WWE has responded to a report about The Rock and stated that a particular claim is not true.
Along with being one of the biggest names in the history of professional wrestling, The People’s Champion has also become one of the most successful names in Hollywood. Focusing on non-wrestling projects, Rock’s appearances on WWE TV were extremely rare due to his packed schedule.
However, in early 2024 the Hollywood star made his return to the company and made multiple appearances as part of the rivalry between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns. Additionally, Rock competed in his first major match in over a decade as The Rock aligned himself with Roman Reigns to defeat Rhodes and Seth Rollins in the main event of night one. Although the appearances and match were very well-received, a new report claims that there were backstage issues prior to the event.
An article by The Wrap has detailed multiple allegations about Rock’s conduct while filming the Amazon-produced movie Red One. Accusing the Hollywood star of “chronic lateness” and “lack of professionalism on set”, production costs were said to be much higher than originally anticipated and the final budget was in excess of $250 million. The article continues and claims that the alleged unprofessionalism extended beyond the set and into his WWE commitments. In regards to his appearance on WrestleMania Saturday, The Wrap claims that Rock was 3 hours late to Lincoln Financial Field:
Earlier this month, he was three hours late arriving ahead of his main event match at WrestleMania 40, two insiders told The Wrap.
The article also references The Rock being two hours late for his scheduled appearance prior to WrestleMania, which did occur according to those in attendance. WWE sources stated that traffic in Philadelphia and other commitments accounted for the lateness. It is also claimed that Rock was late to many of his prior movie shoots, causing financial and scheduling issues.
WWE Responds To Report About The Rock
Following the publication of the article, WWE’s executive vice president for Talent Relations and Head of Communications Chris Legentil denies the claim about lateness at WrestleMania:
“Dwayne was not only on time for WrestleMania, he was hours early to help with rehearsal and a pleasure to work with throughout the entire run,”
Additionally, a representative from Amazon MGM has denied there being any issues with the Red One movie shoot and described reporting of lateness as “both ridiculous and false.” Additionally, a representative from Netflix said the following about the former World Champion when the film Red Notice, which was heavily marketed at Survivor Series 2021:
“Dwayne is the consummate professional and we’re thrilled to have worked with him on ‘Red Notice,’ our #1 film,”