Was tired of trying to be something I wasn't: Johnson on dropping 'The Rock' nickname

Los Angeles: Dwayne Johnson has revealed that after reaching the heights of fame as WWE wrestler "The Rock", he was asked to drop the nickname. According to Entertainment Weekly, Johnson made the revelations on Jamie Foxx's digital series "Off Script".

The 46-year-old actor said that he was pressurized to drop his wrestling persona to further his acting career. "I was told at that time, 'Listen, you can't talk about wrestling. You can't go by 'The Rock'. You can't be as big,'" Johnson said.

Johnson said he did not like the forced personality change and "was tired of trying to be something I wasn't". 

Johnson's attachment to his fans also motivated him to reinstate the name. 

"It's the most important relationship I have," the "San Andreas" star said.

"So finally I reached a point where I said, 'Alright, two things have to happen: I'm gonna surround myself with a different group of people, different management, and then I'm gonna make sure that I just gotta be me. If you wanna call me 'Rock', you call me 'Rock'," he added.