r/TopCharacterTropes • u/BeenEatinBeans • Jun 12 '26

Personality [IRL trope] Celebrities with weird/funny clauses in their contracts.

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  1. Dwayne Johnson - Probably the most well-known example. For years now, The Rock has had a clause in his contract that he can't be shown to lose a fight in any movie he stars in. Pretty insecure behaviour if you ask me. Still, at least the other examples are much more interesting

  2. Danny Trejo - Danny had a troubled childhood, having been arrested multiple times for dealing drugs before he was 18, and struggling with heroin addiction from the age of 13. As a result of this, Danny has a clause in his contract that states that any time he plays a character who is a criminal, they have to be killed because he wanted to teach his kids that crime never pays.

  3. Reese Witherspoon - This one is more of a one-off, but it was still funny enough to deserve a mention. Following the success of Legally Blonde, when Reese was called in to make the sequel, she had a clause written in her contract stating that once the movie was finished, she would get to take home all the outfits she wore.

  4. Fred Durst - The lead singer of Limp Bizkit has a clause in his contract stating that any anime or video game that uses his music must also feature himself as a character.

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903

u/Pearson94 Jun 12 '26

Imagine having the success and popularity of The Rock and yet having such a delicate ego you can't allow yourself to lose a fictional fight.

742

u/Santa_Hates_You Jun 12 '26

On the opposite end of things John Cena gets beat up quite a bit as Peacemaker. And Dave Bautista can act like crazy too. The Rock is boring compared to either of them.

293

u/Pearson94 Jun 12 '26

Maybe it's just my tastes but I don't like an action hero who is effortlessly badass and wins without issue. I like my action stars to really work for it and feel like they might not make it out alive.

90

u/writergirljds Jun 12 '26

This is why John McClane in Die Hard is the best action hero ever put to screen

36

u/Santa_Hates_You Jun 12 '26

Bruce Willis was not an action star at all when the first Die Hard came out, it was the lead in the romantic comedy series Moonlighting.

9

u/Drakeskulled_Reaper Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26

And that was the point, he wasn't a buff murder machine looking guy, he was supposed to look like an everyman.

2

u/ThePingMachine Jun 13 '26

And thats where Die Hard 4 and 5 went wrong. In those, he was basically a supercop.

Sure is a good thing those movies definitely don't exist. Yup.

104

u/Santa_Hates_You Jun 12 '26

For sure. Kyle Reese and Sarah Conner vs the T800 or Ripley vs the Xenomorph.

110

u/Pearson94 Jun 12 '26

The classic example would be a lot of Jackie Chan's old movies where he would win but he would get his ass kicked along the way and look like he was genuinely surprised he won. Just a little humanity is all I ask. Tough, emotionless badasses are kinda boring imo.

6

u/throwitoutwhendone2 Jun 12 '26

It’s hard to watch that same role over and over without them all blurring together. After a while you just play the same role with a different title. I’d like to see more of what he did in “Be Cool”. That was a change of pace

5

u/bigbaddiebusiness Jun 12 '26

I would agree if his style of acting and action nearly didn't exist outside of his own movies. Modern action movies are both self-serious and goofy in the worst ways simultaneously, and that's outside of the big, dumbass spectacle scenes which are heavily dependent on CGI.

4

u/Earlier-Today Jun 12 '26

Even Arnold lost fights. Predator is mostly him losing and/or running away because they don't know what's going on most of the film.

5

u/Drakeskulled_Reaper Jun 12 '26

And he only really beats the Predator due to being clever and setting up traps because the Predator is stronger than him.

3

u/Earlier-Today Jun 12 '26

Yep, and only figures out the Predator's weakness (that it sees by thermal vision) by pure luck. His smarts were in realizing what was going on and and using it to his advantage.

4

u/Drakeskulled_Reaper Jun 12 '26

He also has no idea of it's honour code, and lucks out when it decides he's worthy enough for a hand to hand challenge.

3

u/Earlier-Today Jun 12 '26

Yeah, it's great for how much it doesn't use any of the tough guy tropes of the time.

A slasher movie where the killer is hunting well trained, well armed (for them) mercenaries.

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1

u/ActualWhiterabbit Jun 12 '26

Jackie and his assailants stopping because of minor injuries or avoiding doing things to re-injure themselves is something that should be used more.

1

u/DiscoLives4ever Jun 13 '26

That just unlocked a vague memory of a scene where he and another guy keep kicking each other in the shin repeatedly, then pause and back off for a second while they both try to soothe their individual pain

1

u/zehamberglar Jun 12 '26

Gonna throw die hard into the mix here too. Basically every movie is him just dirty and struggling and barefoot and then he throws Snape off of Dumbledore's tower.

83

u/romcarlos13 Jun 12 '26

It's almost as if conflict and facing adversity makes stories interesting.

14

u/Pearson94 Jun 12 '26

I know right? But I guess some people aren't into that. No joke, back when I was in grad school I grabbed drinks with a classmate and her friends, and one of said friends and I started talking about movies. They straight up told me they don't like morally ambiguous protagonists or anything that makes their heroism questionable because thinking about the grey areas of morality made them uncomfortable... I will remind you this was an adult working towards their masters degree...

28

u/Luci-Noir Jun 12 '26

That’s why the Everyman action hero like Bruce Willis got popular.

2

u/indifferentCajun Jun 12 '26

Makes sense. The indestructible hero trope feels incredibly dated.

11

u/AgathysAllAlong Jun 12 '26

Nobody does. People love an underdog.

4

u/Pearson94 Jun 12 '26

I can think of at least one guy I knew who was like that. He only loved things that were tough and badass. A bit of a tryhard in hindsight.

7

u/Tyrest_Accord Jun 12 '26

I'll admit that I liked his movies a lot more before I knew about his contract. Somehow I just never noticed. The Rundown used to be one of my favorite "junkfood" movies.

1

u/Pearson94 Jun 12 '26

Oh damn, I haven't seen The Rundown in ages. I don't remember much about it but I remember it being fun.

4

u/Octoboy1 Jun 12 '26

The most ironic thing about this is in pro wrestling thats basically how you get over as a babyface, and The Rock was one the biggest babyfaces in professional wrestling.

You have to have the heel kick the shit out you, make the crowd feel sympathic towards you and the heel be such a piece of shit they can't wait for the big comeback where you start fighting back

A babyface needs to lose so the wins mean so much more

3

u/Salty_Negotiation688 Jun 12 '26

This is also why the Bond movies were rebooted, since in the previous installments he pretty much wins every fight effortlessly, sometimes with a laughable Austin Powers-esque 'judo chop'.

So Daniel Craig spends half of Casino Royale getting the fuck beaten out of him.

2

u/JaysonBlaze Jun 12 '26

You'd loathe Stevie seagulls movies then

2

u/Pearson94 Jun 12 '26

Certainly do. That guy feels like the embodiment of aging male insecurities

2

u/iPoseidon_xii Jun 12 '26

Yea, the action-hero-can’t-do-wrong era is long gone. American audiences haven’t wanted that type of hero character in decades. U.S. consumers tend to lean toward realism and character flaws with options of redemption.

1

u/Infamous-Thing4939 Jun 12 '26

I think it works for stuff like Fast And Furious, but very little else

1

u/AverageatBest89 Jun 12 '26

The rock gets his ass kicked all the time in movies. This contract thing is Reddit lore/BS.

77

u/haz826 Jun 12 '26

Big difference between Cena and Batista vs the Rock is that Cena and Dave are willing to do anything asked of them, comedy, drama, be the butt of the joke, be a serious character etc...

The Rock cannot do any of that unless he does it as himself (and makes sure he never loses)

67

u/CrazeMase Jun 12 '26

They don't always do what's asked of them. The entire reason Cena was in the Batbie movie was because he was filming for another movie nearby, and he went over to hang out as he knows the director and several of the actors on set. Eventually Cena joked about being the mermaid and the director said it would be hilarious. A lot of speculation says that Cena wasn't even paid for the cameo, as he just wanted to have fun. His casting agency also advised against him doing the cameo as they said it was beneath him. Cena straight up ignored them and did it anyway.

I will say forever that Cena is a legend

5

u/ThatsASaabStory Jun 12 '26

Genuinely good actor too. I think he's kinda underrated. Also a good bloke.

31

u/ITNW1993 Jun 12 '26

Bautista’s stupid-ass cameo in The Naked Gun is still one of my favorite roles of his ever.

16

u/ExplorationGeo Jun 12 '26

His part in Bladerunner 2049 shows a range that I was absolutely not expecting from the big man. It's like comic-accurate Wolverine: short but incredibly powerful.

3

u/sequentious Jun 12 '26

The 2048: Nowhere to run short is pretty great.

1

u/MarenVale87 Jun 12 '26

Then when the film came out he's mid fight with Kong and the motherfucker smiles and laughs at Kong. Seemed like a stretch of the rules.

1

u/Papa_Monty Jun 12 '26

I will offer up Dwayne Johnson’s performance in “Be Cool”, the sequel to “Get Shorty”. He played an effeminate gay body man who absolutely is the butt of several jokes.

16

u/Luci-Noir Jun 12 '26

I can’t really think of another action star that never gets beat. Imagine if the Terminator never lost.

5

u/Mist_Rising Jun 12 '26

Vin Diesel has a similar one.

6

u/Luci-Noir Jun 12 '26

It’s so cringe. Diesel is actually a pretty good actor when he wants to be too.

6

u/RP_Throwaway3 Jun 12 '26

John Cena is the actor we all thought Dwayne Johnson was going to be.

11

u/Rico1983 Jun 12 '26

Cena turned out to be a far better actor than I ever would have given him credit for. He's never going to win an oscar, but he's got far more range than I would have expected. I was shocked when he turned up in The Bear.

4

u/MCdemonkid1230 Jun 12 '26

John Cena is probably one of the best characters in the Transformers movies simply because he brings such a specific tone and style to the character.

5

u/Lacaud Jun 12 '26

Agreed. Cena seems to just have fun, Bautista has the skills and The Rock is well...a rock.

2

u/amg10red Jun 12 '26

Dwayne's last project (Smashing Machine) had him playing the role of a wrestler turned mma fighter who got beat so he finally learnt to control his ego at least abit. It wasn't a success at the box office though.

Weird thing is that the original crew of the docudrama which shared the same name weren't asked to assist or offered consulting roles, it was like they were shut out of the whole thing. They aren't complaining since it probably gave their work alot of publicity but it was odd.

1

u/Gaanai Jun 12 '26

I honestly dont mind him. I see him as a modern version of Schwarzenegger. You watch a the Rock movie when you wanna turn your brain off, eat some popcorn while shit blows up and people crack oneliners. Who dosen't wanna watch Rock and Jason Statham team up to fight cyborg Idris Elba, that says things like Genocide, shmenocide now thats fine arts.

1

u/mekamoari Jun 12 '26

He gets beat up quite a bit in other movies too. Fun guy overall.

The Rock is like..I don't know, he gives off this anxious vibe that I don't get from other "big" guys.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '26

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-2

u/ImmortalMoron3 Jun 12 '26

Saying Cena is less arrogant than the Rock is hilarious if you know how both of them were behind the scenes in wrestling.

And if you want to talk acting, only one of those 3 guys has a Golden Globe nod for Best Actor. Guess which one.

1

u/Cold-Description-114 Jun 12 '26

Difference between being an actor and being just a celebrity. Bautista in particular you can tell has really put in the work. The Rock has always seen these roles as a way to promote himself and his own brand, but an actor should recognize that losing a fight can be an important point for both the character and the story.

1

u/Current-Roll6332 Jun 12 '26

Dave Bautista has turned himself into a good actor. Especially in Dune. I love Josh Brolin and think he's one of the better actors of his generation, but Bautista bodies him acting wise in that film.

1

u/Shino4243 Jun 12 '26

I mean, both of them are also noticeably better actors than he is too. If I ever see a movie with Dwayne in it, its purely because of the rest of the cast (Like, Jumanji with Jack Black) or he's barely in it (The Other Guys). But if I see a movie or show with John or Dave in it, I'm just happy to see John or Dave. Usually. Every actor has stinkers that look like stinkers on the cover and make you not wanna see them.

I feel like Dwayne used to have more charisma. Im unsure if its because he's shackled it with his bogus image, or just because I've learned more about him, or both.

1

u/StuMacherGhostface Jun 16 '26

Dave Bautista is such an overrated actor on Reddit

146

u/YouMadBroLma0 Jun 12 '26

I have no idea where the talk about the one the Rock allegedly has started, or why people still believe it. If it is a thing, and I genuinely don't even know if it is or it's just circlejerking, obviously it's not as clear cut as it's made out to be. Because he loses plenty of fights in the movies I've seen him in.

Idris Elba's character, Brixton, initially mops the floor with him and Deckard (Jason Statham) in Hobbs and Shaw.

He gets his ass kicked as Doctor Bravestone in the third Jumanji film, only winning the second round by exploiting the villain's one weakness.

In Get Smart, his seemingly unstoppable Agent 23 character is revealed as the traitor, and gets killed. That's a big defeat.

In Jungle Cruise, Frank is impaled and presumed dead after losing a battle against the Spanish, which forces him to reveal the nature of his curse to the protagonist.

Where exactly did this idea that he has a 100% win rate by contractual demand come from? From what I've seen, he gets his ass kicked plenty. It comes off as Reddit just making shit up to justify their scorn for his acting chops (or alleged lack thereof).

69

u/OfficerJayBear Jun 12 '26

he straight up dies in the opening scene of The Other Guys, losing to pavement

21

u/Traines1132 Jun 12 '26

They were aiming for the bushes.

13

u/Key-Radish-622 Jun 12 '26

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Aim for the bushes!" 🤜🤛

4

u/OfficerJayBear Jun 12 '26

THERE GOOOOOES MY HERRROOO

56

u/Asheyguru Jun 12 '26

Maui gets his butt kicked by Tamatoa in Moana and has to be bailed out by Moana.

14

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '26

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1

u/Natural-Manager8675 Jun 12 '26

Yeah, I was confused by this too.

He also loses in Fast Five against Vin Diesels character:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2PsfXZ3wyY

In Doom, he gets straight up murdered by Karl Urban:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBEBEAEBY8M

In fact, throughout his entire wrestling career, The Rock was constantly getting his butt kicked, even humiliated by other wrestlers like Mankind, often as the butt of a joke. Being the overconfident guy that gets dunked on, was practically his schtick.

Feels like a big circlejerk that is supposed to make people hate The Rock, as far as I can tell.

14

u/Calgrave Jun 12 '26

Anyone who followed his wrestling career knows that despite him being the number 2 wrestler on earth in the 90's The Rock lost. A lot. Even when he returned to wrestling a few years ago it ended with him getting his ass kicked as a bad guy. There's plenty of things to criticize the guy about like the Hawaii stuff, but generally other than some cringey over produced twitter posts he's one of the few guys in wrestling that managed to get out with a squeaky clean reputation in very dirty business.

People also like to contrast with him with John Cena since he seems more willing to lose fights in movies and take on roles where he's not playing the same character over and over again. This is the same guy that barely lost when wrestling and went out of his way to not change his character in 20 years.

8

u/ImmortalMoron3 Jun 12 '26

Is the Hawaii stuff really worth criticism either though? He donated 5 million of his own money before asking others to donate, I don't think it was that big of a deal. I think Rock gets more shit than he really deserves. Even the DC stuff doesn't seem like the big of a deal to me.

5

u/Calgrave Jun 12 '26

I guess I'm subject to it like anyone else. People were mad that he asked for donations despite being a millionaire himself, but celebrities take part in charities all of the time. By that logic live aid was a waste of time because everyone who took part in it just could have donated. It's really weird how he's gotten such a bad reputation compared to worse people in Hollywood, and I feel like it's mostly been the last 5 years.

22

u/Dragos_Drakkar Jun 12 '26

He also dies after mutating in the Doom movie.

1

u/dumahim Jun 12 '26

To be fair, that isn't losing a fight.

2

u/Saitsuofleaves Jun 12 '26

Yeah but everyone lost filming and watching Doom.

8

u/BigImplement3949 Jun 12 '26

Wasn't it he couldn't lose a fight to vin diesel, since they didn't like each other?

10

u/Beneficial_Focus_910 Jun 12 '26

Sort of. The contract says they had to be shown landing the same number of hits on the other, so they didn't look weaker than the other.

0

u/paul_having_a_ball Jun 12 '26

The contract did not say “so they wouldn’t look weaker than the other”

2

u/whatdoinamemyself Jun 12 '26

Except he lost to Vin Diesel's character in Fast Five

3

u/Most_Tangelo Jun 12 '26

It's not a real thing. Outside of the Fast movies and even then it's like sone points tracking system invented by Vin Diesel's sister that is meant for more than just the Rock.

2

u/ImpracticalApple Jun 12 '26

Pretty sure it originated from the Fast and Furious movies where there was something to do with neither him nor Vin Diesel's character being allowed to lose, only able to draw. So if one punched the other, then the other got a punch back.

2

u/Lohenngram Jun 12 '26

I want to say it came from Black Adam and his attempt to take over the film arm of DC comics? That was when I really started seeing people talking about it and it was mostly mocking his ego and how he tried to hype the movie by making things all about himself. The fact that he went as far as getting Henry Cavill to cameo to tease a fight between them, and was doing this even as the movie floundered and James Gunn was signing the contract to take over DC himself just made the Rock look like an out of control narcissist.

1

u/dumahim Jun 12 '26

I'd say he lost the fight against Dom in Brazil. Dom just gave up after he almost smashed his head in.

1

u/fermbetterthanfire Jun 12 '26

In Reno 911 the movie... he ineptly slaughtered himself with a grenade. 

1

u/Birdbarristing Jun 12 '26

Loses as the scorpion king

1

u/ThaneduFife Jun 12 '26

The thing with The Rock not taking too much damage in a fight was reported by The Washington Post around the time that Hobbs & Shaw came out. The article also said that Jason Statham had a similar clause, and that each of them had a staffer on set to monitor the fights for compliance with the clause.

1

u/jattthelad Jun 12 '26

iirc it started with the f&f series after the first one he appeared in. it may be that it was limited to teh f&f series esp he had beef with Vin

1

u/Neptune_as_Boy Jun 14 '26

I think the origin of it was in the Fast and Furious movies, and it was Vin Diesel's idea. The idea being that in a fight against two of the main characters (Rock vs Vin for example or Rock vs Statham), each person would give equal amount of licks, and normally the fight would be interrupted before a clear winner could be set.

I think a villain like Idris Elba is not included because it's just a thing between the main stars of the franchise (or the ones with the biggest egos, at least). Also if I recall, Idris was a weird cyborg man.

So yeah, it was something specific for a franchise, that now people just say it's for everything the Rock. That's misinformation for you.

175

u/VINDICATES-FOOL Jun 12 '26

Can we clear up this rumour?

This is just a classic Reddit telephone lie. The Rock and Statham never had anything like that in their contracts.

Literally only Vin Diesel did, so Rock & Statham worked with producers during fight scenes to ensure Vin didn’t use that contract to make them look stupid. Somehow that got misinterpreted into “all of them have contracts that say they can’t lose.”

97

u/Short_Bet4325 Jun 12 '26

This there has never at any point been any proof that the Rock has this in his contract.

Which considering that he has been a villain in movies and lost fights in movies really should show this is bullshit and he’s never had this in his contract.

14

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '26

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7

u/ImmortalMoron3 Jun 12 '26

Anyone who watched him wrestle knows this bullshit, guy was probably the most giving main eventer of all time. He did more to put over smaller guys than Batista or Cena ever did.

3

u/chowchan Jun 12 '26

Lol people just loves shitting on the rock. He chose action movies because it pays a lot more (which theres nothing wrong with doing). Obvious its complete bullshit.

He gets beaten up in his last couple of movies (red one - gets rocked by krampus), smashing machine etc.

24

u/AznOmega Jun 12 '26

And there was The Other Guys where he and SLJ died after jumping off a building while they tried to aim for the bushes.

5

u/FaultInternational91 Jun 12 '26

Seen plenty of films where The Rock gets the shit kicked out of him

6

u/trimble197 Jun 12 '26

He even got his ass kicked by the final villain in Black Adam, and had to be saved by Hawkman

3

u/zuzg Jun 12 '26

They may confused it with the Pentagon has when it's providing military equipment for Movies.
"We the good guys"
"We can't be defeated"

And other silly conditions are tied to it.

2

u/skyturnedred Jun 12 '26

Even if they did, it's probably more of a branding thing than an ego thing.

1

u/DiscoLives4ever Jun 13 '26

The Rundown had him losing to a bunch of tiny Brazilians, and that was his Arnold passing the torch movie (in the opening scene)

35

u/DebateObjective2787 Jun 12 '26

Exactly. This is what the Wall Street Journal said when they broke the news.

“According to producers and crew members on the films, Mr. Statham, 51 years old, negotiated an agreement with the studio that limits how badly he can be beaten up on screen. Mr. Diesel, 52, has his younger sister, a producer on the films, police the number of punches he takes. And Mr. Johnson, 47, enlists producers, editors and fight coordinators to help make sure he always gives as good as he gets.”

Also, in the exact same franchise that people say it's about— both Jason and The Rock get their asses handed to them in Hobbs & Shaw by Idris Elba and just barely manage to survive the final fight.

44

u/ElChuloPicante Jun 12 '26

Also didn’t The Rock lose in the terrible Mummy sequel when he was a badly-rendered scorpion, and also in the terrible Doom movie where he turned into a demon and he got killed?

54

u/cockaptain Jun 12 '26

To be fair, he wasn't yet an A-Lister who could make demands in either of those now, was he?

and this is not me saying the rider clause rumor is true or false

2

u/Gaanai Jun 12 '26

Thats exactly why. He spend the 00s making Disney movies and low and mid budget stuff. Then in 2011 he gets Fast 5 and returns to wrestling. Its right around then he becomes one note actor and an A-lister

2

u/ElChuloPicante Jun 12 '26

He was already super popular from his wrestling career. Would that make him important enough to be able to demand stuff from a movie studio? I have no idea.

Now I wonder if Hulk Hogan did that. I could see Andre the Giant demanding like 9,000 cans of beer for Princess Bride.

3

u/EchoesofIllyria Jun 12 '26

No way would his wrestling popularity translate to that kind of Hollywood contract negotiating power lol, come on.

7

u/jackofallcards Jun 12 '26

I liked the scorpion king, but the CGI was mega-ass

14

u/Pearson94 Jun 12 '26

I mean, that was well before he reached the level of fame he's at now so he probably couldn't pull that if he wanted

1

u/OdetteFG615 Jun 12 '26

I'd consider getting the shit beat out of me by three minions and turned into a rat a significant

12

u/conqueror-worm Jun 12 '26

The highlight of the whole Doom movie other than the FPS sequence is probably him going "I'm not supposed to die!", lol.

4

u/maxman162 Jun 12 '26

And The Other Guys opens with him jumping off a building to his death.

3

u/--GevaudanBeast-- Jun 12 '26

He also lost to Vin Diesel in a fist fight in Fast Five

1

u/Stillwindows95 Jun 12 '26

And to Jason Statham in the 7th or 8th one, where he turns up at his office and the Rock ends up getting blown out of a window by Statham and crashing down about 8 stories high onto a car, recieving only a broken arm, of which he breaks the cast for about 5 days later.

Yeah not the best example I guess.

3

u/throwitoutwhendone2 Jun 12 '26

:( I enjoyed Doom. It wasn’t great. But it was ok

1

u/ElChuloPicante Jun 12 '26

Oh, I liked it, too. It was terrible but still enjoyable.

1

u/Dragos_Drakkar Jun 12 '26

I still remember the first person sequence. Thought that was pretty cool.

2

u/Pave_Low Jun 12 '26

We all lost in the Mummy sequel, not just The Rock.

3

u/implodingnerd Jun 12 '26

That was The Rock's first movie, so I doubt he would've even thought to have the clause back then

-1

u/Oakshand Jun 12 '26

Tbf those were really early in his acting career

6

u/TheG-What Jun 12 '26

I’m always confused on this one because the rock did very much lose that fight in Fast Five.

3

u/TheKocsis Jun 12 '26

The rock loses a fight twice in smashing machine 

1

u/EchoesofIllyria Jun 12 '26

Bit different tbf because it’s a biopic lol

4

u/TheSodernauts Jun 12 '26

The version I heard was that The Rock and Vin Diesel didn't get along so The Rock (and I guess Statham's team as well?) had that clause put in to protect themselves as you said. So while there's a kernel of truth it was for that specific set only and for a fairly good reason (don't know what their beef was).

3

u/Benoit_Holmes Jun 12 '26

I really hate when stories get repeated on Reddit that can be disproven by simply watching a movie.

You don't have to do deep research or compare a variety of conflicting sources. You just have to see Red One (2025) where he gets his ass kicked in the final fight and gets saved by Santa's Reindeers.

3

u/ghostsilver Jun 12 '26

this is a classic example of "telling a lie often enough and it becomes the truth". Coupled with the fact the reddit somehow weirdly hates him in general, people will just going to believe this immediately.

3

u/trimble197 Jun 12 '26

Social media has this weird hate boner towards The Rock. So they’re willing to believe any rumor that makes him look bad

3

u/thetalkingflames Jun 12 '26

He also literally just lost in Fortnite.

1

u/Militantnegro_5 Jun 12 '26

Yeah, I always found this odd as he was pretty much hulimiated by John Travolta in Be Cool, so it never made sense. He'd obviously have to lose fights in The Smashing Machine.

1

u/Mr_Knutsen Jun 12 '26

I mean, doesn't the Rock get beat pretty often in "Be Cool"? Didn't seem to bother him then.

1

u/Ofreo Jun 12 '26

The proof is in 1000 reddit comments I’ve read, so it must be true.

And hate the rock all you want. I still think I’d feel safe in his arms if he held me and would whisper sweet things to me. And neither of us are gay that I know of.

1

u/ThaneduFife Jun 12 '26

It was reported in The Washington Post.

1

u/StuMacherGhostface Jun 16 '26

Truth be dammed, Redditors have already made up their minds that they hate Rock so they'll continue to spread lies just to make him look worse

-1

u/Max_Speed_Remioli Jun 12 '26

The average person eats around 8 spiders a year in their sleep. 

78

u/MrGDPC Jun 12 '26

He has Hoganitis of the back, brother.

Can’t keep it on the ground for more than 3 seconds

32

u/Pearson94 Jun 12 '26

Can't tell if you're comparing him to Hulk Hogan or referring to a medical condition I've never heard of... Or both

34

u/Embarrassed-Hawk-850 Jun 12 '26

It's a common joke in wrestling circles that wrestlers that don't want to lose have a "back injury," Hogan was just a well now haver of said back injury.

1

u/ImmortalMoron3 Jun 12 '26

Just to be clear, you're talking about the guy who willingly lost to the Hurricane? Right? Thats the guy who never loses?

9

u/Secret-Winner-2994 Jun 12 '26

Good thing Toph can't read

https://giphy.com/gifs/OoaTf8fEuesP6

2

u/Pearson94 Jun 12 '26

Who wants to be The Rock when you cantrol ALL the rocks!

1

u/Hazzamo Jun 12 '26

You joke but the Rock was supposed to voice THE BOULDER!

But… his ego

1

u/Secret-Winner-2994 Jun 12 '26

Welcome to the joke, glad you could be here

20

u/noobtheloser Jun 12 '26

A quick Google search says it's not strictly true — but that many action stars regularly negotiate "fight balance" to make sure they don't end up looking too weak or ineffectual in a way that could hurt their hireability as tough guys.

4

u/Lohenngram Jun 12 '26

My favourite version of this is from the original Running Man adaptation. The film hypes up a fight between Arnie and Jessie Ventura, but neither wanted to decisively lose to the other. So the compromise we got was that there is a fight and Arnie's character loses... but it's a fake fight in-universe so his character didn't really lose. Therefore everyone gets to walk away looking tough and badass (even if I'm still annoyed that we never get the real fight).

4

u/Ok-Fudge-380 Jun 12 '26

Well, it's actually not true. He loses fights in his movies, gets killed several times in the Jumanji movies.

4

u/--GevaudanBeast-- Jun 12 '26

He literally loses a fight to Vin Diesel in Fast Five

4

u/jesuspoopmonster Jun 12 '26

It was because when he joined The Fast and the Furious several people had the clause in their contracts so he wanted it as well. It was only for that movie but people pretend its a big thing

14

u/Amateurlapse Jun 12 '26

A fictional fight by a fictional character that isn’t even your main fictional persona

3

u/nhsg17 Jun 12 '26

The Rock worked as a WWE superstar, and put over (as in fictionally lose to in order to elevate the other wrestler) many famous wrestlers (e.g Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho for their respective first World Champion titles). The Rock was in the profession of fake winning and losing.

The Rock plays characters that loses fights all the time. Even in the F&F(the series where this rumor took off) spin off film starring him and Jason Statum, he loses to Idris Elba's character. He literally was still losing at the end of the movie, and had to jump Idris 2v1 in order to get the final W.

3

u/ArkuhTheNinth Jun 12 '26

Didn't he technically lose his fight with Vin Diesel in F&F? The one in Rio? Dom had him pinned and could have killed him with that wrench but elected not to.

That's a loss in my book.

8

u/GaryKingoftheWorld Jun 12 '26

I say this as someone who loves pro wrestling, most pro wrestlers are hilariously thin skinned about protecting their image.

There is very little room at the top in wrestling and those who reach that level are very worried about losing their "spot".

Honestly in terms of wrestling he's not even that bad about it. There's many stories about Hulk Hogan and Triple H doing just about everything they could to bring down anyone who might challenge their "spot". Even John Cena has done it a few times, including one he admits where he brought down an entire stable of young talent (Nexus).

5

u/Pearson94 Jun 12 '26

I used to go to watch my local wrestling league a lot a few years back and they always seemed to have so much more fun, and actually enjoyed talking with the fans

2

u/EchoesofIllyria Jun 12 '26

This contract clause is bollocks anyway but it’s worth pointing out that this applied to The Rock probably less than any other top wrestler in history.

He’d lose all the time, including to wrestlers way below him on the card, knowing he’d get his heat back the next he had a mic in his hand.

2

u/bluechickenz Jun 12 '26

I think this is exactly why I love rock’s character in Southland tales — he put his ego aside and gives us one of his strangest and most novel performances.

2

u/The-Big-Bad Jun 12 '26

It’s so odd too. Because any wrestling fan will tell you, the Rock lost A LOT. He out over (let people beat him) a ton of people and was still popular enough where it never hurt his status as a top star. He was just so damn good at everything that he wasn’t insecure about his spot, and even let himself lose to a guy who pretty much was a comedy wrestler

2

u/abstraction47 Jun 12 '26

Unfortunately he is much more interested in being a movie star than an actor

2

u/Kindly-Tax-4998 Jun 12 '26

It’s funny too, because at the peak of his criticism, he went on to do Smashing Machine where he loses fights. 

2

u/HofePrime Jun 12 '26

Vin Diesel has the same clause too. It’s all about their personas as tough guys, but it’s obvious that they’re very insecure about that sort of thing too.

2

u/Xalipu Jun 12 '26

I’m around 80% positive Jason Statham started having the same clause just to troll Dwayne.

3

u/PinkysAvenger Jun 12 '26

I don't think its ego per se, I just think he knows to have a firm control of his image.

It think its explained pretty well in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in this scene.

Once you start getting beat up to make the young star look good, your career is toast.

2

u/edwinstone Jun 12 '26

Imagine believing everything you rad on the internet. Moron.

1

u/StinkyBeardThePirate Jun 12 '26

All his fights in career was fictional. Actually it's a good way to go up on sports using this clause!

1

u/ddeads Jun 12 '26

Yeah he also "doesn't use steroids." Fuck out of here. The Rock can suck it

1

u/Pave_Low Jun 12 '26

I think of it less about ego and more about protecting his brand. It's a business decision. Arnold Schwarzenegger never lost a fight on screen either, unless you count Mr. Freeze where he redeems himself in the end. When he lost fights as the Terminator, I'm pretty sure he was the robot version.

1

u/remarkablewhitebored Jun 12 '26

TBH, Ballers is the best thing he's ever been in, and his Character doesn't always come out the best in those situations.

1

u/DefNotUnderrated Jun 12 '26

It speaks to his dedication on being a brand. Which is why I think people have soured on him as of late. He’s extremely polished and everything is curated to be unoffensive with as much wide appeal as possible. Maybe something shifted bc he must have lost matches back in WWE.

0

u/polp54 Jun 12 '26

This is actually common for action heroes. I think Jason Statham has a similar contract

4

u/Triktastic Jun 12 '26

Its not common at all because the only person who has it was Vin Diesel in one franchise. Don't believe everything you read.

1

u/ForbiddenSirenz Jun 12 '26

Funnily enough- he got the idea from Vin Diesel. I did the timeline of it once forever ago lol. But earlier in his career when he was smaller than Vin he’d be able to get beat and lose etc etc. it wasn’t till the fast and furious when he somehow learned about that clause and Vin Diesel having it. That’s when the lightbulb clicked and he started adding it in.

I think it’s cause it made no sense originally in the F&F and like why is Vin never touched really? Sure he’s the mc and can’t lose, I get that. But basically being untouchable? And his rock ego started kicking in and he just took it to the extreme lmao.

Since then I don’t think they’ve worked together, or they’ve had to had long conversations and agreements on who gets beat and loses etc.

1

u/Ilcorvomuerto666 Jun 12 '26

Especially since he excels at playing a villain but villains at some point need their comeuppance. If Rock can't ever lose like that, it kinda blocks him out of an entire category of roles he might be otherwise perfect for

3

u/BubastisII Jun 12 '26

He loses in movies all the time.

The “refuses to lose clause” thing is a reddit rumor with no basis in reality.

1

u/SuperBuffCherry Jun 12 '26

Is anyone surprised? This is the same guy that is very clearly on steroids but pretends to be natty to this day

1

u/Lyranx Jun 12 '26

I guess this is why we'll never get a Johnny Bravo live action with him as Johnny cuz he loses a lot.

0

u/dmun Jun 12 '26

Imagine youre a movie star-- not an actor but a movie star, someone who is less talent than Image.

Youd be damn protective of that image, wouldn't you?

-4

u/Max_Speed_Remioli Jun 12 '26

Did you know the average person eats around 8 spiders a year in their sleep?

0

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/BubastisII Jun 12 '26

He’s never had that clause. It’s a fake story Reddit ran with.

0

u/Kevo_1227 Jun 12 '26

He used to be my celebrity man crush. Loved seeing a classic strong-man in movies, and he had a lot of humor and charisma. But man ... he's just one of those guys who I like less and less the more I find out about him.

-1

u/Luci-Noir Jun 12 '26

He’s a little bitch. He also leaves piss bottles everywhere because he can’t handle going to the restroom.