Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Poses With XFL Helmets After Becoming Co-Owner: ‘I’m Humbled and Grateful’

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one of the new owners of the XFL and is ready to get things going. On Instagram, Johnson shared a photo of him with the helmets of every XFL team. And at the top of the photo, a framed $7 is shown, which is the amount of money he had after being cut from the Canadian Football League in 1995.

“My XFL helmets arrived to my office and I’m humbled and grateful at how full circle life can sometimes be,” Johnson wrote. “My dreams of playing in the NFL never came true, but now years later – I have the honor of buying an entire pro football league so the dreams of other players CAN COME TRUE.” Johnson went on to write that his partner, Dany Garcia, and Gerry Cardinale from RedBird Capital are “passionate football owners who are committed to the grind to deliver awesome football for the fans — and always take care of our hard working, talented players.”

The trio was able to win the bid for the XFL in early August. A few weeks later, Johnson went to Instagram to announce the purchase has been made official. “The acquisition & deal is closed and ‘the keys’ to the XFL have been handed over to its new owners,” Johnson wrote. “With humility and a lot of ambition — I accept the keys and promise to put my callouses to hard work building our new brand of professional football and culture for the players — and FANS to enjoy.”

The XFL returned in February after lasting one season in 2001. The 2020 version of the XFL featured eight teams: Dallas Renegades, Houston Roughnecks, Los Angeles Wildcats, Seattle Dragons, DC Defenders, New York Guardians, St. Louis BattleHawks and Tampa Bay Vipers. In an interview with ESPN, Garcia talked about how reasonable it was to bring back the XFL next year.

“The audience is getting used to watching these games without fans,” Garcia said. “That’s super, super, super important, too.” The XFL canceled the 2020 season in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, the league laid off its employees and then filed for bankruptcy. It was reported dozens of bidders were interested in buying the XFL, but it was Garcia, Johnson and Cardinale who made the offer.