Rikishi saw The Rock‘s rise to greatness in Hollywood long before it actually happened.
WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi recently sat down with Brandon Robinson at Bally Sports to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about his interactions with The Rock when he was younger, Rikishi revealed that he didn’t see him much growing up because they lived on opposite ends of the United States. But that he knew Dwayne was going to take over Hollywood long before he did.
“Well, the Rock was younger, and we weren’t really around each other that much, you know?” Rikishi said. “I’m from the West Coast; he was out there on the East Coast… we all knew him and his father, and they flew all over the place, but when we finally did get together, it was all good! A young kid from Allentown, Pennsylvania, going to high school; he was always in the gym… I for sure thought that he was going to play NFL football, you know? Like, really be that because he was jacked up if you see some of the documentaries, you know? That’s real!
“At 13 years old, he was a grown adult size! He was a BEAST! But you know with everything, God has a plan for everybody, and I’m so grateful and thankful to be able to see what Dwayne has done with his life, you know? He came into the family business and went out there and opened the doors in Hollywood not only for himself but opened the door for a lot of the wrestlers in our industry to be able to adapt and go into Hollywood, and that, too they can do; and just by seeing what Dwayne did –, you got a wrestler coming from our industry into Hollywood and pretty much took over the whole Hollywood!
“I mean, that’s that work ethic as a professional wrestler… we know nothing but the grind hard, we figure things out, and we see things coming from a mile away. When you’re on TV shooting things live, there is no pre-tape. You just give me your pointers, and we put it in our own words, and we make it happen! And by the time you see the Rock in Hollywood, we all knew unless something happened to him, that dude is going to take over Hollywood! Years later, there it is.”
The Young Rock sitcom on NBC has an ongoing storyline about The Rock running for President in 2032. When asked if The Rock ever runs for President if he would run as his Vice President, Rikishi said he’d vote for The Rock, but he’s not interested in being a politician.
“I’m definitely voting for him!” Rikishi said. “I don’t know about being the Vice President… [laughs] I’ll be voting for him though because I’m not the politickin’ cat; I’m just the cat who supports the people!”
What do you make of Rikishi’s comments? Are you surprised he didn’t interact with The Rock more as he was growing up? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
