The Rock reveals his surprising first paycheck from wrestling
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, one of the biggest names in the history of professional wrestling, recently revealed his surprising first paycheck from wrestling.
The Rock is currently one of the highest-paid actors in the world. However, the 51-year-old made a name for himself in professional wrestling before moving to Hollywood. Referred to as The People's Champ, he was perhaps the biggest star in WWE alongside Stone Cold Steve Austin during the Attitude Era before he left the Stamford-based company in 2004.
The former World Champion has returned for brief stints since 2011. His most recent appearance on WWE television was during the September 15 edition of SmackDown earlier this year. He confronted the former United States Champion Austin Theory in an in-ring segment.
The Rock recently made an appearance on The Pivot Podcast. The wrestler-turned-Hollywood star talked about many things, including his vulnerabilities, parenting his daughter, how wrestling saved his life, and much more. He also revealed his first paycheck from wrestling.
The Rock stated that his first paycheck was $40. It was the guaranteed amount for every wrestler at USWA, the company where he wrestled before making it to WWE. He also revealed that the wrestlers could make additional money by clicking Polaroid pictures with fans and signing them.
“My first paycheck, well, in wrestling, my first paycheck was $40. That’s what our guarantee [was]. This was before WWE. As you’re starting out, I wasn’t ready for WWE. And so I started, I made my bones down in Tennessee.There is a wrestling company down there. It was called the USWA, famous. Everybody came through there, Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler, everybody who became somebody went through there, and that’s where you made your bones and cut your teeth. The guarantee, every night, was $40. Didn’t matter where you were at on the card, that was your guarantee," Dwyane Johnson said.
The Rock further stated:
"You made additional money when there was the intermission. We’d go to what's called the gimmick table. So, we’d have our polaroids. Say we already wrestled for the night, you get $40. That's guaranteed. We can stay till intermission. The four of us, as wrestlers would go to the gimmick table, we'd have our polaroids, and anyone who wanted to take a Polaroid with you, you’d sign it, $5. Take it, $5. Sign it, $10. That’s how we made additional money. That's how we made our additional money. On a good night, I could make maybe $80.”
You can watch the entire interview below:
The Rock's return to WWE shattered social media records
The Rock returned to WWE on the September 15, 2023, episode of SmackDown to confront Austin Theory. The two put forth an entertaining segment that ended when The Great One put the former United States Champion down.
This shocking return left the WWE fans from across the globe amazed and wanting more. The clips of The former World Champion's return garnered over 100 million views on all the social media platforms combined.
Will The Most Electrifying Man in sports entertainment return to WWE once more? Sound off your views in the comments section below.