The Rock confessed that he copied the People's Elbow during a private conversation, reveals veteran star
Despite its sheer simplicity, the Rock's People's Elbow will always be remembered as one of the most electrifying finishers in WWE history. It has now been revealed that Dwayne Johnson admitted to seemingly copying the move from The Great Muta.
The legendary Japanese wrestler executed a quicker version of the running elbow drop without the theatrics that The Rock popularized during his WWE run. Dwayne's iteration of the maneuver involved him delaying the strike as he first took off his elbow pads to pop the crowd before hitting the ropes.
Due to its delayed nature, fans often called out the People's Elbow for being unrealistic and not impactful enough to secure a three-count, which is why it was also labeled as a signature move.
All the criticism aside, The Rock genuinely made The People's Elbow iconic in wrestling lore, and he could not have done it without getting inspired by The Great Muta.
The soon-to-be WWE Hall of Famer even privately spoke to the Hollywood star about the move a couple of times, as he revealed during his recent chat with ESPN's Marc Raimondi.
"I met him before two or three times. He actually admitted that his People's Elbow was a mimic of my move. So I asked him for royalties. But we were joking, and he didn't pay anything, but we really had a good conversation," revealed Keiji Muto.
Muto on why The Rock:
I met him before two or three times. He actually admitted that his People's Elbow was a mimic of my move. So I asked him for royalties. But we were joking and he didn't pay anything, but we really had a good conversation.
WWE veteran still feels there is a possibility of The Rock's return at WrestleMania 39
For all the speculation that dominated the online wrestling world several months ago, The Rock, unfortunately, hasn't been able to make his in-ring return for a dream match against his cousin, Roman Reigns.
The Tribal Chief is scheduled to defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39, and as things stand, WWE isn't expected to make any last-minute changes to the match with just a week left to go until the mega show.
However, former WWE referee Mike Chioda believes there is still a chance that The Great One will make a shocking appearance at 'Mania to challenge Reigns after the latter's successful title defense against Rhodes.
During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Riju Dasgupta, Chioda further opened up about potentially witnessing The Rock vs. Roman Reigns and why he would love to officiate the dream clash. You can read more about what the legendary referee had to say here.