Why is The Rock called The People's Champ?
A lot of wrestlers have nicknames, but do we know why The Rock is called The People's Champ?
What has he done specifically for The People?
Best Answer
Dwayne Johnson a.k.a. "The Rock" actually gave the name The Peoples Champion to himself with permission from Muhammad Ali.
The Rock has never actually done anything for the people.
The following article from USA Today explains how the nickname originated:
Former WWE champion The Rock, a defensive tackle on the national champion 1991 Miami Hurricanes and star of the upcoming movie Hercules, only follows one person on Twitter: Muhammad Ali. The Rock joined SportsCenter and Numbers Never Lie Tuesday and explained his special relationship with Ali, who The Rock says is his favorite athlete. Ali gave The Rock permission to call himself “The People’s Champion,” a moniker The Rock used in tribute to Ali.
When I was a rookie in the WWE, 1996, we were at a big function, and no one knew who I was. One of those things where I had my own nametag, ‘Hello, I am Rocky Maivia.’ Ali was sitting down, and I said ‘I’d love to go over and say hello to him,’ so I went over to him and introduced myself. As I was pulling away he kinda pulled me back in and he whispered ‘can you rumble?’
I said ‘yeah, I think I can…’
Cut to 1998, I started calling myself The People’s Champion in honor of him. When I was wrestling in Louisville, Kentucky, his family came to watch me wrestle, and I talked to his wife and said ‘please tell Muhammad it’s only out of respect that I call myself that. And I’ll stop it right now if he doesn’t like it.’
She said ‘oh no, he loves it. He wants you to call yourself that.’
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Why is The Rock called The Peoples Champ?
\u201cThe People's Champion is coming home to the PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS,\u201d Dwayne Johnson wrote in an Instagram post. \u201cThe title of PEOPLE'S CHAMP was given to me by the Greatest of All Time and one of my heroes, the original People's Champion himself ~ Muhammad Ali,\u201d he added.More answers regarding why is The Rock called The People's Champ?
Answer 2
When I was a rookie in the WWE, 1996, we were at a big function, and no one knew who I was. One of those things where I had my own nametag, ‘Hello, I am Rocky Maivia.’ Ali was sitting down, and I said ‘I’d love to go over and say hello to him,’ so I went over to him and introduced myself. As I was pulling away he kinda pulled me back in and he whispered ‘can you rumble?’I said ‘yeah, I think I can…’**Cut to 1998, **I started calling myself The People’s Champion in honor of him. When I was wrestling in Louisville, Kentucky, his family came to watch me wrestle, and I talked to his wife and said ‘please tell Muhammad it’s only out of respect that I call myself that. And I’ll stop it right now if he doesn’t like it
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