Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson may have a new nickname.
The Rock was spotted in Venice over Labor Day weekend, but his usual huge muscular body was nowhere to be seen.
Check him out here:
Yo, what happened to The Rock!? pic.twitter.com/CeZbLSwsBE
— Wrestling from 80s/90s (@Wrestling80s90s) September 1, 2025
The loss of muscle resulted in hundreds of users on social media calling him the “Pebble.”
Take a look:
The Rock minus steroids = The Pebble. pic.twitter.com/D1ZFswDkcA
— Shubham Bagade (@shub_5) September 1, 2025
Shortly after the video went viral, Johnson was spotted crying during his movie premiere.
USA Today reported more context on Johnson’s tears:
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, 53, brought his buzzy new biopic “The Smashing Machine” to the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 1.
The WWE star was looking slimmer than usual at the event, where he received widespread acclaim from critics for his role as former mixed martial artist Mark Kerr in “The Smashing Machine.” The film also stars Emily Blunt at Kerr’s wife, Dawn Staples.
Johnson was spotted wiping away tears during a lengthy standing ovation at the premiere.
During a press conference at the Venice Film Festival, Johnson said he was “really hungry” for a role that would allow him to transform.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have the career that I’ve had over the years and make the films that I’ve made,” he said. “But there was this voice inside of me, the little voice, (that thought), ‘What if? What if I could do more? I want to do more. What does that look like?'”
Take a look:
The Rock cried during a 15-min standing ovation for The Smashing Machine. Now, he says he’s making movies for himself, not the box office:
“I asked myself, ‘Am I living my dream or someone else’s?’” 🎬💪
— Emir Han (@RealEmirHan) September 3, 2025
The New York Post reported that Joe Rogan previously accused The Rock of taking steroids:
Can you smell what the Rock is cooking? It’s steroids, claimed Joe Rogan on an episode of his podcast.
Controversial podcast host and UFC commentator Joe Rogan demanded Sunday on an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson “come clean” over whether or not he uses steroids.
In his podcast, the host was discussing disgraced fitness influencer Brian Johnson, known online as the Liver King, who was exposed for taking steroids, instead of following the “ancestral” diet of raw meat he promoted online.
ADVERTISEMENTRogan said that he was “not surprised at all” over the revelation and accused the Rock of similar behavior.
“There’s no way you can look like that, in your 40s,” chided Rogan. “The Rock should come clean right now.
“He should make a video in response to the Liver King video. I need to talk to you because the Rock’s been lying. There’s not a f–king chance in hell he’s clean,” slammed the 55-year-old host. “Not a chance in hell. As big as the Rock is, at 50? He’s so massive, and he’s so different than he was when he was 30.
“There’s a responsibility you have to people who are listening to you. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s one thing,” continued Rogan. “But if you do talk about it, there’s a responsibility you have to people listening to you and I think you have to be honest about it, which is why I’m honest about it. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking hormone replacement.”
