John Cena, Dave Bautista, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, aka the holy trinity of wrestlers-turned-actors, managed to break through to mainstream pop culture by stomping a mudhole in the global box office. Meanwhile other wrestlers are working midcard roles on streaming and in theatres, but none of have reached the top rope quite like Cena, Batista and The Brahma Bull.
So that begs the question… how’d they do it? What’s so special about these three that they were able to get off the mat and become major draws? How did they get past the sports entertainment stigma to cash in in Hollywood? And maybe more importantly, what lessons can todays up and coming in-ring thespians learn from their careers?
Today we’re looking at 5 lessons that lead to megastardom for 3 of the film industries most over guys. Here is how pro wrestlers took over hollywood.
