Tag: The Rock

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Says XFL Training Camps Will Kick Off On Jan. 4, 2023

The XFL hype train is gaining some steam with the arrival of 2022.

At the end of December, XFL Part-Owner Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson teased that updates on teams and broadcast partners would be coming soon. Now with the new year, the new XFL is looking forward to the year-out date of the launch of training camps.

“I can tell you that the XFL player will be the hardest and hungriest players in the room,” Johnson said.

“One year from today. In exactly 365 days we will kick off our official 2023 XFL training camps. I’m so excited about this. I know you guys are excited too. All month long this month, our team of XFL executives are out there scouting the next great players. And I can tell you this, as an XFL owner and a man who has proudly put these calloused, dinosaur hands in the dirt all for the the love of football.. I can tell you that the XFL player will be the hardest and hungriest players in the room,” Johnson said in a video posted to Instagram and seen by nearly 2 million people as of Tuesday night. So football nation, we are building this for you. The XFL is watching all for the love of football.”

The XFL folded in 2020 with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the league was sold to a group that includes Johnson, and businesswoman Dany Garcia.

Source: ksdk.com

The Rock Announces Seven Bucks Productions Change: “We Won’t Use Real Guns At All”

The recent tragedy involving Alec Baldwin and Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust has rocked the entertainment world and sparked major conversations for change within the movie industry. The Rock has been part of those and has come out to make his stance about guns on film sets very clear.

The Rock recently spoke with Variety where he announced that from now on Seven Bucks Productions will no longer use real guns on set. Whether it is filming a movie or a television show, making it clear that it doesn’t matter what it costs.

“I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you, without an absence of clarity here, that any movie that we have moving forward with Seven Bucks Productions — any movie, any television show, or anything we do or produce — we won’t use real guns at all,” Johnson said.

“We’re going to switch over to rubber guns, and we’re going to take care of it in post. We’re not going to worry about the dollars; we won’t worry about what it costs.”

Dwayne Johson revealed that just hours after the sad news of Hutchins’ passing he got onto the phone and began discussing how things can change. Reaffirming that the rule will be no real guns, no matter what studio they work with.

“I love the movie business,” Johnson said. “There are safety protocols and measures that we have always taken in the movie business and we take very seriously, and these sets are safe sets, and we’re proud of that. But accidents do happen. And when something like this happens of this magnitude, [that is] this heartbreaking, I think the most prudent thing and the smartest thing to do is just pause for a second and really re-examine how you’re going to move forward and how we’re going to work together.”

“Any movie we do that Seven Bucks does with any studio, the rule is we’re not going to use real guns. That’s it.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Announces Celebration For 25-Year Anniversary Of The Rock’s Debut

Nov. 17 will mark the 25-year anniversary of The Rock’s WWE debut. The company announced plans to celebrate it “all month long.”

The 25-year anniversary of The Rock’s professional wrestling match debut is coming up, and WWE has plans to honor the sports entertainment legend.

Nov. 17 will mark 25 years since the wrestler-turned-actor debuted for WWE at the Survivor Series 1996 pay-per-view. He debuted under the ring name “Rocky Maivia”, winning a 4-on-4 tag team elimination match by last eliminating Crush and Goldust.

On Monday, WWE announced that they will be celebrating the 25-year anniversary of The Rock’s debut throughout the month of November:

WWE uploaded two videos featuring The Rock on their YouTube channel on Monday. One of them is a montage of all The Rock’s WWE Championship wins, and the other is his singles match against Hall of Famer Kurt Angle on the July 18, 2002 episode of SmackDown. That bout resulted in a disqualification when The Undertaker interruptred and attacked The Rock.

The Rock emerged as one of the two new main event babyfaces of WWE during the Atittude Era, along with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Both wrestlers were instrumental in helping the company defeat the rival WCW promotion in the “Monday Night Wars”. Their respective arrivals came at much-needed times, as WCW was on the verge of putting Vince McMahon and company out of business.

It was previously reported that WWE was hoping to bring in The Rock for Survivor Series 2021, which will run on Nov. 21 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. However, he will reportedly be occupied filming in Australia during the marquee event.

It’s been more than five and a half years since The Rock last wrestled a WWE match. That took place at WrestleMania 32, where he defeated Erick Rowan via pinfall in just six seconds. The Rock was subsequently surrounded by The Wyatt Family, but John Cena — who was sidelined while recovering from shoulder surgery at the time — showed up to aid his former rival.

Source: TheSportster

Backstage Updates On The Rock’s WWE Future

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is reportedly not being considered for a match at WrestleMania 38 from AT&T Stadium in Dallas next year.

It’s been reported that WWE has had plans for The Rock to wrestle at WrestleMania 38, likely in a match against WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, or a tag team match with SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos, where Reigns would team with one of the brothers, and Rock with the other.

In an update, Ringside News recently reported that The Rock is not being considered for a WrestleMania 38 role because they already have something else in mind for him – WrestleMania 39 in 2023 from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Rock is said to be a “virtual lock” for when WrestleMania returns to the Hollywood/Los Angeles area in 2023.

With Rock vs. Reigns likely for 2023, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter points to Brock Lesnar vs. Reigns being likely for WrestleMania 38 in 2022. The Observer noted this week that the Rock vs. Reigns match will take place if, when and where Rock wants it to, and that his schedule is so busy that there is no lock for anything. It was also noted that with Rock vs. Reigns being the idea for 2023, that likely means Lesnar vs. Reigns will be the top match for next year.

If WWE saves Lesnar vs. Reigns for WrestleMania in 2022, it will be interesting to see what they have Lesnar do in the next few months. Lesnar has reportedly signed a new deal that includes between 8 and 12 matches, which would carry him through early 2023 some time.

Recent reports have said WWE wants Rock to appear at the 2021 Survivor Series pay-per-view in New York City, to celebrate 25 years since his WWE debut. It’s always possible that The Rock returns to WWE TV before 2023, but he is considered to be almost a done deal for WrestleMania 39.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Is Hoping To Land The Rock For Survivor Series

A new report claims WWE is hoping to recruit the services of The Rock for Survivor Series, but nothing is yet in place.

WWE is now only a little more than a month away from returning to the road. The first real indicator that wrestling life is about to return to normal. Other than WrestleMania this year, all of WWE’s shows since March of last year have been in empty buildings. Superstars have had to settle for performing in front of thousands of LED screens.

Needless to say, once fans are back in attendance WWE will want to give them as much as they possibly can. That might seem like a slightly contradictory thing to say considering the recent big names releases. However, there are rumors that Brock Lesnar and John Cena will be back soon, and even reports that WWE is tapping up The Rock for a long-overdue return.

That’s according to Dave Meltzer. Meltzer noted in the most recent edition of Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE is currently working on getting The Rock back into the mix for Survivor Series this year, but hasn’t managed to lock him down just yet. Considering the projects The People’s Champ always seems to have on his slate, that’s not in the least bit surprising.

The last time The Rock appeared on WWE TV was for SmackDown’s debut on Fox. It could be argued that the July 16 edition of SmackDown, which will be WWE’s first show back in front of fans, will be a show on equal footing with that episode, if not slightly bigger considering what it will signify. It could be a little short notice for The Rock though, which is why November’s Survivor Series might be the earliest possible opportunity to get him in.

Survivor Series is also the last major WWE PPV before Royal Rumble, the show that is considered to be the start of the road to WrestleMania. With fans clamoring for a Rock versus Roman Reigns match at WrestleMania, Survivor Series could well be the place where WWE plants the very first seeds for that dream match.

Source: The Sportster

NBC Renews “Young Rock” For A Second Season

NBC has renewed “Young Rock” for a second season.

“Young Rock is the No. 2 new comedy of the current television season in the key 18-49 demographic.  The pilot episode, which premiered back on February 16 has been seen by 13.4 million viewers. NBC also noted that “Young Rock” is the network’s top comedy debut across digital platforms on record through 60 days with 3.6 million digital views.

“Young Rock” has former WWE Superstar Dwayne Johnson starting as a fictionalized version of himself, where he telling stories about his childhood and teenage years during his run for President of the United States during the 2032 election.

Episodes during the first season focused on different chapters of Johnson’s life – from growing up in a strong and resilient family, to being surrounded by the wild and crazy characters of his professional wrestling family, and playing football at the University of Miami.

“Young Rock is produced by Universal Television, Seven Bucks Productions and Fierce Baby Productions with Johnson, Nahnatchka Khan, Jeff Chiang, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Brian Gewirtz and Jennifer Carreras as executive producers for season one.

Source: Deadline via WrestleView

https://twitter.com/DEADLINE/status/1388191571095564289

The Rock Reveals First Official Trailer For “Young Rock”

Former WWE Champion The Rock has released the first official trailer for the new “Young Rock” comedy series from NBC.

The series will premiere on Tuesday, February 16 at 8pm ET, and will run for thirty minutes each week.

Rock tweeted about the trailer release and wrote, “Our 1st official trailer for @NBC’s #YoungRock. Humbly shaking my head at the wild Forrest Gump-ish life I’ve lived. And man the lessons I learned along the way from loved ones who now walk in the clouds. Look forward to making ya laugh & maybe a little bit more. FEB 16th!”

https://twitter.com/TheRock/status/1354210007361970181

Young Rock will chronicle the formative years of “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson, and The Great One himself will appear in each episode.

NBC gave the series a straight-to-series order in January of last year. Filming on Young Rock began back in November in Queensland, Australia, at locations in and around Brisbane and South East Queensland. The show is coming from Fresh Off the Boat creator Nahnatchka Khan and co-executive producer Jeff Chiang, who wrote the pilot episode together. Khan and Chiang are executive producing Young Rock, along with Rock, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Jennifer Carreras and former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz of Seven Bucks Productions. Daina Reid will direct various episodes, while Jeffrey Walker will serve as co-executive producer.

The Rock, who has said the series will be special and unlike anything else he’s ever done, previously revealed the cast of the show, with details on each character they will be playing, including the role of his late father, WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson. You can click here for that reveal.

The Rock Biography Coming Out Later This Month

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: The People’s Champion – From WWE to Hollywood, a biography on The Rock’s career, is coming out on November 29 in Kindle eBook and paperback format.

The nearly 400 page book features a look at Rock’s rise through pro wrestling and transition to Hollywood. The book includes quotes from friends, family, coworkers, and Rock himself.

Below is the full press release:

FINALLY… from the author of the highly regarded Owen Hart: King of Pranks comes the wrestling biography every WWE fan and the millions… and millions of Rock fanatics around the world have been waiting for!

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: The People’s Champion – From WWE to Hollywood charts the personal life and wrestling career of ten-time WWF/WWE/WCW Champion and movie megastar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in-depth for the very first time.

Along with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Vince McMahon and the concept of “Attitude”, the emergence of The Rock was instrumental in turning the languishing World Wrestling Federation, on the brink of downsizing, into a billion dollar entity within two years. With The Rock at the forefront, the WWF routinely broke viewership, box office and ticket sales records. In 2000, The Rock became the most well-known mainstream professional wrestler in the world and in 2001 Dwayne entered the Guinness Book of Records as the highest paid debuting lead actor for his star-making turn in The Scorpion King.

After several years of ever-decreasing in-ring appearances, Dwayne left wrestling behind in 2004 to fully focus on his burgeoning Hollywood career. Despite commanding eight figure sums for every starring role, the mid-2000s would see Dwayne’s career start to falter, with lukewarm critical reviews at best for his creative output. Dwayne had been forcibly separated from everything that had made him and The Rock character an overnight success until finally he decided enough was enough and took back control of his destiny. In 2011, Dwayne would return to his roots, not only as a pro wrestler but as The Rock, and has not looked back since.

Jam-packed with quotes from his friends, family, co-workers and the man himself, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: The People’s Champion is the most comprehensive and exhaustive biography ever created on “The Most Electrifying Man in Sports and Entertainment”. From childhood to getting cut by the Canadian Football League; from Flex Kavana in Memphis to Rocky Maivia in the WWF; from the Nation of Domination to The Corporation; from wrestling’s biggest box office attraction to the highest paid actor in Hollywood. All the big storylines and why they happened. All the backstage manoeuvrings and inside stories. All the on-screen feuds and all the rivalries behind the scenes. All the people that got him to where he is today and the co-workers who did their damndest to hold him back. At nearly 400 pages long, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: The People’s Champion has got you covered, if you smell what The Rock is cookin’!

Exclusive to Amazon, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: The People’s Champion is available from the 29th of November in Kindle eBook and paperback (Pre-order available now in eBook format only).

US Link
UK Link
Canada Link

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Impact Wrestling Bound For Glory Results 10/24/20, The Rock Inducts Shamrock, James Storm In Gauntlet Match

Pre-show
The Rascalz vs. The Deaners

Winners: The Deaners

Matt Striker introduces The Rock who will induct Ken Shamrock. Rock, via video, spoke about Ken Shamerock. Rock has said when he thinks back on big moments in his career, especially early on, is Ken Shamrock. Rock says he was cutting his teeth as a heel and in order for him to be the best bad guy he could be, he needed the best good guy (and badass) who could up his street credit — that was Shamrock. Rock noted Shamrock could have said no to working with a newer wrestler, but he didn’t (when others did). Rock said he had tremendous matches with Shamrock around the world. Talks about Ken going from MMA to pro wrestling. Talks about Ken being a big part of the Attitude Era. Calls him his brother, an awesome dude when he really needed it, and to enjoy his induction into the Impact Hall of Fame.

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1320149521565888512
https://twitter.com/GifSkullIV/status/1320151575180918784

Back to Striker, who introduces Ken Shamrock and welcomes him to the hall of fame. Shamrock says it hits his heart to see the videos sent in to him tonight. Shamrock says it was a long journey and there was a lot of people who helped him along the way. Shamrock talked about getting started with fighting, he thanks Vince McMahon about getting a shot in WWE, which helped mold the wrestler he is today. He said Bret Hart helped him with his character and told him just to be himself and “The World’s Most Dangerous Man.” Shamrock spoke about The Rock and how they sharpened their skills ets together. He thanked Rock for his induction speech. He also gave thanks to his family, and his wife’s patience with how much he was away. Shamrock says without the fans, athletes couldn’t do what they do, so big thanks to them.

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1320151200008970247

IMPACT X-DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
Rohit Raju (c) vs. Chris Bey vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Trey vs. TJP vs. Willie Mack

Winner: Rohit Raju 

“CALL YOUR SHOT” GAUNTLET MATCH (Heath or Rhino must win for Heath to get Impact contract, If they don’t Rhino is gone from Impact)

Rhino, Shawn Daivari, Larry D, Crazzy Steve, Acey Romero, Tenille Dashwood, Kaleb with a K, Havok, Brian Myers, Swoggle, Tommy Dreamer (Road Warrior Animal paint and haircut as a tribute), Alisha Edwards, Kiera Hogan, Taya Valkyrie, Fallah Bahh, James Storm, Adam Thornstowe, Luster the Legend, Heath, Sami Callihan, Hernandez

Winner: Rhino wins and receives a future title shot. Heath gets his Impact contract

Moose vs. EC3

Winner: Moose (?) via knockout

Ken Shamrock with Sami Callihan vs. Eddie Edwards

Winner: Ken Shamrock

IMPACT WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The Motor City Machine Guns (c) vs. The Good Brothers vs. Madman Fulton and Ace Austin vs. The North

Winners and new Impact World Tag Team Champions: The North

IMPACT KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP
Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs. Kylie Rae

Kylie Rae’s music plays, but nobody comes out. Purrazzo laughs and says she’s been telling this tale for awhile about Rae, and isn’t surprised. Purrazzo says she’ll face anyone, man or woman. Su Yung’s music then hits and she’s back! Commentary says nobody knows what happened to Kylie Rae.

IMPACT KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP
Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs. Su Yung

Winner: Su Yung via pinfall to win the Impact Knockouts Championship

The Knockouts Tag Titles are returning! The first champions will be decided at the next PPV, Hard to Kill, on January 16.

IMPACT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Eric Young (c) vs. Rich Swann

Winner: Rich Swann via pinfall to win the Impact World Championship

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1320197640324341765

Transcript via Wresting Inc.

XFL Targeting Return In Spring of 2022

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says on social media that XFL plans to return in spring of 2022.

The Rock is part of group that paid $15 million in August to purchase the league, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April following suspension of operations amid coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and ended inaugural season on March 20 after Week 5 games.