‘Pulled me aside’ – WWE legend broke character to torment The Rock in match before giving backstage warning
It probably took a special someone to get one over on Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson even in his youth before his WWE stardom exploded.
Johnson stands tall in 2025 as one of the biggest names on the planet thanks to his stellar movie career, built off the back of an impressive time in the wrestling ring before that.
3
But while he can enjoy the fame and fortune that his career – and the wisdom of age – have afforded him, there was a time where he was a little wet behind the ears. In professional wrestling as with many walks of life, that can make you easy prey for those who’ve been around the block a bit.
In the 1990s era of WWE, there was no greater prankster than the legendary Owen Hart. While there’s no record of Hart ever acting with malice towards any young performer, his status as prank puller in chief was undisputed, history littered with stories of good-natured schemes leaving colleagues – and members of his own family – red faced.
A young Rock was no exception in 1996, while he was training for a WWE debut at that year’s Survivor Series in New York City.
Prior to that memorable date, he spent months in WWE’s developmental system, before being called up to the major leagues – courtesy of a try-out match with Hart in August.
READ MORE WWE
Then an on-screen villain, Hart was wearing a cast on his arm that his character claimed was broken, only to use the instrument as a weapon long after any such injury had healed. This, The Rock explained in his autobiography, is where the trouble began.
“I wasn't aware that Owen's cast was merely a gimmick,” he explained. I watched [shows] and presumed that Owen, tough guy that he was, had injured his arm and decided to keep performing. The cast was on his left arm, which is the arm you always work during a match. That's just one of the basics of wrestling: the left arm is the arm you grab… so I grabbed his right arm and started working it, twisting it, putting it up behind his back. It felt terribly awkward.”
Even at that stage, Hart had been established as a WWE star for years, and was never going to miss what Johnson accepted was an ‘obvious, egregious error.’ He added: “He tried to get my attention, saying: ‘Hey… that's the wrong arm.’ [I replied] ‘I know. You've got a cast on the other one.’ ‘Yeah… take the one with the cast’ he said.”
Like a mouse being lured by cheese into a trap, Rocky claimed he offered: “But I thought your arm was broken,” before all hell broke loose. He said: “With that Owen started laughing uncontrollably.
Most read in Wrestling
"He was known for his jokes, for his sense of humour. But to me, at that moment, it was kind of embarrassing. Here I was, trying to be nice to the guy, and I got duped.
“I imagined that Owen and all the other veterans were looking at me and thinking: ‘Man, you've got a lot to learn.’
3
3
As the established wrestler, Canadian Hart won the match, as expected. If The Rock thought his ribbing at the hands of the iconic performer had ended in the ring, however, he had another thing coming.
The Miami native added: “A short time later Owen pulled me aside in the hallway outside the dressing room. ‘Vince [McMahon] just asked me what I thought of you.’ he said. ‘Great. What did you tell him?’ ‘I told him you're the s****.
“I stared at Owen for a moment, unsure of whether he was telling the truth or merely busting my b**** again. It was hard to tell with him. Finally. he smiled and said: ‘Nah, I'm only kidding. I told him you're better than half the guys we have on the roster now.’”
Cody Rhodes and the Rock share a drink after WWE's debut on Netflix
Hart’s instincts were sharp enough. Within two years, The Rock was an established main event stars and one of the biggest names of the WWE Attitude Era, and the rest was history.
The pair remained close up to Hart’s untimely death in 1999 at a pay-per-view event.
Topics