Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stunned followers Friday, forward of an look on Friday’s WWE SmackDown on Fox, by releasing a self-taped interview on social media. A lengthy interview, coming in at 21 minutes, through which he hypes up his match at this yr’s WrestleMania, set to happen a month from now in Philadelphia as half of the two-night occasion. As half of the best way professional wrestling often mixes actuality with its storylines, he straight addressed WWE’s latest $5 billion cope with Netflix, his latest real-life becoming a member of of mother or father firm TKO Group’s board and reported behind-the-scenes controversy over the primary occasion of this yr’s WrestleMania.
Johnson has lately embraced a nasty man character, enjoying up his Hollywood persona as he feuds with Cody Rhodes, son of legendary professional wrestler Dusty Rhodes. The backstage drama concerned Rhodes initially being scheduled to wrestle in the primary occasion at WrestleMania towards champion Roman Reigns, then that match being modified to Rock towards Reigns. Johnson and Reigns are unofficial members of the family as a result of shut ties between their households, which has been utilized as half of Reigns’ professional wrestling faction, often known as “The Bloodline.”
As Johnson pivoted deeper into his heel persona, he referenced his nickname for Rhodes followers upset about Rock being inserted into the primary occasion: “Cody Crybabies.” He performed a clip with a podcaster citing the truth that Johnson is now a member of the TKO board and accused him of utilizing his energy there to place himself within the WrestleMania predominant occasion over Rhodes. The Rock wrestling in the primary occasion was reportedly half of the deal that included Johnson becoming a member of the board and receiving $30 million in inventory over the course of a number of benchmarks, together with wrestling/performing for the corporate.
“It has nothing to do with the board,” Rock continued. “It has nothing to do with the truth that The Rock owns every thing because it pertains to ‘The Rock,’ ‘the Individuals’s Champion,’ full possession, which implies The Rock is the boss.”
Johnson was referring to a different half of the deal, which included him buying the rights to “The Rock” title, together with all of his nicknames and catchphrases from through the years.
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The Rock bought additional into his real-life board place and the corporate’s Netflix deal whereas discussing Seth Rollins. Rhodes had been set to face Rollins at WrestleMania however as a substitute has teamed up with him in a storyline feud towards Rock and Reigns in what’s rumored to be a tag match that may happen at WrestleMania.
Johnson performed a clip of Rollins doing media interviews saying that they don’t want The Rock to be half of WWE and might be profitable with out him.
“When you have been somewhat smarter, Seth, you’d understand how silly you sound. … You want The Rock in methods that you could’t even think about,” Johnson mentioned, earlier than exhibiting footage and pictures of Johnson with Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel “You suppose when Ari Emanuel, The Rock’s good buddy, The Rock’s enterprise companion for many years, The Rock’s lead agent, somebody who The Rock seems to be to love a giant brother. You suppose when he goes to sit down with Netflix, throughout from Ted Sarandos, The Rock’s good buddy and enterprise companion, sitting throughout from Bela Bajaria, The Rock’s good buddy and enterprise companion at Netflix. You suppose after they’re inking, after they’re signing this $5 billion deal for the WWE and Netflix, do you suppose that Ted and Bella are saying, ‘Hey, Ari, when WWE involves Netflix, is Seth Rollins going to be champion?’”
Johnson dismissed that concept — and likewise appeared to make a reference to the critically maligned however fairly in style Netflix movie “Purple Discover,” which he starred in alongside Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds.
“No, they’re not asking that, primary, as a result of they don’t care. And quantity two, they don’t know who within the hell you might be,” Rock mentioned of Rollins. “You already know what they’re asking? ‘Hey, Ari, we’ll signal this $5 billion historic deal. By no means earlier than. However one query, the place’s the Individuals’s Champion? … One query, the place’s the person who has probably the most watched movie within the historical past of Netflix, The Rock?’”
“Ari seems to be at them and says, ‘He’s locked in for all times,’” Johnson continued. “‘Director of the board, owns every thing because it pertains to his title. He’s locked in for all times.’ Signed, $5 billion.”
Rock then addressed a Rollins interview the place he criticized The Rock for not having recent materials — and teased with the ability to management firm storylines.
“OK, nicely, The Rock has some new materials for you,” he started. “How about this? The Rock sits on the prime. Director, TKO board — not WWE, however TKO, which implies The Rock is the boss, which implies The Rock is your boss, which implies The Rock owns every thing. … Which suggests, Seth Rollins, when you preserve working your mouth and sticking your nostril within the Bloodline’s enterprise, then that world title that you’ve round your waist, very quickly, very quickly, The Rock will make that title go to any person else. Learn between the traces. Sure, The Rock simply blurred it.”
With Rock having a private funding in WWE and the corporate’s founder Vince McMahon being persona non grata following a horrifying accusation by a lawsuit of real-life sexual abuse and trafficking, this may very well be half of the corporate positioning Johnson as being a brand new authority determine for the corporate’s storylines within the spot as soon as held by McMahon.
Johnson adopted up placing his finger straight on the combined actuality of professional wrestling by increase what sounds prefer it is likely to be that rumored tag group match happening at WrestleMania.
“You retain sticking your nostril in our enterprise, The Rock and Roman Reigns are going to beat your goofy ass proper again to the circus with the remaining of the clowns,” Johnson mentioned. “Cody Rhodes, for you, the Cody Crybabies, in your new finest buddy, the strolling clown emoji himself, Seth Rollins, and to your goofy-ass canine, The Rock says this: you all are advocates of Cody ending his story. It’s so necessary.”
“Cody Rhodes, you took one thing from The Rock,” he added. “You insulted my household. You took one thing from The Rock. You took one thing from Roman Reigns. You took one thing from the thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of the actual followers who needed to see the most important WrestleMania occasion of all time. You took it away. … Now you’re going to pay. Cody Rhodes, from the underside of my coronary heart, man to man: f–ok your story.”
Johnson closed by hyping up that he’ll be on “SmackDown” not simply this week, however for at the very least the subsequent two weeks following on March 8 and March 15. He closed together with his catchphrase, and a further “F–ok your story” earlier than strolling out of body.
Earlier, he constructed up Roman Reigns’ nickname of being the “Head of the Desk,” the chief in cost of his prolonged Samoan household within the wrestling world.
“It has to do with widespread sense,” he added. “When Roman Reigns years in the past dropped the phrases, ‘Head of the Desk,’ these phrases have been particularly and solely arrange and created so at some point, Roman Reigns, the champion of the WWE, would come nose to nose together with his cousin, The Rock, the Individuals’s Champion, and collectively, mixed, they may make the most important WrestleMania of all time, the most important match of all time.”
He adopted up by addressing Cody Rhodes shedding to Reigns ultimately yr’s WrestleMania, which reportedly occurred after Vince McMahon got here again to energy behind the scenes and as half of the corporate closing the deal which led to the UFC merger as half of their acquisition by Endeavor.
“When Roman Reigns mentioned these phrases, that’s why he mentioned it, as a result of that’s Roman Reigns’ story. That’s The Rock’s story,” Johnson mentioned. “At one time, that was Cody Rhodes’s story, nevertheless it was final yr. And what occurred final yr at WrestleMania? What’s the technical time period? Oh, he s–t the mattress.”
Johnson laid out how he got here again firstly of this yr to WWE and made a shock look to followers in San Diego. He managed to get in a refined plug for his tequila model whereas noting the large response followers gave him.
“The Rock was going to go on the market and he was going to check the waters,” Johnson mentioned. “He was going to see how the group reacted. The place ought to The Rock sit? You bear in mind. ‘Ought to The Rock sit at a sales space?’ Crowd didn’t know the place I used to be going. ‘Ought to The Rock sit at a bar?’ Oh, larger response. Yeah, The Rock loves a bar, as a result of The Rock loves him some tequila. ‘Or ought to The Rock sit on the head of the desk?’”
“Crowd that evening exploded,” Johnson famous, “as a result of they knew in any case these years, they have been lastly getting The Rock versus Roman Reigns, the most important WrestleMania of all time.”
As he went on, he started to deal with Rhodes and the custom that the winner of the annual Royal Rumble match will get a title shot at WrestleMania. Whereas Johnson mentioned he was glad for Rhodes, the combined actuality goes a bit additional as he introduces the concept he known as up Rhodes and requested him to let Rock and Roman take the primary occasion spot — and to delay the second that Rhodes has often talked about as “ending his story” and profitable the world title that his father Dusty Rhodes by no means did.
“It was a dialog that just a few have had with Cody Rhodes earlier than,” Johnson mentioned. including that he’d advised Rhodes, “you possibly can all the time, with all due respect, end your story one other time.”
Rock mentioned that Rhodes agreed to the Rock and Reigns match headlining this yr’s WrestleMania.
“He agreed,” Johnson continued, earlier than quoting him: “‘The Rock, it stings. However I agree. It stings, however I’m a group participant. It stings, however I need what’s finest for the enterprise.’ Good man.”
The promo then lined Rhodes introducing Rock at a “SmackDown” present in Birmingham, Alabama and as soon as once more referenced Rhodes’ father.
“The Rock got here out, and he dapped you up, he pulled you in and gave you a giant hug,” Johnson mentioned. “And I whispered one thing in your ear: ‘Let’s placed on the most important WrestleMania of all time. Let’s do it for the American Dream. Let’s do it for the Soul Man.’”
However Johnson introduced up the look Rhodes gave as he left the ring, which followers known as out as being indicative that, in actual life, Rhodes wasn’t glad about being taken out of the primary occasion of this yr’s WrestleMania.
“You gave The Rock a glance. And it’s the identical look he gave the world,” Johnson mentioned. “Like The Rock went out and ran over your goofy-ass canine.”
Following that second, on-line fan uproar and backstage discussions, the primary occasion of WrestleMania appeared to shift as soon as once more as the corporate moved towards a long-planned press occasion in Las Vegas. Johnson’s interview appeared to get deeper into the storyline facet of it at this level, claiming that he was upset Rhodes didn’t discuss to him about being upset with the match in non-public earlier than that occasion happened.
The Rock additionally took credit score for the wrestling business being hotter than it has been in many years. Whereas this clearly performs into his character, it’s additionally a truth, with attendance and tv scores for WWE doing nicely and the corporate persevering with to broaden internationally following its merger with UFC beneath Hollywood expertise firm Endeavor.