WWE Hall of Famer Tony Atlas recently disclosed details on how Rocky Johnson did not educate The Rock about the realities of the wrestling business.
In 1983, Atlas and Rocky Johnson won the WWE Tag Team Championship to become the first black champions in the company's history. Johnson's son Dwayne, aka The Rock, later went on to become one of wrestling's biggest stars.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling Senior Editor Bill Apter, Atlas said Rocky Johnson did not want his son to know wrestling was scripted:
"No, he wasn't," Atlas replied when asked if The Rock was "smart to the business" as a child. "I think he didn't get smart to the business until he actually got in it. Kayfabe wasn't just for the fans, it was for family too. I was married to women that I never smartened up (…) We didn't know how long we were gonna be with this woman, so we didn't want this woman to get p****d off and go and expose the business and destroy our money." [4:20 – 4:52]
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Watch the video above to hear Atlas explain why so many people used to think Rocky Johnson's famous son was a girl.
Tony Atlas on his relationship with The Rock
In the 1980s, The Rock often attended WWE events to watch The Soul Patrol (Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas) wrestle.
Atlas has nothing but good things to say about the way the Hollywood star behaved as a child:
"He would just laugh and joke and have fun, like you do with most kids. We tried to keep ourselves decent around kids, so there's not a lot of experience about him because Rocky would do something with him and then we'd just leave the room if Rocky would get mad or something, and then we didn't talk about it. That's just how the business was back then." [3:50 – 4:18]
Atlas also spoke about an impressive talent that steered him away from alcohol and drugs after his full-time wrestling career ended.
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