Arn Anderson – “The Rock Is Just A Classy, Respectful, Talented Guy”
‘The Enforcer’ Arn Anderson has spoken about the measure of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as a respectful human being rather than the Hollywood mega-star that everyone knows.
One of the greatest talkers and all-round workers in the history of the industry, Dwayne Johnson’s big heart, generosity and respect for both fans and the history of the industry has been well documented over the years by many different sources.
Prior to Christmas 2020 as the world was struggling to survive after the COVID-19 pandemic had ravaged livelihoods and families across the world, it was The Rock who responded to a Tweet from a father who wanted to give his children a memorable Christmas by getting eyes on his eBay store.
Instead of the retweet that the person in question requested, Johnson bought the entirety of the children’s Christmas list as well as invited the family to witness the filming of his upcoming Black Adam feature film for DC.
However, it’s not just fans that ‘The Great One’ is gracious to. It’s those who paved the way for him to become a worldwide star between the ropes as Arn Anderson told on the latest edition of his ARN Podcast.
After naming ‘The People’s Champion’ as one of the faces on his Mount Rushmore of wrestling talkers, ‘Double A’ recounted a tale of when he met the star for the very first time in an airport bar and the overwhelming hospitality the mega-star showed him:
“I am a hundred percent shooting with this. We meet a lot of people in life, in your business Conrad and in my business and in different places you meet a lot of people. And we’ve always treated certain people the way they treat us. Just because a guy’s not popular with three quarters of the locker room, if he’s been nice to me and polite to me and receptive to me, I like the guy. ‘Cus that’s what I base it on. Before WCW was bought The Rock had already flamed up. I mean he was red hot. But it was before the company had been bought I was walking through Pittsburgh airport early one morning, we’d done a show there the night before and it was empty.
I’d found a place there and I’d bellied up to the bar and was placing an order, and there was nobody around. And all of a sudden I hear, “Enforcer!” And I turn around and it’s Rock. I’d never met Rock. He said, ‘Have you got just a moment?’ I said, ‘Yeah!’ He goes, ‘I just wanna thank you for everything you’ve contributed to the business, all your hard work and dedication and all the things you mean to the industry’ and just a plethora of nice things. Shook my hand, gave me a hug and turned and took off. No I’d never met this guy, how he recognised me with my back turned – you know a lot of guys have got bald spots – but it’s just one of those things where I could count on one hand how many times I’ve been treated that respectfully and it just floored me. And he didn’t have to do that. He could have just kept walking and we would have never made eye contact. But that’s kind of the guy he is. He’s just a classy, respectful, talented guy that I for one am tickled to death for all his success. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy and a bigger professional.”
Currently, Dwayne Johnson can be heard as the narrator of his Young Rock television series and will next be seen on the big screen in Disney’s Jungle Cruise and Red Notice. The Hollywood giant will also produce the revival of The Scorpion King as well as the upcoming live action Tom and Jerry movie.
Credit for the interview: ARN Podcast