The Rock talking about himself in the third person became one of the most recognizable parts of his entire WWE persona, and now the person who says he first pushed Dwayne Johnson to try it has revealed exactly how it happened.
Vince Russo opened up about the moment during an appearance on No Bones About Wrestling while discussing how wrestling ideas can have multiple people claiming credit for them years later. Russo had been talking about disagreements over who came up with certain famous WWE ideas when the conversation shifted to Johnson’s transformation from Rocky Maivia into The Rock.
Russo explained that he had been thinking about “The Rock” name for months, but initially hesitated because he was a major fan of Don “The Rock” Muraco and felt using the name could be disrespectful. Eventually, on the day of an episode of WWE Raw, Russo said he approached Johnson and suggested something that would become a permanent part of his character.
“I’ll never forget, with Dwayne Johnson, I was carrying around for months, ‘The Rock, The Rock, The Rock.’ But guys, I swear as a shoot, I was a huge Don Muraco fan, and I thought that would be disrespectful to Don ‘The Rock’ Muraco.”
Russo said he finally went directly to Johnson that day and suggested that instead of talking normally during his promo, he should start referring to himself as The Rock and speak about himself in the third person.
“Finally, man, this is the day of a Raw. I’m talking to Dwayne at the time and I said, ‘Hey, bro, I want to tell you something. Why don’t you go out there tonight and start referring to yourself in the third person?’ And he’s like, ‘What do you mean?’ I’m like, ‘Bro, when you talk, say, “The Rock said this. The Rock said that.”’ And he looked at me with a raised eyebrow. ‘Really?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, bro. Just try it and see what happens.’”
Johnson went out and did exactly that. Russo said he immediately recognized that they had stumbled onto something special, comparing the feeling to hearing Steve Austin come up with “Austin 3:16.”
“Sure enough, he goes out that night and does it. There’s something about wrestling and being a writer and whatnot — when you know something’s it, you know it’s it. Like, Austin came up with Austin 3:16, and when he told me that right before the promo, I’m like, ‘Brother, that’s it. Like, that’s it.’ You just know.”
According to Russo, that Raw promo marked the point where the third-person delivery became part of Johnson’s identity as The Rock.
“So, from that point on, he was The Rock.”
Russo also addressed later claims that Jim Ross may have been responsible for the idea. He made it clear that he has enormous respect for Ross and believes it is entirely possible that more than one person independently suggested something similar.
“Years and years and years later, I hear Bruce Prichard, ‘Oh, it wasn’t Russo that came up with that. It was Jim Ross.’ Okay. Now, first of all, guys, let me tell you something. All the years I worked with Jim Ross, Jim Ross was not a liar. Jim Ross was probably, in the spot that he was in, one of the most honest people I ever worked with. I have all the respect in the world for Jim Ross.”
Russo stressed that he wasn’t trying to claim ownership over every part of The Rock character, but said this was his personal recollection of how the third-person delivery started.
“Could Jim have pitched it at a later date or earlier without my knowledge? Absolutely. He could have pitched the same exact thing. It’s not a ‘take credit’ for anything. Who gives a shit? I could give a shit. I’m just telling you, this was my part of it and this is the way that it went down.”
The Rock obviously took the idea and turned it into something much bigger than a single Raw promo. “The Rock says,” “The Rock thinks” and countless variations became staples of his promos and helped turn the third-person delivery into one of the defining trademarks of his WWE career.
What do you think about the story behind The Rock’s famous third-person promo style, and did you know who claimed to have first suggested it to Dwayne Johnson? Let us know your thoughts and leave your feedback in the comments.
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