WWE legend The Rock officially retires from wrestling

Before he grew into the biggest movie star in all of Hollywood, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was among the most influential, beloved and admired figures in all of sports entertainment.

Ever since he left WWE to work in Hollywood 15 years ago, The Rock has found a bit of time to come back to the squared circle. But those days are long over because The People’s Champion has decided it’s time to hang up the wrestling boots.

During a TV appearance, Live with Kelly and Ryan (h/t WrestlingInc.com), The Rock revealed that he recently decided to retire from wrestling altogether – when asked if he misses the business and if he wishes he could balance it with acting.

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Cool piece of history – on this day back in 2002. An epic @wwe match. It was just my turn to carry the “brass ring” on this night. Our roster was so deep back then with big box office drawing$ talent we all took turns at being the #1 guy in the company. Plus we only had one WWE Title so that created a relentless hunger with all of us. It was a very cool, unique & special time in pro wrestling. Thanks to the best play by play team of all time – Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler. Thanks to @RealKurtAngle & the legendary Undertaker for the dance. Most of all – thank you to the audience – the ones in the seats – for the electricity and energy – and for continuing to rock with me down this wild and unpredictable road of life. Cheers ???? #grateful #peopleschamp #undisputedchamp

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Jul 21, 2019 at 10:10am PDT

“I miss wrestling, I love wrestling,” The Rock said. “Yes, I do…I quietly retired from wrestling because I was lucky enough to have just a really wonderful career and accomplish what I wanted to accomplish, but there’s nothing like a live crowd, a live audience, a live microphone as you both know.”

Here is the interview clip:

This might come as a surprise to many wrestling fans since The Rock has made a handful of WWE appearances in recent years. The Rock’s last real bout took place six years ago. That was at WrestleMania 29, where he lost to John Cena in a WWE Championship match.

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That’s a @hobbsandshaw LA press day wrap and now boarding the bird. Thanks to everyone (my teams, Universal, press friends etc) for your efforts in making today a success. East coast bound and keep on keeping on. Tequila on ice awaits. Thank God I need a drink ???????? #wheelsup #silvereagle @hhgarcia41 ????

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Jul 17, 2019 at 2:48am PDT

It is also being speculated that WWE is attempting to get The Rock to appear on the first Fox episode of SmackDown Live on October 4.