The Rock reached the pinnacle of the wrestling industry and as of today, he might be the most popular wrestler of all time. His movie career pushed his fame to another level, but even when he was a full-time wrestler, Rocky was a box-office sensation. His appeal was evident in the real world as well.
The Rock made records, broke said records, and went on to achieve numerous accolades within the wrestling world, but the formative years of his WWE career were far from pleasant. Dwayne Johnson was pushed right after his debut but his generic good guy character was not well received by the majority of the fans. Even worse, Johnson was the prime target of the infamous Kliq group. Well, remnants of the Kliq group. Regardless, Dwayne Johnson was in trouble.
The Rock Was Bullied Backstage By Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels and the Rock were not friends, even before the latter was an active part of the WWE roster. Michaels had disrespected the grandmother of Dwayne Johnson during a WWE house show and the two almost came to blows. Fast forward a few years and Rocky Maivia was on the main roster and Shawn Michaels was one of the more influential wrestlers around. His best buddy, Triple H, followed his lead and made sure that Rocky was miserable every step of the way.
Shawn Michaels bullied him every chance he got. In one instance, Michaels barged into the locker room after Rocky was done wrestling a match and tore into him for having the audacity to pull off a top-rope drop kick, as the move was his and his alone.
In response, Rock could do nothing but apologize, as Michaels was very close to Vince McMahon. Speaking of the big boss, Michaels regularly buried the new wrestler in front of McMahon, as he wanted him out. His best friend, Triple H, was supposed to be the next big star, and he took offense to Dwayne Johnson being positioned as a top level superstar.
The Rock was miserable, and according to Mark Henry, backstage antics coupled with his bad fan reception almost made him quit the industry, but fortunately for The Rock, he had a benefactor in the locker room and his name was Bret Hart. Hart was just as influential as Michaels if not more and the Hitman recognized the talent of the budding superstar and acted as a guardian and a mentor figure.
Each time the Kliq buried The Rock backstage, Bret Hart was always there to motivate him and assured him that he had one hell of a future in the business. At one point, the Kliq pushed for Bret Hart to defeat Rocky for the Intercontinental Championship. After a rough start, The Rock was finally gaining momentum and Michaels was not happy. He pushed the idea of Bret Hart getting the title off of the young superstar, but the Canadian legend refused as he felt the move would severely cripple the momentum of the rising star.
Bret Hart left WWE in 1997, but by that point, the Rock was well on his way to dominating the business, and he exploded in popularity in the next few months. Despite achieving so much fame and popularity, The Rock never forgot those who came to his side during the bad times. Time and time again, Rocky has praised Bret Hart in interviews for supporting him and being a mentor to him.
Dwayne Johnson Has Always Praised Bret Hart
The Rock was present when Bret Hart was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame in 2021, and he regarded Hart as a mentor to him during his early days. During a promotional tour of Jungle Cruise, the Rock noticed that the host was wearing a Hitman t-shirt and halted his promotional tour to talk about his old friend. In that interview, The Rock admitted that many people back then wanted him out, but Hart was always there for him.
Bret Hart said that he saw potential within The Rock the moment he saw him wrestle for the first time. Back then, Hart told a nearby friend that The Rock would be the biggest thing in pro wrestling in the next five years and his prediction came true.
Interestingly, Bret Hart later mentioned in another interview that Dwayne Johnson’s father, Soul Man Rocky Johnson, looked out for him when he first started wrestling. Maybe wrestling families look out for other wrestling families.
If not for Bret Hart and all that he did, we might have never witnessed the Great One in professional wrestling. That is truly a dark timeline.