People used to think The Rock was a girl, WWE Hall of Famer recalls (Exclusive)
WWE Hall of Famer Tony Atlas recently disclosed details about Rocky Johnson's reaction when people thought The Rock was a girl.
The Rock, real name Dwayne Johnson, used to attend wrestling shows as a child. His father Rocky Johnson worked as Atlas' tag team partner in the 1980s. Known as The Soul Patrol, they won the WWE Tag Team Championship in 1983 to become the first black champions in the company's history.
In an interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling Senior Editor Bill Apter, Atlas recalled how people mistakenly assumed The Rock was his tag team partner's daughter:
"Rocky would be walking somewhere with Dwayne and people would say, 'How old is your daughter?' Because Rock was such a nice-looking young kid that people used to think he was a girl. Rocky would be like, 'That's my son, that's my son, that's my son.'" [2:49 – 3:12]
Watch the video above to hear Atlas' thoughts on the most talented wrestling personality that Vince McMahon ever employed.
What was The Rock like as a child?
Tony Atlas spent a lot of time around The Rock before the Hollywood star broke into the wrestling business in 1996.
The former WWE Tag Team Champion believes the 51-year-old possessed the right characteristics to make it as a wrestler from a young age:
"Dwayne, when he was young, he was very temperamental, so we knew he had that fire in the belly to be like a fighter because he always had a temperamental [attitude], but he was the nicest, down to earth [person]," Atlas continued. "His father's success did not bother him much, and he worked hard. He worked very hard to get where he's at. He was a very, very nice young man." [3:13 – 3:40]
Dwayne Johnson is widely viewed as one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time. The actor recently teased that he could appear at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia in 2024.
Would you like to see Dwayne Johnson back in WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.
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