For somebody that’s become so accustomed to nothing but success for such a sustained period of time, the hits have been coming in alarming succession for Dwayne Johnson recently.
Last year saw the actor and producer try to launch two DC franchises at around the same time, only for League of Super-Pets and Black Adam to disappoint at the box office and be kicked to the curb by James Gunn when he rose to power. In addition, his semi-autobiographical sitcom Young Rock was axed after three seasons by NBC, which had to hurt.
On top of that, he ended up being widely-ridiculed for reneging on his vow never to return to Fast & Furious after previously being so adamant that his days as part of the franchise were numbered, before it was revealed his reinvigorated XFL had posted a $60 million loss, despite being the first of the three iterations to be granted a second season.
However, The Rock will not take unfounded slander lying down, after making a point of responding to a Twitter user peddling the belief that the XFL doesn’t have a television rights deal in place, which would have been borderline disastrous.
Like Johnson says, as long as the XFL exists it stands to air on ESPN given the company’s investment in the company, but whether or not its return will be the first of many remains to be seen, even if the A-lister has been holding mammoth boardroom meetings to try and iron out the kinks.