Jim Ross Shoots Down Claim That WWE Initially Considered Firing The Rock

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson remains one of the most popular pro wrestlers to have ever stepped foot inside the squared circle. He was a true icon in WWE and his stock only rose after The Rock made his way to Hollywood, where he is now the highest-paid actor in the industry.

However, The Rock certainly did not have the best of starts in WWE as his Rocky Maivia character was largely panned by fans and eventually led to the infamous ”Die Rocky die” chants.

While speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross and co-host Conrad Thompson talked about The Rock’s early years in WWE. Thompson stated that Foley wrote in his book that he once thought WWE “should cut their losses and move on from Maivia.”

Jim Ross agreed that the Rocky Maivia character was not well received by fans and didn’t get the reaction WWE expected. However, he shot down Mick Foley’s claim that the company considered firing him after the failure of the character.

“Oh my God, no. Rock not have ‘it’? Are you sh***ing me? Of course he had it, Conrad. His skill set wasn’t to the level of his charisma and his look and all those things. That’s my take on it now. I would totally disagree with Mick about cut our losses. I don’t know that that was ever considered. The presentation that we had provided for The Rock, which led to ‘Die Rocky Die’ chants for this new babyface that we were pushing, was not good.”

Ross further clarified that he was never told by anyone that Ross needed to consider cutting The Rock from the roster. Of course, Ross hiring The Rock was the best decision made by the company as he went on to become the megastar we know today.