Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson took to social media ahead of Tuesday night’s SmackDown Live 900th special episode, which emanated from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and aired live featuring advertised appearances from The Undertaker and Edge, commenting on the 900th anniversary of the show that was named after his famous catchphrase.
The Rock noted via his official Instagram page last night that he was asked by WWE if he could write something in honor of the special episode. He mentioned that the company sent him some “cool facts” he could use, which included records he holds, such as the most main events on the show inside one year and being in more high-rated main event matches than any other Superstar in history.
From there, “The Great One” shared a funny story about also holding the record for pissing off Vince McMahon more than any other Superstar in history by consistently going over his allotted time in matches due to his belief that the fans and the way they react should always dictate how long his matches went.
Read the story in The Rock’s words, which includes him explaining what McMahon would say to him when he came through the curtain backstage after going over by 15-20 minutes and throwing off the rest of the entire show, as well as what he would say in return that would prompt Vince to stare at him with the infamous “Vince glare,” and why Vince’s nice “$5,000 suits” would end up covered in “The People’s Sweat” when all was said and done.
“Now here’s a fun fact that’s NOT in the record books. “The Rock” also holds the record for going WAY OVER his allotted time given for his matches than any performer in Smackdown history. For ex: if I was given 20min total match time, I would notoriously hit the 35min mark causing a ripple effect in the 2 hour TV show. Reason this would always happen is, every night I would wrestle and only be concerned with one thing: listening to the people. And every night, I learned to let THEM dictate how long my matches were. After the match I would walk back thru the curtain and Vince would be pissed. He’d say “God dammit Rock! Great match but you went over time”. I’d immediately say “I’m sorry Vince and I understand, but.. I was listening to the people and you just can’t rush greatness”. He would look at me with that iconic “Vince glare” and not say a word for 4-5 very long seconds… then break out in a big smile and say “that’s right. You can’t rush greatness”. Then we’d hug and I’d get his $5,000 suit all f*cked up with sweat.”
