He's been pretty busy lately becoming one of the biggest action movie stars on the planet, but Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson still has close ties to the world of wrestling. However, in a recent interview on Live With Kelly & Ryan, when asked whether he ever misses wrestling, Johnson announced that he has officially retired from the WWE — at the very least, as a competitor.
"I miss wrestling, I love wrestling," Johnson said, before revealing: "I quietly retired from wrestling because I was lucky enough to have just a really wonderful career and accomplish what I wanted to accomplish."
He added that he still misses the rush of a live wrestling event, saying: "there’s nothing like a live crowd, a live audience, a live microphone, as you both know."
"Plus, I grew up in wrestling," he continued. "For a lot of you guys that don’t know, my grandfather wrestled, my dad as well, my whole family." Johnson's grandfather was High Chief Peter Maivia, a Samoan-American wrestler who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, and who was the "best of friends" with French wrestler and actor André the Giant.
Johnson went on to say that he believes his experiences in the WWE helped him become the man he is now, and also contributed to the success he is now enjoying in his career. "I actually had my very first match ever in the WWE in Madison Square Garden and it was a big pay-per-view, and it was funny because I credit my time and my journey in pro wrestling to getting me to where I am at today," he said.
While he won't be competing in the ring anymore, WWE fans can rest assured that Johnson will all but certainly still be making appearances at events: he's rumored to be involved with the first edition of SmackDown, which will air on FOX in October.
