The Rock thought about fighting in PRIDE in the 90s before finding WWE success

WWE superstar Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson considered a career in mixed martial arts in the late 90's, because wrestling bosses told him he needed to 'smile'.

Speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience this week, the combat sports icon spoke of how he was incredibly tempted to join one of the world's largest MMA promotions at the time in PRIDE FC, after hearing how much fighters were being paid for their all-out wars in Japan and his own reception in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) at the time.

He also explained that he wasn't able to be himself with the promotion, and he was unsure if he was going to 'make it'.

Talking to Rogan, The Rock reflected: "In '97 - during that time while I was still going out to LA and working out - we were crossing all the MMA guys. PRIDE had just opened up in Japan, so I was seeing all these MMA guys going over to PRIDE. You remember that time, right?

"I think you might have been with UFC at that time. And that time I was making $150,000 wrestling 235 days a year, so do the math of that how much you're making per match. We start hearing 'hey these guys over in PRIDE are making $250,000, $350,000, $500,000' and I thought then, well f*** I don't think I'm going to make it in WWE.

"People are booing me out of the arenas. I can't be myself, they're telling me to f***ing smile - I don't wanna f***ing smile it's not who I am.

"I start talking to Ken Shamrock at that time who's wrestling with us, I run into Mark Kerr - I start talking to him; 'hey tell me a little bit about pride'. And I have this idea in my head, well maybe I should train MMA and go to PRIDE and make money. Real money, then I don't have to smile.

"I'm sure I'm going to get f***ed up over there, knock one of my lungs loose but if I find the right coach and train...I have this whole thing in my head.

"I’m talking to my wife at the time; ‘I think this is the way to go. I can make real money while these fans are booing me for $150,000'."

Of course, Johnson would never wind up fighting in PRIDE FC or in mixed martial arts in general, soon-after becoming heel and sparking his journey to superstardom with the WWF (which later rebranded as the WWE).

However, he has since been a part of MMA in one capacity or another - appearing with the UFC on multiple occasions. He would most famously present Jorge Masvidal with his BMF belt at UFC 244 in 2019 after 'Gamebred' stopped Nate Diaz in the third round due to a cut, but has also went on to release a collaboration with the promotion with his Project Rock footwear that fighters wear on their way to the cage.