Photo: © WWE (Main Image)
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is arguably the biggest superstar in the world at the moment. He has the looks, the charisma, the discipline and the popularity to go along with all of it. He is the perfect combination. He owes a lot of his success to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and credits the company for allowing him to find his true self both as an entertainer and as a human being.
A lot of The Rock’s day-to-day job at the WWE involved coming up with stinging insults and one-liners that would get a huge reaction from the crowd back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. And he was pretty damn good at getting those reactions on a regular basis.
Having said that, here are the 5 WWE insults that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson made that would have gotten him cancelled in 2022:
1. The Rock Goes Multi-Lingual
During a storyline in which The Rock was being accused of running over ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin with a car (yes, that’s supposed to be a serious crime), he decides to explain himself to Mick Foley in English, Swedish and Chinese. While the English version would have been perfectly fine, he would have ended up upsetting a lot of Swedish and Chinese fans because of what he does next.
2. Fat-Shaming Rikishi
During the same storyline as above, The Rock was feuding with Rikishi for a couple of months during which the two exchanged multiple banters on the microphone. However, The Rock got the biggest pop during a promo he did in 2000 when he called Rikishi a “thong-wearing fatty”.
3. Everything Sexist & Inappropriate He Did To Stephanie McMahon
From regularly commenting about her breasts and calling them “big funny funbags” to literally addressing her as a “two-dollar sl*t”, The Rock has said some absolutely shocking things about the Interim Chief Executive Officer of WWE, Stephanie McMahon. It’s hard to imagine The Rock not getting bashed and abused every single day on Twitter if the social media platform had existed back in the day.
4. Stereotyping Booker T
In 2001, WCW champion Booker T challenged The Rock for a fight at Summer Slam and during that promo, the ‘People’s Champion’ decided to not only disregard Booker T as the champion, he even managed to sneak in some good old racism in the mix.
When Booker T challenged The Rock to a fight at pay-per-view, The Rock, while grinning, said “Are you going to Summer Slam? What are you going to be there for? When somebody needs to park their car outside the building?” If we need to explain why that’s wrong, well… it’s better left alone.
5. Putting Chyna In Her ‘Natural Position’
Chyna was and forever will be one of the best, most prominent female WWE wrestlers. Her impressive physique, in-ring moves and the ability to talk trash on the microphone made her a really popular superstar really quickly. However, during a 1998 promo, a heel Rock had The Nation make Chyna get on her knees, with her arms held back by two men and grabbed by her hair.
Once they had her pinned in the middle of the ring, The Rock said “You look pretty damn good on your knees, Chyna. It almost looks like a natural position.” He then goes in to force a kiss on her before stopping midway to say “There ain’t no way he (The Rock) would ever kiss a piece of trash like you.”
