He says that back in the day when The Rock showed up in Memphis as a developing young talent, performers were basically working for the love of the business. Some of their shows didn’t draw big houses and not everyone was making big money. The Rock was obviously determined to make it as a professional wrestler and he had no issue paying his dues in Memphis.
WWE had their eye on The Rock in Memphis and when his time came, WWE called Lawler with just a few days notice saying they needed him the following Monday night for RAW. Lawler booked Rock in a ‘loser leaves town’ match to explain his sudden departure from Memphis.
After The Rock showed up on WWE programming he quickly climbed the ranks in WWE, soon becoming a main event talent. Lawler says that unlike John Cena or Roman Reigns, The Rock was never hand-picked to be the next ‘guy’. The Rock simply showed up in WWE and took that spot with his talent and charisma.
Lawler says that The Rock is one of the few talents who seemingly always had the full backing of the entire WWE Universe. For this reason, Lawler doesn’t think The Rock should or will run for President. By making that choice, half the country will automatically hate him and The Rock doesn’t need that. Rock certainly enjoys popularity, but he’s not a power-hungry individual.
That sums up today’s episode of Dinner with the King. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!
