Though he’s one of the most famous actors in existence, Dwayne Johnson began his rise to worldwide prominence with a career in professional wrestling. ‘The Brahma Bull’ competed as The Rock throughout the Attitude Era and into the beginning of the Ruthless Aggression Era. During his career, he racked up eight runs as WWE Champion, two reigns as Intercontinental Champion, and five as a Tag Team Champion.
Despite this success, he seemingly can’t be credited for the creation of his ring name. As it turns out, ‘The Rock’ was actually a name that belonged to regular Dwayne Johnson co-star Kevin Hart.
While speaking to TMZ, Kevin Hart recalled that it was he who began using the moniker first, with Dwayne later stealing it from him to reach the heights he did in the sports entertainment giant:
“It’s all ready! I’ve been The Rock, you guys just didn’t know that. He stole my name. You guys tell everybody that he took my name.”
Where, exactly, the name stems from is unknown. Regardless, it remains one of the most famous monikers in all of wrestling.
Dwayne Johnson And Kevin Hart Have Starred In Several Films Together
Beginning with the 2016-released Central Intelligence, Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart have starred in a number of films together. They’ve since co-starred in the likes of Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, Hobbs & Shaw, and Jumanji: The Next Level. Their most recent collaboration saw the duo in voice roles for DC League of Super-Pets.
Although he’s never officially wrestled himself, this hasn’t stopped Kevin Hart’s crossover into the sporting world. Aside from slapping Dwayne Johnson with a wet tortilla, Hart has also been involved in a lightsaber battle with multi-time Women’s Champion Sasha Banks and a thumb war with WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker.