In the history of sports entertainment, no one has achieved the heights that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has reached. Coming from the Samoan wrestling lineage, he has earned his place at the top everywhere he has stepped, from the WWE world to the realm of Hollywood and his various businesses.
Not to forget, he is seen as a future presidential candidate. Amidst all this, “The People’s Champ” revealed that he once considered entering the MMA world. His reasoning behind that decision was money. Let’s dive in to find more details.
Why Did Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Wanted To Be An MMA Fighter?
Recently, Joe Rogan sat down with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson on his JRE podcast. During the conversation, DJ shared details about considering a move to MMA when he observed the earnings of MMA fighters in the early stages of his WWE career. However, he clarified that he wasn’t considering joining the UFC but rather the Pride Fighting Championship, a Japanese promotion.
The Rock claims he was considering moving to MMA when he saw how much Pride fighters were making
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Talking about it, The Rock stated, “In 1997, during that time while I was going out at LA and still working out we were crossing all the MMA guys. Pride just opened in Japan so I was seeing all these MMA guys going to pride. And that time I was making $150,000 wrestling 235 days a year doing the math of how much I was making with one match. These guys in Pride making $250,000, $350,000, $500,000 I thought then I think I’m not gonna make in WWE people booing in the arena’s.”
He added, “I talked with Kid Shamrock. I ran to Mark Kerr. I started talking to him and he started telling me about Pride. And I had the idea in my head that maybe I should train for MMA and go to pride and make money.”
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However, DJ didn’t go that way, and the rest is history, given the fact that he has built a humongous empire from his WWE stardom, later which he capitalized in the Hollywood films. Subsequently, he started businesses that are nearing him to billionaire status. If he had chosen that path, it would have been a significantly different career trajectory.
