Vince McMahon Doesn’t Own Dwayne Johnson’s WWE Name Anymore But What About John Cena
Dwayne Johnson is one of the biggest names in the world. While he is better known now through his work in Hollywood, the occupation that laid the foundations of his career was his time as a wrestler for the WWE and WWF. Being immortalized as The Rock, it would infuriate more than a few fans to find out the fact that he did not own the trademark to his title until now.
The WWE is seeing many changes to its core, and the biggest and most recent is that of Johnson having joined the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings. The deal has come with a lot of very positive things for the actor, including gaining ownership of his iconic stage name. This is a luxury given to very few who come from the profession which raises the question of if another very successful wrestler who moved to acting owns his stage name.
Does Vince McMahon own John Cena’s name?
Dwayne Johnson’s Name Is No Longer Owned By Vince McMahon
It was recently revealed by Ariel Emanuel, CEO of TKO, via Variety, that the WWE, more specifically, his organization, will be seeing several very big changes. The one that is grabbing a lot of attention is the fact that Dwayne Johnson will be joining the board of directors. This is no surprise because he was one of the biggest personalities in the history of this franchise. While specific details about the deal signed by the actor were not mentioned, some things were mentioned.
“I am thrilled to partner with Dwayne and welcome his immense talent to TKO’s Board,” said Emanuel. “Dwayne brings an incredible track record of creating content and building globally recognized consumer brands, and he will play a key role in realizing our ambitions for TKO.”
It was revealed by Emanuel that the actor has signed a services and merchandising agreement with the company. What this will entails is Johnson will be providing promotional, licensing, and some other services to them. He also gained ownership of the trademark over his WWE name, The Rock. Previously, a sum of his earnings went to Vince McMahon and the businessman received executive producer credits.
Also Read: Dwayne Johnson Could Only Dream of This Insane Record Held by His Cousin Roman Reigns
Does John Cena Own His WWE Name?
Another actor, who previously used to be a star WWE wrestler is John Cena. The opportunity that was extended to Dwayne Johnson was not given to the Peacemaker actor. However, it would seem that he prefers it to be this way. Cena gave an interview on The Howard Stern Show, where he talked about his feelings about Vince McMahon owning the rights and the trademark to his name, as well as receiving a share of all the projects that he stars in.
“Howard, before this, I was a kid in a small Massachusetts town mowing lawns for a golf course. I don’t mind kicking a percentage of my earnings to the person who gave me a chance and an opportunity.” said Cena about Vince McMahon.
The actor gave a candid reply, stating that he took no issue with this. He mentioned that he owed a great deal to McMahon, with him having gotten a huge number of opportunities, glory, and acclaim thanks to his platform. Cena does not mind having to lose a percentage of his earnings to the businessman as he feels that he owes his career to him.
