Whispers on the street says that former WWE icon Dwayne Johnson “The Rock” shed 60 pounds of muscle after halting his steroid use.
The speculation erupted over the weekend when Dwayne appeared quite emaciated at an event promoting his upcoming film, The Smashing Machine.
However, Dwayne’s representative clarified that he lost 60 pounds specifically for his role as ex-UFC Heavyweight champion Mark Kerr, known as The Smashing Machine.
In June 2019, Mark, aged 56, disclosed that he had been struggling with peripheral neuropathy for several years.
On Monday, Dwayne showed up at another event in Italy clad in a blue polo shirt and white trousers. He flexed his muscles to demonstrate he’s still in great shape.
Fans accustomed to Dwayne’s muscular build ignited speculation that he had ceased taking steroids out of concern of ending up like his friend, former Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman.
Ronnie has been rendered unable to walk following numerous back surgeries and years of heavy lifting.
Dwayne received a 15-minute standing ovation during his film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Monday.
In his critique, Deadline‘s Damon Wise stated that “Johnson commandeers the entire production with his truly outstanding performance as fighter Mark Kerr, vanishing so completely beneath Kazu Hiru’s impressive prosthetics that the opening of the film, framed as modern footage from an event in São Paulo 1997, appears genuinely authentic.”