

There is no wrestler-turned-actor who has popped up in the media sphere better than Dwayne Johnson. The chokehold that The Rock has on Hollywood cannot be understated. While his recent movies haven’t performed well at the box office, Johnson knows how to make a great comeback from anything.
But when it comes to skill, both critics and fans think that Johnson may not be the best. With John Cena and Dave Bautista in the running, The Rock has tough competition in terms of being the best wrestler-turned-actor. Recently Johnson gave his opinion on the debate and his answer may surprise you. While he ruled himself out of the ring, he also left out Cena and Batista from the argument.
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Dwayne Johnson gives his two cents on the wrestler-turned-actor debate
As Dave Bautista’s latest feature film, Army of the Dead, dropped on Netflix last night, critic Brandon Katz tweeted about it. As a related side note, he asked his audience, how would they rank the three wrestler-turned-actors, Cena, Bautista, and Johnson.

USA Today via Reuters
NFL, American Football Herren, USA Buffalo Bills at Los Angeles Rams, Sep 8, 2022 Inglewood, California, USA American actor Dwayne Johnson attends the game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports, 08.09.2022 15:22:18, 19005585, Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills, NPStrans, NFL, TopPic, Dwayne Johnson PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xKirbyxLeex 19005585
To this, Johnson commented that all three including him are “bums“, instead he gave a list of Golden Era wrestlers who had an acting career way before any of them. Including names like Roddy Piper and Terry Funk, Johnson got a laugh from Katz as well. While undermining themselves is unprecedented for an actor, Johnson is not like your normal star.
These three wrestlers are bums ☝🏾😂
Best wrestler actors/
Terry Funk
Dick Slater
Roddy Piper
Grandpa Maivia (You Only Live Twice layin’ the Smackdown on 007;)
And Harold Sakata in Goldfinger (007) was a MFer!!
(these references are a results of being born in the business😂)— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 26, 2021
Having topped the highest-paid actor list for two years in a row, in 2019 and 2020, Johnson could easily use his box office success, to lay claim to being the top wrestler-turned-actor but he didn’t. But this will not stop the discourse on the internet about the debate surrounding the three stars.
Fans’ perspective on the wrestler-turned-actor debate
When Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 came out, people had a lot of great things to say about Bautista’s performance. But this also led to a discourse about where he ranks when it comes to the ex-WWE stars who transitioned into actors.
While most said that Bautista or Cena were the better actor, in terms of skill and range, many agreed that Johnson was behind these two.
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Their biggest complaint was that DJ acted the same way in various movies. Bautista has worked in many different genres and Cena has proved that his comedic timing can shine in movies as well.
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WATCH THIS STORY: 50 Years of The Rock: Dwayne Johnson’s Greatest Achievements in WWE
Tell us what you think about Johnson’s response to this wrestler-turned-actor debate in the comments below.
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