The Rock was interviewed by Esquire to discuss his level of enjoyment between movies and wrestling as well as the movie, “The Wrestler.” Here are the highlights.
If he enjoys making movies as much as wrestling:
“Wrestling is intimate. You can reach out and touch the wrestlers. I don’t get that connection in movies, but the impact is so much greater. You’re able to craft a longer career in movies. In wrestling, there’s a shelf life, and some wrestlers don’t pay attention to the shelf life. Mickey Rourke’s character in The Wrestler—that was my dad, that was my uncles, that was so many members of my family. It was the only thing they knew. And then they would end up wrestling for a hundred bucks, go to autograph signings for two hundred bucks.”
How accurate The Wrestler is:
“It’s very accurate. I would do blade jobs. I get a call once from the WWE, saying, “Vince [McMahon] would like to see you in Stamford.” I went to his office and he says, ‘I really think you have a lot of potential, but you’re not ready for the WWE. You should go to Memphis, Tennessee. That’s where I want you to learn the business.” And as I was leaving, he said, “You keep working hard, but don’t go down there and cut your f–king forehead with razor blades, you understand me?’
“In the ’60s and ’70s and early ’80s, the trainers would grind you and eventually they would break something—they would break an ankle in ways that it would heal. It was just the way of the business, to ensure that you learned respect for wrestling. It was crazy. My dad [Rocky Johnson, a WWE Hall of Fame grappler] didn’t break anything on me, but he grinded me out every day for months.”
