7. Received Highest Payout For Debut Film Performance
Story: Working a small part in the 2001 movie 'The Mummy Returns', The Rock started to spend more and more time away from what had previously been his bread and butter, professional wrestling. Taking longer and longer gaps between runs with the WWF, Johnson's head was clearly turned by what he could achieve in Hollywood. The following year, The Rock was cast in the leading role of the spin-off film, The Scorpion King, a flick during which he busts out several of his trademark wrestling moves, bizarrely. Reportedly, Dwayne Johnson was paid in excess of $5.5 million for his work on The Scorpion King, which is the highest payout ever for a debut starring role.
Why People Believe It: There's really no reason to disbelieve this one, because it wouldn't make sense for Hollywood to lie about such a thing. Pro wrestling isn't exactly looked upon fondly by the rest of the entertainment industry, so to falsely claim that a grappler held such a record would seem a little foolish.
Should We Believe It: Yes, there's little doubt that this one is true. As aforementioned, wrestling is viewed as low-brow entertainment by many sectors of the entertainment landscape, and The Rock was considered a huge reason why the movie was a financial success, pulling in over $165 million gross from a $60 million production budget.