WWE news: Shawn Michaels bullied Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

Bitter rivals reportedly tried to “break” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson when he entered the WWE because they wanted him to quit.

Wrestling icon Chris Jericho has backed up claims that Shawn Michaels used to bully Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the WWE.

Bret Hart said Michaels and Triple H (real name Paul Michael Levesque) both used to give Johnson a hard time during his breakthrough days in the wrestling business, The Sun reports.

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Hart even went as far to claim that the DX duo wanted Johnson gone from Vince McMahon’s promotion’s altogether.

WWE icon Hart recalled a particular incident where Michaels grilled Johnson after he performed a diving dropkick, claiming the move was his. Michaels reportedly blasted Johnson for using the move, saying it took the shine away from other performers who used it.

“A lot of the wrestlers would give him (Johnson) a hard time in those days, a really hard time, enough to try to break him and get him to quit and they almost succeeded,” Hart said on his Confessions of the Hitman podcast.

“The Rock was kind of a marked guy.

“I remember Shawn Michaels coming into the dressing room and dressing down poor Dwayne. Shawn came in and just dressed him down and he chewed him out (over his use of the diving dropkick).

“He slammed the door and he walked out. The Rock was (deflated) because in those days, Shawn had a lot of weight. He was a pretty important guy for the company, a veteran guy kind of dressing him down like that, he (Johnson) was apologising and said he didn’t know, and he thought it would be OK.

“I remember the door closed after Shawn left and I said, ‘That’s bulls***. That’s total bulls***’. I said, ‘Nobody owns the dropkick off the top’.”

Bullying didn’t stop The Rock from turning himself into a wrestling and Hollywood megastar.

Shawn Michaels didn’t want anyone stepping on his turf.

That alleged incident led to Hart taking Johnson under his wing and looking out for the youngster — who would go on to become one of the WWE’s biggest ever stars and Hollywood’s highest-paid actor.

Fellow WWE icon Jericho has backed up suggestions Johnson was bullied. He claimed to have heard about incidents from the past and Johnson and Michaels’ rivalry could have existed before they even worked together in the WWE.

Jericho told Sportskeeda: “As far as I know, (Hart’s comments are) true, from what The Rock told me.

“That’s the reason why The Rock and Shawn Michaels never worked a match.

“I think Shawn might have insulted The Rock when he was a kid, in Hawaii.”

As Jericho pointed out, Michaels and Rock never worked a match in the WWE despite being two of the biggest names to ever compete in the promotion.

This article first appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission