The Rock Talks About His Disagreement With His Dad Over Wrestling Career

The Rock opened up about his initial desire to enter the wrestling world, revealing the tension it created with his father, WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson. Johnson strongly opposed his son's decision, fearing the challenges and hardships of the profession.

The Rock shared a poignant memory: "There was that dynamic of young buck son getting into the business, how is he going to do. I told him, ‘I think I want to do this. I think I have some talent. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll suck, but I feel I have a passion for this.’ He was so adamantly against me getting into pro wrestling. He’s like, ‘You don’t know if you have anything to offer. I don’t want you to live like this. I live in an apartment that I can’t afford in Tampa, Florida for $500 a month. I don’t want this for you.’ We [clashed]. At that time, I didn’t have the emotional tools to realize ‘That’s love, Dad. Thank you, I love you. I still have to make my path.’ I didn’t have that. I was like, ‘What the fuck are you talking about? It’s my life.’ We just [clashed] for a long time. I wish I reconciled. We got into this huge fight Christmas 2019. It was awful, one of the biggest fights we ever got into about some stupid shit. About a month later, he passed away. We weren’t talking. When my dad passed away, I felt like, all the dumb shit we were arguing about, it didn’t matter.”