Ex-WWE Star Recalls Dwayne Johnson & Vince McMahon Not Being On Speaking Terms
One former WWE star recalled a time when Vince McMahaon and Dwayne Johnson were at odds to the point of not speaking to one another.
As The Rock, Dwayne Johnson made himself into one of the most recognizable names in wrestling while working for WWE. However, despite being a huge star in the company, things between Johnson and Vince McMahon were not always pleasant, and there even came a time when the two men weren’t speaking to each other after WWE took ownership of the name The Rock.
Speaking in a guest appearance on a recent episode of GAW TV, Tommy Dreamer opened up about a time when he was working in Talent Relations and explained what caused the two men to have a falling out before detailing a meeting held to get them back on speaking terms.
“I’m working in WWE Talent Relations. It’s WrestleMania L.A. so 2005, 2006. Don’t know exactly which one it was. Rock and Vince McMahon are not talking. They haven’t spoken because remember, the WWE, it took ownership of the name ‘The Rock’ and he had to go to Dwayne Johnson. It was a big deal and there was animosity and they haven’t spoken.
“We get word, Johnny (Laurinaitis) pulls us aside, that one, Dwayne The Rock Johnson is showing up at the WrestleMania party and we have to set up this secure area for Vince and The Rock to have their first conversation in a while. It’s like secret service, it’s outside. There’s people positioned everywhere.
“The Rock’s limo pulls up, Vince is sitting there with — John’s gonna be the first then I’m going to meet and we have security everywhere but it’s on an outdoor patio and there’s these planters and as The Rock gets out of the limo, it’s almost like a movie of an assassination and everything’s happening in slow motion and all of a sudden, the wrestler from Tough Enough, Hawk (Younkins) and one, SoCal Val, walk into the area where Vince is getting ready to meet, to try to squash the beef and I look and I’m like, ‘No!’
“And Johnny’s giving me the look and I don’t know what that conversation — but again, he’s in Tough Enough and Val’s just (a) clueless young lady, right? So I have to quickly go, ‘Hey guys! Can we go over here?’ But in Hawk’s mind and I don’t know about Val because she’ll tell her version of the story, this is my chance, Vince is alone and we have to secret service these two — they don’t even work in the company — and John’s like, ‘Who are they?’ I’m like, ‘Ah, that’s Hawk. I don’t even know who this girl is’ but I kind of remembered from the indies.
“You were just coming up. So we scoot them in and as I’m escorting them out, here comes The Rock and Vince is like, ‘Dwayne.’ He’s like, ‘Vince’ and it’s all this tension. I’m like, who the hell? If I have to murder these two people, I will and that was one, SoCal Val.”
So Cal Val then chimed in with her version of events, admitting that in hindsight it wasn’t the best time to try to approach Vince McMahon or Dwayne Johnson.
“It’s a funny story because especially when you mention the planters, I thought, yeah! Because we were outside so I was there to meet Hawk. I was the girl that was one of the ring girls for TNA. We had both just started. We knew Frankie (Kazarian), we knew Hawk. We just said, ‘Oh, we’re gonna hang out in the lobby.’ Not into the party so we sat in the lobby or whatever and meet our friends and Hawk, as sweet as he was… was just, let’s call it eccentric. Just all over the place, just whatever and yeah, I remember him, he’s just a very loud personality.
“Yeah, that was the weirdest and I remember seeing The Rock and being like, oh, that’s so cool. That’s The Rock, interesting and I later, with Frankie and Hawk and someone else, went into the party which now I kind of go, I probably should’ve been like, no, it’s a party but I was like, eh, maybe it’s we’re all friends, that’s fine. We got the little wristbands, thank you, went in.
“I think Alicia Fox was there, maybe that was later. Anyway, at the party, I remember seeing The Rock down the table, down the buffet table and being like, holy sh*t, that’s The Rock. That’s very cool. But yeah, probably not the best time…”
h/t POST Wrestling