The Rock Talks Match With Chris Jericho In Hawaii Being His Most Meaningful Match Ever
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, like many around the world, has been staying home and respecting social distancing rules and guidelines. His new film Red Notice has been forced to halt production. However, that has not stopped him from engaging with fans on Instagram where he occasionally answers questions about his life in the world of film and pro wrestling.
His latest post answered a question about the most meaningful match of his career. The Rock has sold out many shows throughout his career and has been involved in many iconic matches in WWE, but he said that a house show in Hawaii was the most meaningful match. He has discussed the match before, however he went into more detail on Instagram.
"Of course, the very first match I ever had as a professional wrestler in San Antonio, TX and my last match as a professional wrestler in New York City where I started my career in the WWE were very memorable, but the one match that I will always carry with me deep in my heart, in my bones, happened in Honolulu, Hawaii, and it was the first and only time I had ever wrestled in Hawaii," The Rock said. "It was not a big PPV. It was not a big television production. It was what we called a live event or a house show in the world of professional wrestling where it's just an event."
The Rock talked about his life growing up in Hawaii sharing the wrestling promotion that his grandparents ran along with his parents. He discussed the struggles they went through running the promotion and how Hawaii has always represented struggle for him. When the opportunity came to do a house show in Hawaii, The Rock talks about taking it and main eventing a show with Chris Jericho that sold out the Blaisdell Center faster than Elvis Presley.
"When Vince McMahon approached me at the height of my professional wrestling career, the first run of my professional wrestling career, he said hey what do think about going to Hawaii?" Rock recalled. "Small show. He's like you probably don't want to go because it's a lot of travel, I said no. I cut him off and said you don't understand. It would be the most meaningful show of my life. He kind of looked at me and said, 'really?' I said, 'absolutely. Book it.'
"So I headline that show. We went to Hawaii, and I wrestled a guy by the name of Chris Jericho, a very good buddy of mine today, and I gotta tell you guys, I've had the honor and the privilege. I've been a lucky son of a b–ch to have the career that I've had in professional wrestling. I've wrestled around the world in very major arena in this country, every major arena around the world, and the most meaningful match I've ever had was to go back to Hawaii at the Blaisdell Center in the main event. Sold it out by the way. Faster than Elvis did. I'm just saying," The Rock laughingly said. "I got that phone call like you just beat Elvis with how fast the sell-out happened. I said, 'is that right?' I love you King, but how cool is that? I was so grateful to hear that news."
The Rock noted what the show meant for his family especially his grandmother. While fighting back emotions, The Rock went through the day and the emotions his family went through on that day highlighting the first line of his caption of his post, "question so good, it got me emo answering it."
"It was so special. I flew my entire family in for this because everybody knew what this moment meant including my grandmother. I flew my grandmother in. I have goosebumps right now thinking about it," The Rock said as he was collecting himself. "I flew her in. She was sitting there, and my music hits, 'if you smell.' Bang. I come out. I see them and give everybody a kiss at the front row. We have our match. It was a phenomenal match. Chris Jericho was a great dance partner for me, and afterwards I get on the mic for the crowd, and I just let them know how meaningful this is to me and family because for years and years and years Hawaii just meant struggle, so I thanked them. I have wrestled in front of some wild crowds that were on fire, and you can just feel it. It can be 50,000 people on fire, but it can still feel so intimate like I could reach out. We just have this connection. That night was special because the people of Hawaii, the culture they all knew what it meant for me to go back, and afterwards, we have the match. We go to the back and celebrate with the family. Quiet celebration.
"We're all in the back. It was just me and my family. It was really intimate. We're in the dressing room. This sweaty ass dressing room that stinks because all the wrestlers were in there including myself, and they all leave. We're just back there me and family, and what it represented was so beautiful to have this moment with them. My grandmother said, 'we finally made it. We finally made it.' Oh, man. There were a lot of tears that day in that locker room, but tears of joy and gratitude."
You can check out the full post below. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Rock's Instagram with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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