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If Mark Kerr is one of the iconic figures of the UFC, then the man playing him in The Smashing Machine, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, is undeniably the same sort of legend in his own discipline of the WWE.
At a recent event for The Smashing Machine in New York City, BroBible had a chance to speak with The Rock, who stars in the Benny Safdie-directed film alongside Emily Blunt.
With The Smashing Machine tracking the life and career of Kerr, we were curious what moments from his WWE career that The Rock felt would absolutely have to be featured in a hypothetical film about his own life.
The Rock tells BroBible what moments from his WWE career that he’d want featured in a movie about his life
The first was his WWE debut at the 1996 Survivor Series at Madison Square Garden, where he came out under the name “Rocky Maivia.”
“The first one that comes to mind is my very first match in WWE, which was 1996 Survivor Series here in New York City, Madison Square Garden. That’s when I came out as Rocky Maivia, f—– up haircut, blue tassels. The crowd was like, ‘What the f— is this?’ But this interesting thing happened in that match,” The Rock told BroBible at The Smashing Machine 2000 Pop-Up in New York City earlier this week.
“Number one, it was my very first match ever for WWE, ever, certainly on TV. And then I came out, and by the end of the match, no one knew who I was at the beginning of the match. But by the end of the match, something really cool happened is that all of Madison Square Garden was chanting, ‘Rocky!’ And man, I will never forget that moment because it was such a defining moment in my career because I was just a kid who they threw me headfirst in the fire,” he continued.
“And I remember Vince McMahon had said to me that night, ‘You’re going to win the whole thing tonight.’ And I was like, ‘Wait, what?’ Because I was in there with the legends, you know, it was Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, Goldust, Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler, all these guys who really helped me that night. And he goes, ‘I’m throwing you headfirst in the fire, and we’re going to see what happens now. You’re going to respond to pressure.’ So, I think that would be in the film.”
The second portion of his career he’d want featured isn’t a specific moment, but rather, the time he spent “cutting his teeth” in the now-defunct United States Wrestling Association in Tennessee.
“And then, it would be the time that I spent down in Memphis, the USWA, Memphis, Nashville, before I got to the WWE. Vince had said, ‘You’re not ready for WWE, so you got to go cut your teeth down there.’ And the reason why that was important is because that was the territory that my dad wrestled in 30 years, 20 years earlier. So, there’s history there. So, that would have to be in the film.”
Finally, The Rock listed his iconic WrestleMania 18 match against the late Hulk Hogan, which saw the wrestling titan “do the honors” for Johnson.
“And for the other match that would be in there — because I could go on and on—but the one that was very, very special was against Hulk Hogan. WrestleMania 18 — it was in Toronto at the SkyDome. The reason why that was so special is because he, in wrestling parlance and terminology, it’s a thing we say, it’s called ‘doing the honors.’ And ‘doing the honors’ is essentially passing the torch. So, Andre the Giant did it for Hulk Hogan — when Andre *allowed him* to beat him in WrestleMania 3 — I always make sure that I say things like that. And just like Hogan allowed me to beat him in WrestleMania 18, he did the honors, and he passed the torch to me.”
The Smashing Machine, which is earning Johnson Oscar buzz for a potential Best Actor nomination, is now playing in theaters. You can check out the official trailer for the film below.