Former WWE tag team legend says no one could have predicted The Rock's enormous success
AEW star Matt Hardy claimed that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's success in WWE and other endeavors wasn't predicted in the beginning.
The WWE legend started as Rocky Maivia in 1996 and quickly won the Intercontinental Championship the following year. He then joined the Nation of Domination and became its leader in 1998, overthrowing Faarooq (Ron Simmons).
However, that year, his popularity sky-rocketed as "The Rock" due to his ability to cut exceptional promos. The Brahma Bull then began a legendary career at the Stamford-based promotion, winning world titles and main eventing WrestleManias.
Discussing the subject on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, Matt felt that The Rock was a once-in-a-lifetime personality. The former WWE Superstar thought that no one really saw the latter's immense potential turning into a huge success.
"I mean, he seemed like a special act. I mean, I don’t think anybody, when he first debuted as Rocky Maivia I don’t think anyone really would have immediately thought he was going to come to this huge media star, The Rock, you know, with everything he’s done, but I think he was always gifted and always special and just everything in the right path. And he’s literally the biggest star in the world right now. One of the biggest stars in the world," Hardy said. [H/T EWrestlingNews]
On this day, 26 years ago: Rocky Maivia makes his wrestling debut.
He would eventually go on to become @TheRock.
— 10x world champ
— 2x Intercontinental champ
— 5x Tag Team champ
— 2000 Royal Rumble winner
— WWE's 6th Triple Crown champ
🐐 https://t.co/zPlEz8iahG
In 2002, The Rock had his first break in the movies when he starred in The Scorpion King film. Since then, he has crossovered from the squared circle to the red carpet and is one of the most successful Hollywood actors today.
AEW star Matt Hardy recalled a nice gesture WWE legend The Rock did
In a previous episode of his podcast, Matt Hardy shared an interesting story about The Rock helping him during their days in WWE.
Matt confessed that after arriving at the wrong venue, The Brahma Bull offered to help guide him and Jeff Hardy to the exact place they were going.
"He said, 'Hey, what's up guys? You guys alright? You guys know where the arena is?' No, we actually went to the wrong place, we thought we were in a different arena, but we're not there and I don't see the information that we need to go to. He said 'Follow me, I know exactly where we are going, I went there earlier today."
The Hardy Boyz have been in WWF, TNA/IMPACT, WWE and now AEW.
Not many people can say that, Absolute legends. https://t.co/SWvxp7j9YU
The Rock and The Hardy Boyz once teamed up against the trio of Edge, Christian, and Kurt Angle on the October 16, 2000 edition of RAW. In the build-up to that year's No Mercy pay-per-view, angle won the match for his team after an Angle Slam on Jeff Hardy.
What are your thoughts on Matt Hardy's comments about The Rock's undiscovered potential back then in WWE? Sound off in the comments section.