The Rock: Backstage Politics In WWE, Movies & Beyond

WrestleTalk

If you liked this video, consider supporting us on Patreon so we can make more  https://patreon.com/wrestletalk The Samoan Wrestling Dynasty Explained  https://youtu.be/I6Rdtrvga6A More wrestling news on https://wrestletalk.com/  Written by: Kelly Johnson, Pete Quinnell & Oli Davis Directed & Produced by: Pete Quinnell Presented by: Oli Davis Thumbnail by: Pete Quinnell & Nandi Goodyer Image Sourcing by: Brandon Syres  The Rock’s WWE Takeover: Backstage Politics In Movies, Wrestling & Beyond #TheRock #DwayneJohnson #WWE  Subscribe to WrestleTalk Podcasts   https://bit.ly/3pEAEIu Subscribe to partsFUNknown for lists, fantasy booking & more  https://bit.ly/32JJsCv Subscribe to NoRollsBarred  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5UQPZe-8v4_UP1uxi4Mv6A Subscribe to WrestleTalk  https://bit.ly/3gKdNK3 SUBSCRIBE TO THEM ALL! Make sure to enable ALL push notifications!  Watch the latest wrestling news: https://shorturl.at/pAIV3 Buy WrestleTalk Merch here! https://wrestleshop.com/   Follow WrestleTalk: Twitter: https://twitter.com/_WrestleTalk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WrestleTalk.Official Patreon: https://goo.gl/2yuJpo WrestleTalk Podcast on iTunes: https://goo.gl/7advjX WrestleTalk Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3uKx6HD  About WrestleTalk: Welcome to the official WrestleTalk YouTube channel! WrestleTalk covers the sport of professional wrestling - including WWE TV shows (both WWE Raw & WWE SmackDown LIVE), PPVs (such as Royal Rumble, WrestleMania & SummerSlam), AEW All Elite Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, ROH, New Japan, and more. Subscribe and enable ALL notifications for the latest wrestling WWE reviews and wrestling news.  Youtube Channel Comments Policy We appreciate the comments and opinions our viewers provide. Do note that all comments are subject to YouTube auto-moderation and manual moderation review. We encourage opinions and discussion, but harassment, hate speech, bullying and other abusive posts will not be tolerated. Decisions on comment removal are made by the Community Manager. Please email us at support@wrestletalk.com with any questions or concerns.

Transcript

00:00 At the start of 2024 Rock 'The Dwayne' Johnson pulled off a piece of political scheming

00:06 that would've had Machiavelli himself go "fairer play, son, a fairer play".

00:12 Johnson had successfully negotiated a position on the board of WWE's parent company TKO

00:19 and loads of shares in it, ownership of the Rock intellectual property and, according

00:25 to some, the main event of WrestleMania XL.

00:30 In one fell swoop, The Rock had become head of WWE creative Paul Levesque's biggest

00:35 star and his boss.

00:39 Triple H, once thought to have been pro wrestling's most successful backstage politician, just

00:44 found himself between a rock and, well, another rock.

00:51 But it wasn't always this way.

00:55 Unlike other top guy politicians in wrestling's past, like Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels,

01:01 The Rock stood out in the WWF because he refused to play the game.

01:08 So what happened?

01:09 The quick answer is…

01:11 Hollywood.

01:12 Hollywood happened.

01:14 The longer answer is this video.

01:16 I'm Oli Davis, and this is the Rock's WWE TakeOver Politicking in Movies, Wrestling

01:25 and Beyond.

01:26 Chapter 1.

01:55 The Good Attitude Era.

01:59 As soon as Pat Patterson saw a 24-year-old Dwayne Johnson wrestle in a tryout match,

02:05 he instantly recognised a main event star.

02:08 As Vince McMahon's right-hand man, Patterson fast-tracked Dwayne to his WWF debut later

02:14 that year, where he'd introduce the gimmick that would launch him into superstardom…

02:20 the Blue Chipper Rocky Maivia, complete with tassels.

02:26 So many blue tassels.

02:28 The Rock later said that he was initially apprehensive about the gimmick, but Vince

02:33 McMahon and Jim Ross convinced him it was a good idea.

02:37 He would do what he was told, with minimal pushback, which would remain his attitude

02:42 for the next decade plus.

02:44 After a negatively received one-dimensional babyface run, where many felt he was overpushed,

02:50 he returned from injury in 1997, turned heel and debuted the Rock gimmick.

02:56 By 1998, he was the most electric man in all of sports entertainment.

03:01 Between then and 2002, he won the WWE Championship seven times, had a whole new show named after

03:09 his catchphrase 'Smackdown', and had a WrestleMania trilogy against Stone Cold Steve

03:15 Austin.

03:16 Despite either being the top or joint top guy with Austin for the six prime Attitude

03:21 Era years from '97 to 2002, The Rock had one of the lowest win percentages out of the

03:28 entire main event scene.

03:30 "I spent way too long on the Wrestling Database Cage Match and compared the records of who

03:35 I see as the eight top stars of the Attitude Era.

03:38 I used singles match results from pay-per-view or TV episodes only, not house shows, to

03:44 find out what their average winning percentage was."

03:47 Kurt Angle, who I could only use from his debut in '99, surprisingly had the highest

03:52 at 66.75%.

03:53 Triple H, unsurprisingly, was next, followed by The Undertaker, Kane, Stone Cold Steve

04:00 Austin and Chris Jericho, who spent two of those years in WCW.

04:04 And then, second from Rock Bottom, is Dwayne Johnson, with a 52.95% winning average.

04:12 The only top Attitude Era star lower was Mick Foley, whose entire gimmick was getting beaten

04:18 up and losing.

04:19 As noted philosopher Scott Steiner once said, "The numbers don't lie."

04:24 But what are the stories behind some of those losses?

04:28 At No Mercy 2000, The Rock lost the WWF Championship to a rookie Kurt Angle, cementing Angle as

04:35 a main event star.

04:36 Kurt even later said "The Rock was never political.

04:39 He never got involved with any of the finishes.

04:42 He always did what he was told to do, and that's what I loved about Rock.

04:47 He always took the high road and never tried to go behind somebody's back and get a finish

04:52 changed."

04:53 Triple H, for comparison, reportedly tried to sabotage Angle's push behind the scenes,

04:58 successfully lobbying for the Stephanie Kurt romance Angle to be dropped after that year's

05:03 SummerSlam.

05:04 At Vengeance 2001, Chris Jericho defeated The Rock and Stone Cold in the same night, which

05:09 didn't have the best follow-up, but the intention was there to make a new star.

05:14 Triple H, for comparison, is believed to have got Jericho pulled from his first WrestleMania

05:18 main event the year before, according to Jericho himself.

05:23 And at SummerSlam 2002, The Rock lost the WWE Undisputed Title to rookie Brock Lesnar,

05:30 making Lesnar the then-youngest WWE Champion ever.

05:35 Stone Cold had actually walked out of the company in the build to that match, refusing

05:40 to put over Lesnar in the King of the Ring tournament, although he had his own reasons,

05:45 thinking that should be a bigger occasion, not just a throwaway match on Raw.

05:49 Like Jericho and Angle said, WWF's main event stars in the Attitude Era were fiercely

05:55 protective of their spots, and would use their backstage influence to bury other people's

06:00 pushes.

06:01 Triple H, however, just did whatever the company thought was best.

06:05 Apart from Shawn Michaels.

06:06 Apparently The Rock legitimately hated Shawn Michaels because HBK had disrespected his

06:10 wrestling promoter grandmother a decade before at a Hawaii show.

06:15 Which is why we never got a Rock vs Michaels match.

06:17 But still, he never buried Michaels, he just refused to work with him.

06:22 But main eventers is one thing.

06:23 There's a self-interested argument that you want to make new top stars out of Jericho

06:28 or Lesnar or Angle so you can make more money when you beat them in the rematch.

06:32 I bet The Rock didn't care about lowly mid-carders and buried them all the time.

06:38 Yeah, but just one more thing.

06:41 The Rock did use his political sway when working with wrestlers lower down the card.

06:47 But it was to help them.

06:48 The Hurricane recalled a story on Talk is Jericho about when he beat The Rock in March

06:53 2003, albeit from more Stone Cold shenanigans.

06:57 Apparently The Rock and Hurricane were both due to record some promos for the show, but

07:02 Rock intentionally kept messing up his lines so they would have to do them live.

07:07 Meaning The Rock could go on for as long as he wanted to try and put The Hurricane over

07:12 more.

07:13 By all accounts, the Attitude Era Rock was a stand-up guy behind the scenes.

07:18 Intensely charismatic, yet without ego, high up the card, but willing to help out those

07:23 beneath him.

07:24 I'm sure those traits will really help him when he pursues acting full-time in Hollywood.

07:30 I'm being sarcastic.

07:32 They won't.

07:33 Hollywood eats people like that for cheat day.

07:36 Chapter 2 - Fast and Furious and Fallouts

07:40 There's this theory that naturally pretty and talented people don't really know how

07:46 hard the world is.

07:48 That's why I find life so easy.

07:51 [COUGH]

07:57 From the moment Johnson started wrestling with his natural talent and beaming smile,

08:03 a support system quickly formed around him to help him succeed.

08:06 And when you've got that kind of support, it lets you be unselfish because you'll

08:11 keep getting main event opportunities.

08:14 But that means there might have been some naivety in transitioning to Hollywood, where

08:18 no such reverence for the Rock's wrestling dynasty or his athletic abilities existed.

08:23 If anything, back in the early 00s, being a pro wrestler turned actor was heavily looked

08:29 down upon.

08:30 Oh, how far the chaperone has brought us.

08:33 At that time, there were only really two pathways for an action movie star.

08:37 1.

08:38 Do action movies and then go family friendly, a la Hulk Hogan's Mr. Nanny or Arnold Schwarzenegger's

08:43 Kindergarten Cop.

08:45 Or 2.

08:46 Do action movies and then keep making action movies, but for the direct-to-DVD market,

08:51 like Steve Austin or Steven Seagal.

08:54 The Rock, however, seemed to straddle both.

08:57 After starring in big-budget movies The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King in 2001 and

09:02 2002, he had a run of increasingly smaller-scale action films, Walking Tall to Doom to Snitch,

09:09 which he interspersed with family films The Game Plan, Race to Witch Mountain and The

09:14 Tooth Fairy.

09:15 But even spreading his bets couldn't stop the seeming decline.

09:19 The longer he spent away from wrestling in the 00s, the more his star power dwindled.

09:23 In 2011, he had decided to return to WWE as the host of WrestleMania 27.

09:30 Thankfully for Johnson, this was when he came across another brand that was kind of…

09:36 running out of gas.

09:38 Could've laughed there, Pete.

09:46 Silence.

09:47 In 2001, the same year The Rock would make his Hollywood debut in The Mummy Returns,

09:52 the Fast and Furious franchise launched.

09:55 Its beginnings were relatively modest compared to what it would become, starting with a normal-sized

10:00 cast and physics that obeyed the laws of nature, centring around an undercover cop infiltrating

10:06 an illegal street racing scene.

10:08 That movie launched a franchise that saw the entire cast leave for the third movie, but

10:12 it was the fifth film that would launch the series, sometimes literally, into space with

10:18 Fast Five, and the inclusion of its hottest new character, Luke Hobbs, played by The Rock.

10:26 The movie made over $600 million worldwide, more than the first three films combined,

10:33 and Rock's Hobbs effectively became the franchise's co-headliner with Vin Diesel.

10:38 Fast and Furious 6 would make even more, with $788 million.

10:44 Furious 7 somehow almost doubled that, pulling in $1.5 billion.

10:49 And the fate of the Furious, the fate - they're meaning eight, I love the Fast and Furious

10:54 franchise but I hate their titles - drew $1.2 billion.

10:59 After toiling in the relative movie indies for a decade, The Rock suddenly found himself

11:04 as the world's most bankable film star.

11:07 His Jumanji reboot did $962 million, Disney's Moana pulled in $643 million - you're welcome!

11:16 Even standard action fare like San Andreas or Rampage would make almost half a billion

11:20 dollars if you put Dwayne Johnson on the poster.

11:24 In 2016, 19, 20 and 21, Rock was the highest paid actor in the world, according to Forbes.

11:34 But despite the Fast and Furious franchise being all about family, The Rock's monumental

11:39 success happened at the same time as a rift between him and its original top guy, Vin

11:45 Diesel.

11:46 In August 2016, during The Rock's final week shooting Fate of the Furious, he called

11:51 out his male co-stars for being unprofessional.

11:54 In a now-deleted Facebook and Instagram post, Dwayne said,

11:58 "My female co-stars are always amazing and I love 'em.

12:01 My male co-stars, however, are a different story.

12:04 Some conduct themselves as stand-up men and true professionals, while others don't.

12:09 The ones that don't are too chicken s--- to do anything about it anyway.

12:13 Candy asses.

12:15 When you watch the movie next April and it seems like I'm not acting in some of these

12:18 scenes and my blood is legit boiling, you're right.

12:22 Bottom line is it'll play great for the movie and fits this Hobbs character that's

12:27 embedded in my DNA extremely well."

12:30 Days after these posts, a well-placed source told the Wrestling Observer, I mean, Entertainment

12:35 Tonight, that they were aimed at Diesel.

12:37 Vin had allegedly upset many cast and crew members by repeatedly showing up late to shoots,

12:42 something which, according to the source, Dwayne never did.

12:46 So The Rock decided to create a breakaway faction.

12:50 Just a week after the release of that 8 Fast and Furious movie, Deadline reported there

12:54 were plans for a spin-off film where, in typical wrestling booking fashion, the sworn enemies

12:59 would form a tag team to take on a bigger opponent.

13:02 It was to be called Hobbs and Shaw, as it would only be centred around The Rock and

13:07 Jason Statham's characters, and the rest of 'The Family' would be left out.

13:13 Which prompted Rock's co-star Tyrese Gibson to post in September 2017 on Instagram,

13:19 "If you move forward with that Hobbs movie, you will have purposely ignored the heart-to-heart

13:24 moment we had in my sprinter.

13:26 I don't want to hear from you until you remember what we talked about.

13:29 I'm on your timeline 'cause you're not responding to my text messages.

13:34 Fast Family is just that, a family.

13:37 We don't fly solo."

13:40 And a few weeks later, Tyrese posted again.

13:42 "Congratulations to The Rock and your brother-in-law aka 7 Bucks producing partner for making the

13:48 Fast and the Furious franchise about you.

13:51 Fast Family right?

13:53 Nah, it's about Team Dwayne."

13:55 The Rock would release Hobbs and Shaw, which also starred his tribal chief cousin Roman

14:00 Reigns, in 2019, pulling in $760 million.

14:05 This behind-the-scenes tension resulted in The Rock leaving the franchise altogether,

14:09 with him telling The Hollywood Reporter in 2021, "I wish them well on Fast 9, and I

14:14 wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast and Furious

14:19 movies they do that will be without me."

14:23 Without The Rock, Fast 9 had to add another member to their 87-actor strong cast, who

14:27 just so happened to be…

14:29 The Rock's famous pro wrestling rival John Cena.

14:33 I'm sure Cena's casting is totally unrelated to whatever happened with The Rock.

14:39 Fast 9, whether it was because they no longer had The Rock coming out of lockdown, or because

14:43 it was the ninth film in a franchise, only made $726 million.

14:49 Still a massive success, but half a billion dollars less than its predecessor.

14:54 Maybe sensing they were stronger together than apart, Diesel publicly called for Rock

14:58 to rejoin the cast for the 10th movie, saying that he'd made a promise to the late Paul

15:03 Walker, the franchise's original co-star, who had tragically died in a car accident,

15:08 and that Vin's children refer to The Rock as "Uncle Dwayne".

15:12 The Rock did not appreciate that approach, though, as he told CNN,

15:16 "Vin's recent public post was an example of his manipulation.

15:19 I didn't like that he brought up his children in the post as well as Paul Walker's death.

15:25 Leave them out of it.

15:26 We had spoken months ago about this and came to a clear understanding."

15:31 So naturally, The Rock made a surprise cameo in the end credits of the 10th Fast and Furious

15:35 movie - spoiler - with Rock sharing news on Twitter not long after the movie's release.

15:40 The next Fast and Furious film you'll see the legendary lawman in will be the Hobbs

15:45 movie that will serve as a fresh, new chapter and set up for Fast 10 Part 2.

15:51 Last summer, Vin and I put all the past behind us.

15:54 I'm not coming down on either side of the rift here.

15:57 I'm laying out what happened with the Fast and Furious franchise to see how it might

16:01 have affected The Rock's future decision making.

16:04 Unlike in WWE, where he was happy to go out there and do his job, sometimes THE job, maybe

16:11 Dwayne realised to continue his success, he'd need to wield as much behind-the-scenes power

16:16 as his characters did on screen.

16:19 Which brings us to one of the most mismanaged pieces of intellectual property of recent

16:24 times - the DC Extended Universe.

16:29 Before we get into that, though, here's a word from this video's sponsors…

16:33 Us!

16:35 Sign up at Patreon.com/wrestletalk and you'll get access to our exclusive deep dive show

16:40 WrestleTalk Extra, where Luke and I are exploring the break-up of the Shield and all the other

16:45 craziness that happened in 2014 WWE.

16:48 Here's a clip.

16:49 "There's only one thing that we need to talk about here, and that's Blue Teaster.

16:55 Blue Teaster.

16:56 That is, Dave, Dave, Dave Blue himself.

17:00 It's the funniest, because Triple H and Randy all come out in their cool black trunks,

17:09 ooh it's so cool, and there's Baby Blue Batista with his hair all grown out and his

17:16 beard and he's got his long arm pads on and he just, look at him, let's get a picture

17:23 of it."

17:25 CHAPTER 3 - ROCK VS SUPERMAN

17:30 Way back in 2007, New Line Cinema were developing a movie based on DC's magical superhero

17:36 Shazam, and they were in talks with Rocky to play the character's arch-nemesis Black

17:41 Adam - who The Rock was such a big fan of, he thought was called Black Atom.

17:45 "Up and Atom.

17:47 Up and At-them."

17:49 The project was stuck in developmental limbo when New Line Cinema was absorbed by Warner

17:53 Bros, but upon seeing the success of Marvel's cinematic universe, DC decided they'd do

17:58 it themselves, but way worse, announcing their own extended universe with Shazam in its official

18:05 line-up, and The Rock still set for the role of Black Adam.

18:09 But this wasn't 2007 anymore, and thanks to the Fast and Furious franchise, The Rock

18:15 was now one of the biggest stars on the planet.

18:18 Warner Bros executives were worried about casting someone so popular as a villain and

18:23 not the lead.

18:25 Especially because both of their movies by that point, Batman V Superman and Suicide

18:29 Squad were critical disasters.

18:32 So after a meeting in January 2017, it was decided Shazam would be split into two films,

18:39 Shazam and Black Adam, with The Rock's own production company making the latter.

18:45 Oh yeah, The Rock had his own production company by this point.

18:49 Founded in 2012 with his ex-wife Dani Garcia, Seven Bucks Productions had been making TV

18:54 shows like The Hero and Ballers.

18:56 But around the same time The Rock shot on his Fast and Furious co-stars in 2016, the

19:01 company moved into producing Rock-led movies, with Baywatch as its first fiction feature.

19:08 Perhaps frustrated as an actor in someone else's production, he decided to do it himself.

19:14 Jumanji, Rampage, Skyscraper, Fighting with My Family, then Shazam, then Hobson Shaw,

19:21 Seven Bucks was on a run of making decently received, commercially successful movies.

19:26 DC, however, just couldn't replicate the magic that was working for Marvel.

19:31 Aquaman, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman were all fun, but they lacked the coherent universe

19:36 that was driving audiences to see any film with MCU plastered on top of it.

19:42 DC needed a leader, and The Rock wanted it to be him.

19:47 And if you're The Rock at this time, there is a very compelling case you are the guy

19:52 for the job.

19:53 Highest paid actor in the world?

19:55 Check.

19:56 Provable draw in an action film franchise?

19:58 Check.

19:59 A bankable history of movie production?

20:01 Check.

20:02 A brand so strong you can just launch your own tequila and sell 600,000 cases in its

20:08 first year?

20:09 Check.

20:10 DC arguably needed The Rock more than The Rock needed DC, and he used that leverage

20:16 to attempt to control the entire franchise's creative direction.

20:21 A creative direction that he envisioned being built around him.

20:26 Yes, that does sound like every wrestling promoter you've ever heard of.

20:31 Using his pro wrestling smarts, The Rock's long-term vision for DC was to build to a

20:36 Wrestlemania level main event.

20:38 Gone was the original plan of Shazam and Black Adam having their own solo movies to build

20:43 to a vs one, Shazam was just a midcarder.

20:46 As a pro wrestler, The Rock wanted the biggest match possible.

20:50 He wanted Black Adam vs Superman.

20:55 I think mine and The Rock's interpretations of the Black Adam character are quite different.

20:59 I've been reading DC for over a quarter of a century, including the Black Adam redefining

21:04 arc in the 52 series.

21:07 Here my omnibus copies of said storyline, these right here are why Davis was fighting

21:12 off the ladies in his early 20s.

21:15 So cool.

21:16 So hot.

21:17 To me, Teth Adam is a super violent villain, but with a consistent moral code, prioritising

21:25 the Middle Eastern country he rules over everything else.

21:28 Like Dr Doom and Latveria in Marvel.

21:31 Something noble about that, right?

21:33 Even if it does lead him very often to do some very bad things and aligning himself

21:37 with some very bad people.

21:39 But I've always felt that The Rock saw Black Adam as the Scorpion King.

21:44 And even when he was supposed to be building a match against Shazam, he was still posting

21:49 about taking on Superman.

21:51 As a kid, Superman was the hero I always wanted to be.

21:54 But a few years into my fantasy, I realised that Superman was the hero I could never be.

22:00 I was too rebellious, too rambunctious, too resistant to convention and authority.

22:06 Despite my troubles, I was still a good kid with a good heart.

22:09 I just liked to do things my way.

22:12 Now years later as a man, with the same DNA I had as a kid, my superhero dreams have come

22:18 true.

22:19 I'm honoured to join the iconic DC Universe, and it's a true pleasure to become Black

22:25 Adam.

22:27 Black Adam is blessed by magic with the powers equal to Superman, but the difference is he

22:31 doesn't toe the mark or walk the line.

22:34 He's a rebellious, one of a kind superhero who'll always do what's right for the people,

22:39 but he does it his way.

22:41 Truth and justice.

22:43 The Black Adam way.

22:45 It meant we never really got a Black Adam movie that honoured the comics.

22:48 We got The Scorpion King 6.

22:51 Yes, you heard me right.

22:53 There have been FOUR other Scorpion King direct-to-DVD movies since the original, none of which star

23:00 The Rock.

23:01 Although, Untitled Reboot is in development, produced by, guess who, Dwayne Johnson.

23:09 The Rock teased something big was up in his official filming rap post on Black Adam on

23:14 Instagram, saying "The hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is changing."

23:20 You could take that post to refer to the character of Black Adam, but it also reflected what

23:24 was reportedly going on behind the scenes.

23:28 Deadline reported in 2023, following DC owners Warner Bros merging with Discovery, that The

23:34 Rock went around DC executives to go right to the very top, pitching his vision of a

23:39 multi-year Black Adam vs Superman saga to the company's new CEO, David Zaslav.

23:46 The same David Zaslav who supposedly once called CM Punk 'One Bill Phil'.

23:52 This was thought to be The Rock and his team making a play to take control of the DC Movie

23:57 Verse.

23:58 The Rock also allegedly pushed for a producing credit on DC League of Super Pets, even though

24:03 he reportedly did very little producing or promoting of the movie, and also allegedly

24:09 turned down cameo appearances in the second Shazam movie and The Flash movie.

24:14 Which is kind of the movie equivalent of saying you're not going to put over Chris Jericho

24:17 and Kurt Angle.

24:18 Perhaps Rock didn't want his Black Adam to be tainted by those tortured projects.

24:24 It was Shazam Fury of the Gods.

24:26 Next week, in Winnipeg.

24:29 It was enough for The Rock to get his wish.

24:32 Even though the previous DC Films head had made the call in 2018 to find a new actor

24:37 to play the role, Henry Cavill returned as Superman in the post-credits scene for Black

24:42 Adam.

24:43 Cavill, coincidentally, was managed by Danny Garcia, Rock's ex-wife and business partner.

24:49 The attempted power grab didn't go down well inside DC, but if Black Adam was a success,

24:55 perhaps that wouldn't matter.

24:57 Unfortunately for The Rock, the movie was badly received both commercially and critically,

25:02 making only $391 million from a $235 million budget.

25:08 A Hollywood reporter noted it would be "lucky to break even".

25:12 Deadline later reported that Black Adam would ultimately turn a profit of $52-72 million,

25:17 but even that's questionable, as a later report claimed several Warner executives suspected

25:24 The Rock's team of inflating the numbers and sending inaccurate figures to save face.

25:30 Inflating numbers?

25:31 Rock, stop being so pro-wrestling.

25:34 With The Rock's increasing demands, Warner Bros Discovery decided the returns on using

25:39 him just weren't there anymore, meaning the end for the fantasy booking of Rock vs

25:44 Superman on the big screen.

25:47 Henry Cavill officially announced he was leaving the Superman role entirely, and DC would instead

25:52 go with James Gunn to lead their creative direction moving forward.

25:57 Gunn would later tell the Hollywood Reporter he believed Cavill was getting "dicked

26:01 around" by a lot of people, including "the former regime at this company".

26:05 The same time Cavill split from his long-term manager, Danny Garcia, who again is The Rock's

26:11 ex-wife and business partner.

26:13 Weather Sun claimed, "Henry and Danny have worked together for years, but recently things

26:18 haven't been going as smoothly.

26:21 Things have become muddled."

26:23 Gunn also announced that Black Adam would not be factored into the new look DC going

26:27 forward, and two high-level Hollywood insiders told The Wrap, "Dwayne tries to sell himself

26:33 as bigger than the movie.

26:35 He's one of the few people who always thinks he's the most important person in any situation

26:41 or room."

26:42 In one of those delicious bits of irony, one of the only actor/character combos James Gunn

26:47 confirmed will stay on in his new DC was again The Rock's famous pro wrestling rival John

26:54 Cena, meaning Cena has kind of now replaced Rock in his two main franchises.

26:59 For what it's worth, The Rock still maintains that Black Adam was a success, and has said

27:05 publicly that the only reason a sequel isn't being made is because it got caught up in

27:10 a "vortex of leadership", which is different to the vortex of midcard-ship.

27:14 Rock explained this viewpoint on Kevin Hart's podcast.

27:17 "It's like new ownership coming in and buying an NFL team going, 'All right, not

27:21 my head coach, not my quarterback.

27:24 Doesn't matter how many times we won the Super Bowl.

27:27 Doesn't matter how many rings we got.

27:29 I'm going with somebody else.'"

27:31 The Rock seemingly forgetting he had not won the Super Bowl, had made Black Adam.

27:36 For a full decade in Hollywood, The Rock could do no wrong.

27:40 Even Baywatch made money, but had now been kicked off his big superhero franchise.

27:44 A personal rift had broken him away from Fast and Furious.

27:48 His TV show Young Rock was cancelled after three seasons, and his films like Red Notice

27:54 and Jungle Cruise were becoming increasingly expensive and negatively received.

27:59 So why not return to the place where he had enough influence to control his own destiny?

28:05 Why not finally go back…

28:08 Home?

28:11 CHAPTER 4 - HOLLYWOOD ROCK IN WWE

28:16 The Rock and Ari Emanuel, the CEO of Endeavor, TKO's parent company, which owns WWE, had

28:22 been friends for years.

28:24 The Rock was even a client of Endeavor's WME agency for almost 13 years, and going

28:29 back even longer was Rock's friendship with now-WWE President Nick Khan, who he'd been

28:34 friends with since childhood.

28:36 Nick's sister Nenatchka was also a co-creator of The Rock's Young Rock TV series.

28:41 So in January 2024, it was announced Dwayne Johnson joined TKO's board of directors.

28:47 In return, he would receive the rights to his Rock name and catchphrases, which he would

28:51 license back to WWE for them to make money from - $30 million worth of TKO stock, giving

28:57 him a literal slice of pie.

29:01 And some reports claimed he was promised the main event of WrestleMania 40 against Superman.

29:14 Unlike Hollywood, The Rock could now be a property's biggest star and control that

29:18 company from the very top.

29:21 The problem was, the head of creative Triple H and the millions of WWE fans had already

29:28 decided Roman's WrestleMania opponent.

29:31 Cody Rhodes.

29:32 Five days after Rock was announced as a TKO director, Rhodes won the Men's Royal Rumble

29:37 match and clearly pointed at Reigns as his choice.

29:41 But on the following episode of SmackDown, The Rock turned up, whispered something to

29:45 Cody and took Rhodes' place.

29:48 The live crowd loved it.

29:50 Everyone else… not so much.

29:54 There were a lot of conflicting reports coming out during this time.

29:57 Some say The Rock was promised a Mania main event against Reigns as part of his TKO deal.

30:03 Others said WWE, or even The Rock himself, were just trying to use it as a scapegoat

30:08 to distract from the negative Vince McMahon allegations coverage.

30:12 Yet more claimed it was WWE and The Rock's clumsy, but well-intentioned effort to save

30:17 WrestleMania - with CM Punk and Seth Rollins both injured and Brock Lesnar out due to controversy.

30:24 But it's not like this is the only time this has happened.

30:27 Back in 2013, WWE booked The Rock to beat CM Punk for the WWE Championship, to set up

30:33 a rematch against John Cena at WrestleMania 29 for the title.

30:38 Like Punk famously said in his 2011 pipebomb, Cena might have been good at kissing Vince

30:43 McMahon's ass.

30:44 I don't know if you're as good as Dwayne, though.

30:46 He's a pretty good ass kisser.

30:49 Always was.

30:51 And still is.

30:52 But in 2024, The Rock and WWE lent in to the negative fan reaction they'd created, and

30:58 used it to fuel something even greater.

31:01 Turning Rock heel, joining the Bloodline, reinforcing that Samoan Dynasty heritage,

31:06 reverting back to what fans wanted to see.

31:09 We have a whole video dedicated to the entire Samoan Dynasty family tree explained by the

31:14 way, you can check that out in the video description.

31:17 The Rock got his WrestleMania main event, teaming with Reigns against Cody and Seth

31:21 Rollins on Night One, to be involved in the Reigns vs. Rhodes match main eventing Night

31:26 Two.

31:27 The word 'politicking' gets a bad name.

31:29 It's usually used for nefarious self-interested plots from the likes of Machiavelli, Game

31:34 of Thrones' Littlefinger or, most devilishly of all, Triple H. But sometimes, when the

31:39 results of politicking are so enjoyable, people don't tend to refer to it by that name.

31:45 While the initial Cody replacement booking was badly judged, The Rock pivoted and then

31:49 used his corporate position and on-screen character to get away with things no other

31:54 WWE wrestler was allowed to - from going overtime in his segments to frequently using profanity

32:00 on TV despite it being a PG product - but it makes for great sports entertainment.

32:07 The Rock's uniquely politicked position to be in control on and off screen is the reason

32:12 why he can do this.

32:13 He can do whatever he wants.

32:16 In over 25 years, The Rock hasn't much changed in his on-screen abilities.

32:21 He was the fully formed, most electric man in all of sports entertainment from two years

32:25 in.

32:26 But the experience of reaching the very top of Hollywood, falling out with fellow megastar

32:31 actors, the biggest of movie studios and losing his most treasured franchises has changed

32:36 the way he operates behind the scenes.

32:39 He's become a very effective backstage politician.

32:42 And maybe, one day, he'll transfer that to being an on-screen politician.

32:48 As while Black Adam was bombing at the box office, Johnson claimed multiple political

32:52 parties in the United States approached him to see if he would run for President, following

32:59 a poll that revealed 46% of Americans would support his campaign.

33:05 And count me, and I hope all of you, as in that 46%.

33:10 Because I am Oli Davis, and I support The Rock for President of the United States.

33:19 Ok, right, let's go all the way back up, hop over to the MyVIA side, down two generations,

33:31 and there we are.

33:43 tryout matches.

Category

Transcript

Recommended