Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Reveals Why He Almost Gave Up His Wrestling Stage Name for Good

"I was tired of trying to be something I wasn't," Dwayne Johnson tells Jamie Foxx in the digital series Off Script by Grey Goose

“Do you smell what Dwayne Johnson is cooking?” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

EW premiered a sneak peek at an upcoming episode of the digital series Off Script by Grey Goose, in which the 46-year-old actor talks about temporarily dropping his well-known WWE stage name, “The Rock,” more than a decade ago.

“I was tired of trying to be something I wasn’t,” he tells Jamie Foxx. “I was told at that time, ‘Listen, you can’t talk about wrestling. You can’t go by ‘The Rock.’ You can’t be as big [physically].”

However, giving up the moniker didn’t last long — and a few other decisions were made along with reincorporating his wrestling persona.

“So finally I reached a point where I said, ‘Alright, two things have to happen: I’m gonna surround myself with a different group of people, different management, and then I’m gonna make sure that I just gotta be me,” he explains. “If you wanna call me ‘Rock,’ you call me ‘Rock.'”

The Skyscraper star adds that it’s about staying true to himself as well as his fans.

“It’s the most important relationship I have,” he says.

Another moniker Johnson is proud to go by? “Dad.”

During a visit to Live with Kelly and Ryan on Tuesday, the star opened up about being in the delivery room for 2-month-old daughter Tiana Gia‘s birth.

“I will say, it was the most amazing experience I’ve ever seen,” Johnson said. “I look at Lauren [Hashian], and women and mothers, in a different light than I ever have before. And it was beautiful.”

Of course, Johnson had been by ex-wife Dany Garcia’s side when she was in labor with their 16-year-old daughter Simone Garcia Johnson — and next to girlfriend Hashian when she gave birth to their 2-year-old Jasmine Lia. But both times, he said, he avoided standing below the drape during the birth.

With Tiana, Johnson went to watch by Hashian’s feet.

“I was encouraging her — holding her hand. And the doctor said, ‘Would you like to come down and watch and help?’ ” Johnson recalled. “I said, ‘Yup, I’m going to come down. Watch. Help.’ ”

“I’m holding legs, everything. And out comes the baby,” he continued, joking, “I know, right? Crazy. ‘Cause you roll the dice. You don’t know how it’s going go to go. A lot of stuff happens.”