossing event in the corporate’s history.

These days, it looks as if Rock is doing greater than just being an motion star. He is a one who knows his craft.

On Monday, Johnson announced that he can be stepping away from wrestling for a while, which might be expected as he starts making more movies. He still has to work out how to get out of the present Hollywood crisis. Even if he didn’t, he’s spent the previous few months doing the perfect job he’s ever done. And it’s all thanks to a career stuffed with change, adapting and taking leadership from people.