The Rock is arguably the biggest star to ever come out of WWE.

But back in the 1990s he was a rookie and a long, long way away from a global superstar. 

It didn't take long for Dwayne Johnson to establish himself in professional wrestling though, quickly becoming one of Vince McMahon's top guys - even at a young age.

That apparently didn't sit well with Triple H and Shawn Michales, who were two of the top stars back then. 

In fact, Bret Hart has recently opened up on the bullying and hazing that The Rock endured backstage from the Kliq. 

Speaking on Confessions Of The Hitman, per Wrestling Inc, Hart said:

"A lot of the wrestlers would give him a hard time in those days, a really hard time, enough to try to break him and get him to quit and they almost succeeded. [The Rock] was kind of a marked guy.

The Rock was 'marked' early on

"I don't know why he had such a hard time being accepted by some of the more jerk-like wrestlers. 

"A lot of the same guys who had a problem with Rock were the same guys that were all involved in the Screwjob with me, so I had the same dislike for the same petty bulls--t that these guys were all about."

Hart went on to explain a specific moment that HBK 'chewed out The Rock' backstage for attempting a dropkick off of the top rope. 

HBK once chewed The Rock out

"I remember Shawn Michaels coming into the dressing room and dressing down poor Dwayne," Hart continued.

"I believe, [HBK] told [The Rock] to never do a top rope dropkick ever again because that was his move. That's what he was mad about. And then, he slammed the door and he walked out.

"The Rock was [deflated] because in those days, Shawn had a lot of weight. [So] he was apologising and said he didn't know, and he thought it would be okay. 

HBK was on top back then

"I remember the door closed after Shawn left and I said, 'that's bull****. That's total bull****.' I said, 'nobody owns the dropkick off the top. You can do that." 

The Hitman also revealed that Triple H was just as bad as HBK back then. 

"Triple H was the same. He was always out to get The Rock. Shawn was out to get him and they just worked on him, and worked on him, and worked on him.

Triple H also tried to force The Rock out

"And I left. [The Rock] was still in the doghouse with those guys. They wanted him [out] as bad as they wanted me out. Like, they were after him.

"Maybe a year later, he started getting his break and he started to take off in WWE and I'm so glad he overcame their petty bull****."

Now, it's important to remember this all happened a long time ago. A lot has changed in WWE and both Triple H and HBK have changed too. 

They're now all about creating the next big superstars - not breaking them down - while The Rock has gone on to be Hollywood's highest-paid actor. 

The Rock is now Hollywood's biggest star

We're not excusing that hazing that went on back in the day, but we're just thankful it wasn't enough to force Rock out - and we know for sure that things are very different now.