What’s the story?
Triple H recently appeared on ESPN's First Take to promote the April 2nd extravaganza in Orlando - WrestleMania 33. During the interview, The Game shared his views on why Hollywood megastar The Rock still feels the urge to return to the WWE and how the company differs from Hollywood.
The 14 time WWE Champion was also asked about how he stops Hollywood from pilfering the talent from WWE. To this Triple H simply replied; “you don’t stop them.”
In case you didn’t know
Long before Dwyane ‘The Rock’ Johnson was delivering Rock Bottoms at the box office, the most electrifying man in the sports entertainment was headlining the WWE as one of the mainstays of the Attitude Era.
However, in 2004 The Rock left the company in favour of Hollywood and is currently the highest-paid actor in the world as announced by The Forbes magazine.
Nevertheless, this was not the end of his pro wrestling career as he returned to the company in 2011, albeit as a part-timer. Since then, The Rock has made sporadic appearances for the company.
Also read: WWE Rumors: The Rock to appear at WrestleMania 33 weekend
His last in-ring outing was a six-second squash match against Erick Rowan at WrestleMania 32 that set a new record for the fastest match in the history of the Show of Shows.
The Rock has continued to make off-camera appearances for the WWE. After the February 20th edition of Monday Night RAW, he infamously called the company’s arch-nemesis CM Punk in a dark segment. However, Punk was not able to receive the call.
The heart of the matter
When asked about how The Rock still manages to find his way back home to the WWE, Triple H said the following:
“You get nothing like you get with the WWE. When 101,000 fans are chanting your name and going crazy, there is nothing, I mean nothing, that gives you that adrenaline rush like that.
It’s why The Rock comes back. He still gravitates back to the WWE because of the fanbase, because of that connection you can’t get anywhere else. It’s visceral, it’s palpable, it just is what we do.
We create memories that when you go to something like WrestleMania, that memory lasts a lifetime. People forget what you say and what you do, but they remember how they make you feel.”
The entire interview can be seen below:
What’s next?
If the reports of Cageside Seats are anything to go by, The Rock could surprise his fans at WrestleMania 33, even if his appearance is limited to a backstage segment.
Author’s take
Triple H’s words are clearly indicative of the widespread fanbase that The Rock still enjoys amongst the WWE Universe.
The Brahma Bull is still a much-respected figure in the wrestling scene, and even a small appearance by him can make the fans go berserk. We hope that he makes it to Orlando and electrifies the crowd with his charismatic presence.
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