Did The Rock Win A Golden Globe Award For 'Smashing Machine' Role? (WWE News)

Did Dwayne Johnson win big at last night's Golden Globes?

By Andrew Pollard / January 12, 2026

A24

With the 2026 Golden Globes taking place last night, WWE icon Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was in the running for the Best Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama award.

Of course, 2025 saw Johnson star as MMA pioneer and NCAA Division I wrestling champion Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie's much-acclaimed The Smashing Machine, with the Great One receiving plentiful praise for his performance as Kerr and for his range and vulnerability in playing such a fascinating, flawed, multi-layered figure.

Unfortunately for Dwayne Johnson, though, that impressive turn as Kerr wasn't enough to grab the Best Male Actor - Drama gong at last night's Golden Globes ceremony. Instead, that award went to Wagner Moura for his performance in Kleber Mendonça Filho's O Agente Secreto/The Secret Agent, with Moura also beating out Joel Edgerton (Train Dreams), Oscar Isaac (Frankenstein), Michael B. Jordan (Sinners), and Jeremy Allen White (Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere) for that win.

Elsewhere, Johnson's The Smashing Machine co-star Emily Blunt missed out on the Best Supporting Female Actor in a Motion Picture award, with Teyana Taylor getting the win for her performance in Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another, edging out Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value), Ariana Grande (Wicked: For Good), Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimenal value), Amy Madigan (Weapons), and Blunt.

While the 97th Academy Awards are up next for the movie industry, taking place on 2 March, despite plentiful high hopes, The Smashing Machine did not make the cut for any nominations at this year's Oscars.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 12th Jan 2026

In this post:

Dwayne Johnson The Rock WWE News The Smashing Machine Mark Kerr