As Entertainment Weekly notes, Johnson dropped “The Rock” from his persona before the release of his 2005 movie “Southland Tales.”
Johnson told Foxx that he wanted to quickly switch back to “The Rock” afterward.
“I reached a point in my career where I was tired of trying to be something I wasn’t,” Johnson said of switching back to the nickname. “I was told at that time, ‘Listen, you can’t talk about wrestling. You can’t go by The Rock. You can’t be as big.”
Johnson explained that his relationship with his fans — which he called “the most important relationship I have” — led him to see the light, and go by “The Rock” again.
“So finally I reached a point where I said, ‘Alright, two things have to happen: I’m gonna surround myself with a different group of people, different management, and then I’m gonna make sure that I just gotta be me,” he said.