The Rock was promoting his hit HBO show ‘Ballers’ at the Television Critics Association summer press tour when he was asked about the current drama with Hulk Hogan who lost his WWE contract after a racial rant. The Rock gave an open and honest response that is very Rock-like.
Via Deadline,
“I was pretty disappointed with what I heard. I’ve known Terry for years,” Johnson said via satellite. “My dad help trained him in Florida in the 1970s, and even my uncle. I come from a long line of professional wrestlers. I didn’t know (Bollea) to be a racist. It’s one of those things where it’s not definite in terms of what he said. We’ve all talked trash. He said what he said, and he’s paying the price.”
The Rock seems like the type of guy that wouldn’t come out and take a strong stance against Hogan without the full story. Yes, we have a lot of quotes from the tapes but it’s hard to judge people simply from reading words on a page, so I understand his hesitation to condemn Hogan’s actions by The Rock. I am sure The Rock also understands the mind set of wrestlers and old school wrestlers at that so he may be more understanding than the regular person. I applaud The Rock for taking the high road.