Actor and former wrestling star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made it clear he’s impressed with the support that former President Donald Trump has among UFC fans.
Johnson and World Wrestling Entertainment President Nick Khan joined Fox News last week at the New York Stock Exchange.
The action star talked about his elevation to the board of TKO Group Holdings, a sports and entertainment media company that owns, broadcasts and promotes both UFC and WWE following their merger in September.
After the announcement that Johnson was joining the board, rumors swirled that he would get back in the WWE ring for the first time since his appearance at Wrestlemania 32 in 2016.
“It’s a very big moment for me personally, big moment for my family, big moment for us, I think, for Nick and I as partners with TKO too as well,” he said to Fox News host Will Cain. “It was a big announcement joining the board and some of the other things showcasing the power of what that could be, especially in the business that I love and that I know that Nick loves in this world of WWE and professional wrestling.”
The actor also spoke about how he is always on the hunt for bigger and better and is never satisfied.
“We talked about this idea that you never arrive, and I think a lot of us are wired in that way, whether it’s really vocal or internal. But this idea that, I don’t know if I’m really satisfied, you’ve reached the North Star, you finally get there and you think, ‘Hey, I’m on top of the mountain, this is great — I think there’s more mountain.’ And you look around and you think there’s more to do,” he said.
Johnson also seemed warmer toward Trump than he has in the recent past when he noted the GOP front-runner in this year’s presidential race gets raucous support from UFC fans.
Massive crowd at UFC Miami chants “U-S-A” after Trump greets crowd 🇺🇸
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 9, 2023
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Cain asked Khan about the former president’s popularity with fight fans and his involvement with pro wrestling.
“Donald Trump, he has a long history with WWE,” the host said. “What does it mean that both the WWE audience and the UFC audience seem to have such an appreciation or celebration of Donald Trump?”
In a non-reply to Cain’s question, Khan said the WWE has sellout crowds in both red and blue states and isn’t “focused” on politics.
“If politicians are fans of our product, they’re welcome,” he said, sidestepping the issue entirely.
But The Rock did not just let the question of Trump’s popularity with the fans go unaddressed.
He enthusiastically chimed in to note that the crowd goes wild when Trump attends an event.
“How about that ovation he gets when he comes out?” Johnson said with a grin on his face.
This is the same Dwayne Johnson who gave a full-throated endorsement to Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris during the 2020 presidential election.
Since then, he has tried to shift back toward the political center.
In a recent interview with podcast king Joe Rogan, for instance, Johnson positioned himself as a friend to both liberals and conservatives and told Rogan that he has “friends” in both camps.
