Dwayne Johnson is presently one of the biggest names in the industry. Following a highly successful wrestling career, The Rock also enjoys the life of one of the most-paid superstars. For those who are not so well-versed in the San Andreas actor’s past, he was originally an athlete and was a highly popular football star in his college life before it was cut short by some disastrous injuries.
Even though Johnson couldn’t enjoy a long footballing career, he owns a footballing league of his own. The Jungle Cruise star faced a major shoulder separation as well as several knee injuries before he had to ultimately leave behind that phase.
How much did Dwayne Johnson suffer in his early athletic career?
When the Rampage actor was spotted giving an interview to Wired, Johnson stated that he faced many major injuries in his early career. The 51-year-old actor even had to go for a complete shoulder replacement. Followed by that, a series of other injuries and surgeries ultimately led him to fully shift his focus to wrestling.
Dwayne Johnson revealed that when he used to play football for the official team of the University of Miami, he had to receive an entire shoulder replacement. The ex-WWE wrestler also had five knee surgeries and a torn Achilles heel. After this, the Black Adam actor resorted fully to wrestling and enjoyed a very successful WWE (formerly WWF) career and had a huge contribution to the widely popular Attitude Era.
But The Rock couldn’t stay away from Football long as the actor is now associated with one of the prominent American Football leagues- XFL, which he bought for $15M in August 2020.
Dwayne Johnson’s association with XFL
XFL was originally founded by WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon as a collaboration between WWF and NBC in 2001. Unfortunately, the inaugural season turned out to be a complete failure. The league intended to entertain the fans after the NFL and also combined concepts of WWE with the game of Football.
The games failed to hit the chords and NBC canceled it after one season. After that, McMahon tried to revive the season once again in 2020 with improved regulations and the removal of the factors that were criticized in the former season. But the global pandemic hit the league and soon after announcing bankruptcy, McMahon sold it to Dwayne Johnson. Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital were also involved in the deal.
Finally, XFL resumed under the ownership of The Red Notice Fame this year in February. Dwayne Johnson also gave a highly motivating speech to the audience before the start of the first match of this season. Although the league is currently not even close to the NFL and the salary is also very low, Johnson’s speech showed that he anticipates a prosperous future for XFL.
The matches of XFL can be watched on ESPN+.
Source: Wired
