The Rock revealed recently that his character’s new “Final Boss” version was surprisingly inspired by, arguably, the greatest sci-fi film villain of all time.
Even before The Rock returned to WWE as a new member of the TKO Group Holdings board and for WrestleMania 40, his place in the industry was set. While his run in the company was not as long as other legends, he made as big an impact as any performer ever has in his limited time.
That is what makes his recent evolution into “The Final Boss” so fascinating. He could have kept “playing the hits” of his character and stood true to what so many fans loved, but he listened to those unhappy with him taking Cody Rhodes’ spot at WrestleMania 40 and used it to fuel one of his most entertaining runs in what has been an iconic career.
While “The Final Boss” is similar in ways to his heel persona from the late 1990s and “Hollywood Rock” in the early 2000s, there are certain differences that make this third run as a bad guy unique. And during an interview ahead of last month’s mega-event an interesting tidbit of information got lost in the shuffle on his inspiration for this new version of his character.
The Rock says Darth Vader was the inspiration for his “The Final Boss’ persona
During a conversation with Will Cain, the FOX News reporter talked about how some fans like the bad guys in movies, and that Darth Vader is a more popular character than Luke Skywalker with many long-time Star Wars fans. “It’s funny that you bring that up, Darth Vader, that’s the spirit of ‘The Final Boss,'” The Rock then revealed.
“It’s good to be considered the Babe Ruth of professional wrestling. The good guy, the baby face, the hero who comes in and saves the day but when you think about authenticity, I woke up [in Hawaii] and I went, ‘What if I became a bad guy and I was able to be freeier, and visceral and say the s--- that everyone wants to say but they can’t say?'”
The rest is all WWE 2024 history and wrestling fans were the big winners this year for it.
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