The Rock thought about leaving WWE in the late 1990s, says former Intercontinental Champion

The Rock considered leaving WWE around 1997 and transitioning to a different profession. Ken Shamrock confirmed that The Great One once contemplated joining mixed martial arts and fighting for Pride FC in Japan.

During his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience last year, Rock revealed that he thought about abandoning his wrestling career and giving MMA a shot. The pay was not great in wrestling and his body was taking a lot of punishment. He looked into Pride FC before deciding to continue his wrestling career.

Some fans claimed that The Rock was lying about transitioning from pro wrestling to MMA. However, Shamrock confirmed that The Final Boss consulted him about the sport and his chances of succeeding there. In an interview with Dj Vlad, he said:

"He's the one that actually asked me about it... I think it was more closer to a million. I mean, yeah there was good money. I think if The Rock was going to leave pro wrestling, it was for that," Shamrock said. [From 01:18 to 01:43]

Check out the video below:

Ken Shamrock added that The Rock could have done MMA although he's unsure if he would have succeeded. The former Intercontinental Champion just knows that The People's Champion would have put all the effort in the world to go along with his God-given athletic abilities to make it work.

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What did The Rock say about almost leaving WWE for MMA?

The Rock was a surprise guest on The Joe Rogan Experience last November. One of the topics he discussed was Mixed Martial Arts and how he thought about making the leap early in his WWE career in 1997. He even consulted MMA legends Ken Shamrock and Mark Kerr.

"I start talking to Ken Shamrock at that time, who was wrestling with us, I run into Mark Kerr, I start talking to him. 'Tell me a little bit about Pride' and I had this idea in my head, maybe I should train in MMA and go to Pride and make money, real money. Then I don't have to smile. I'm sure I'm going to get f***ed up over there, knock one of my lungs loose, but maybe I can do something," Rock said. [H/T: MMA Fighting]

The Final Boss is a huge fan of MMA and even presented the BMF Championship at UFC 244 back in 2019. He's also set to play Mark Kerr in a biopic titled 'The Smashing Machine' to be released next year by A24 Films.

If you use any quotes from the first half of this article, please credit DJ Vlad and give Sportskeeda Wrestling a H/T for the transcription.