10 Times Wrestlers Blatantly Lied To Your Face

9. The Rock’s Barefaced WrestleMania 32 Attendance Lie

X Times Wrestlers Blatantly Lied To Your Face
WWE.com

At time of writing, The Rock still hasn't appeared on screen to explain how he managed to coax a heel turn out of John Cena that was seemingly never coming. Together, they aligned and stuck it to Cody Rhodes at Elimination Chamber 2025, but then WrestleMania 41 came and went without the 'Final Boss' in sight. Travis Scott was there though, which...didn't act as a satisfying sub for Dwayne Johnson.

Rewind back to 2016 and Rock wasn't on WWE's board of directors. He was, however, a legacy star with huge box office appeal to a mainstream audience, which made him ripe for all manner of cameo showings in and around 'Mania season. For that year's 32, Rocky returned to announce the attendance in Texas and then worked Erick Rowan in a quirky 6-second 'blink and you'll miss it' match.

Inside the ring, Rock beamed as he announced a record-shattering attendance of 101,763. On air, WWE's announcers got giddy by hyping this up as an all-timer gate. However, after the fact, it came out in the wash that the actual number was approx 80,000; still massive, but clearly not massive enough for Vince McMahon and WWE's egos.

In essence, The Rock was talking out of his candy you-know-what when he spewed that figure. It got a pop from those inside AT&T Stadium, of course, but the whole thing was akin to WWE kayfabing their way through a segment hoping nobody would notice. Sorry, but lingering chatter about 'Mania III's attendance in 1987 would like a word.

The only thing Rock was smelling on this evening was brown and needed flushed.

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.