#Dwayne Lawler

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Tales From The Territories Episode 2: Release Date and Streaming Guide For USA, Australia

Tales From The Territories is a Vice Production television series currently airing on Vice TV. The First episode of the show is already released, with a great response from the audience, and fans are already looking forward to Tales From The Territories Episode 2. Tales From The Territories is being produced under a joint project between Dwayne Johnson and Seven Bucks Productions led by Dany Garcia. The best part about the fans of Wrestling is that it is helmed by the same team that delivered the super hit series called Dark Side of the Ring. The interview with the official revealed that a single episode of the show would especially be dedicated to Stampede Wrestling. The creators of the show have worked really hard repeatedly to get in touch with Bret Hart and his father, Stu Hart, who ran the Stampede territory officially between 1948 and 1984. https://twitter.com/VICETV/status/1556720901894406144?ref_src=twsrctfwtwcamptweetembedtwterm1556720901894406144twgr476680519a60be49b4b661d303e8b11a0d9c6126twcons1_&ref_url=httpsotakukart.com035504tales-from-the-territories-episode-1-release-date-when-wrestling-was-real The First episode of Tales From The Territories was titled Memphis: Where Wrestling Was Real, the was focused on Bret. However, has been seen alongside Stampede veteran Abdullah the Butcher. We also saw Dr. David Schultz and Bobby Bass, who was the "No Class" on the show. After this fabulous episode 1, fans are more excited for the release date of Tales From The Territories Episode 2. But before jumping into the release date and training guide of Episode 2, here is the overview of the show for those who don't know. ALSO READ: WWE SmackDown Results (10/07/22): Roman Reigns And Logan Paul Come Face To Face The Concept Behind The Show "Tales From The Territories" According to the official synopsis of the show, provided by the creators says that "Tales From The Territories" will be showing the era before Wrestling stepped up its game on a National Level. The series will focus on how unscrupulous bookers dominated the territories in the United States and Canada. Other than that, the show will also reveal secrets about rabid fans who had complete faith in their favorite and fearless wrestlers. https://youtu.be/INfYgaRQgUw The main aim of the show is to reveal the current trend in scripted shows, unlike the real fight scenes at the beginning of the wrestling mania. The show will also focus on the nuanced relationships that thrive in the world of Wrestling. This show is like a dream come true for fans who have been following the sport for a long time because they will witness some of the greatest moments and stories from the world of Wrestling.  According to the creators of the show, there are many stories in the history of Wrestling that even the greatest fans have never heard of bet can't wait to learn about.  Some great personalities in the Wrestling world, like Johnson, Hiram Garcia, Dany Garcia, Evan Husney, Gewirtz, Lee Hoffman, Guillermo Garcia, C. Whyte, and Chavo Guerrero Jr, are in the production team of the show 'Tales From The Territories.' Tales From The Territories is going to be the first television show to present the world with the hidden secrets of Wrestling and its Wild West era. Who Are The Part Of The Show Tales From The Territories The show Tales From The Territories will be describing the stories starring Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Jarrett, Jimmy Hart, and some others in the cast. Other than that, The Brisco Brothers, Hulk Hogan, Mike Graham, Pat Patterson, Bob Roop, Hiro Matsuda, Barry Windham, and Kevin Sullivan will be part of Episode 4. The casting of the remaining part is still underway, and the auditions were also being held in Canada. Tales From The Territories Episode 2 Release Date: The Second Episode of the show Tales From The Territories is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, at 10:00 pm in The USA on VICE TV. To avoid missing Tales From The Territories Episode 2, mark your calendar with the time and date listed below with your local area time: - For India, it will release at 7:30 am (October 11, 2022) - For Singapore, it will release at 10:00 am (October 11, 2022) - For Australia, it will release at 1:00 pm (October 11, 2022) - For the Philippines, it will release at 10:00 am (October 11, 2022) - For Japanese, it will release at 11:00 am. (October 11, 2022) - For Korea, it will release at 11:00 am. (October 11, 2022) Where To Watch Tales From The Territories Episode 2 Online? Streaming Guide You can watch the Second Episode of Tales From The Territories on the official site of VICE TV. In addition to that, you can also watch Tales From The Territories Episode 2 on DIRECTV.  ALSO READ: WWE Extreme Rules 2022: Start Time, Live Stream & Matches Read the full article

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Bad movie I have Tetsuo: The Bullet Man 2009

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The Rock vs. Mankind (1998)

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12 unexpected times Shawn Michaels hit Sweet Chin Music

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Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American-Canadian actor, producer, businessman, retired professional wrestler, and former professional football player. He was a professional wrestler for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) for eight years prior to pursuing an acting career. His films have grossed over $3.5 billion in North America and over $10.5 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing box-office stars of all time.

Johnson was a college football player for the University of Miami, with whom he won a national championship in 1991. He initially aspired for a professional career in football and entered the 1995 NFL Draft, but he went undrafted. As a result, Johnson signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL), but was cut from the team in the middle of his first season. Shortly after, he began training as a professional wrestler.

In 1996, Johnson secured a contract with the WWF and was promoted as the first third-generation wrestler in the company's history, as he is the son of Rocky Johnson and grandson of Peter Maivia. He rose to prominence after developing a charismatic persona of a boastful trash-talking wrestler named The Rock. He subsequently won his first WWF Championship in 1998 and helped usher the WWF into the "Attitude Era", a boom period in the company's business in the latter 1990s and early 2000s which still hold professional wrestling records for television ratings. In 2004, he left the WWE to pursue an acting career and went on a seven-year hiatus before returning in 2011 as a part-time performer until 2013, before wholly retiring in 2019.

Considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers and biggest draws of all-time, The Rock headlined the most-bought professional wrestling pay-per-view event ever, WrestleMania XXVIII, and was featured in among the most watched episodes of WWE's television shows, WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown. He has won several championships, being a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time tag team champion, and a ten-time world champion. He was also a Royal Rumble match winner and WWE's sixth Triple Crown champion.

Johnson had his first acting role in The Mummy Returns (2001), and played his first lead role in The Scorpion King (2002). He has since starred in numerous successful films, including The Game Plan (2007), Get Smart (2008), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Tooth Fairy (2010), Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), Hercules (2014), San Andreas (2015), Central Intelligence (2016), Moana (2016), Rampage (2018), and Skyscraper (2018). Johnson's most successful box office role has been Luke Hobbs in The Fast Saga films. He first appeared as the character in Fast Five (2011) and helped catapult the film series into one of the top-grossing movie franchises in history. He starred in the sequels, Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), and The Fate of the Furious (2017), as well as the spin-off film Hobbs & Shaw (2019). Another notable franchise starring Johnson is Jumanji, and he has appeared in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and its sequel Jumanji: The Next Level (2019).

Johnson starred in the HBO series Ballers, on which he was also a producer, starting in 2015. The show ran for five seasons and was ranked as HBO's most watched comedy in six years. He has also attained success as a television host, author, and producer. In 2000, he released an autobiography titled The Rock Says... which debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list. In 2012, he founded the entertainment production company Seven Bucks Productions, which has since produced several films. Consistently ranked among the world's highest paid actors, Johnson made the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World list in both 2016 and 2019.

Early life

Dwayne Douglas Johnson was born on May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California, to Ata Johnson (née Maivia; born 1948) and former professional wrestler Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles; 1944–2020). Growing up, Johnson briefly lived in New Zealand with his mother's family, where he attended Richmond Road Primary School in Grey Lynn before returning to the United States. He then attended Montclaire Elementary School in Charlotte, North Carolina before moving to Hamden, Connecticut, where he spent a couple of years at Shepherd Glen Elementary School and Hamden Middle School. Johnson spent his high school years at President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, Glencliff High School and McGavock High School in Nashville, Tennessee, and Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was arrested multiple times for fighting, theft, and check fraud before the age of 17. Johnson also began playing sports, joining his high schools' gridiron football, track and field and wrestling teams.

Johnson is half-Black (African) and half-Samoan. His father was a Black Canadian, from Nova Scotia, and part of the first Black tag team champions in WWE history along with Tony Atlas. His mother is Samoan and the daughter of Peter Maivia, who was also a pro wrestler. Maivia's wife, Lia, was the first female pro wrestling promoter, taking over Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling after her husband's death in 1982, until 1988. Through his grandfather Maivia, Johnson is considered a non-blood relative to the Anoa'i wrestling family. In 2008, Johnson inducted his father and grandfather into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Football career

Johnson was a promising football prospect and received offers from many Division I collegiate programs. He decided on a full scholarship from the University of Miami where he mostly played defensive tackle. In 1991, he was on the Miami Hurricanes' national championship team. After suffering a number of injuries, he was later replaced in the starting lineup by future Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp.

After Johnson graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of General Studies in criminology and physiology, he signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League as a linebacker. He was assigned to the practice roster but was cut two months into the season.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1996)

After his football career, Johnson decided to pursue a career as a professional wrestler. Veteran wrestler Pat Patterson got Johnson several tryout matches with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1996. Under his real name, he defeated The Brooklyn Brawler at a house show on March 10. and lost matches to Chris Candido and Owen Hart. After wrestling at Jerry Lawler's United States Wrestling Association as Flex Kavana and winning the USWA World Tag Team Championship twice with Bart Sawyer in the summer of 1996, Johnson signed a WWF contract. He received additional training from Tom Prichard, alongside Achim Albrecht and Mark Henry.

World Wrestling Federation/EntertainmentDebut and Intercontinental Champion (1996–1997)

Johnson made his WWF debut as Rocky Maivia, a combination of his father and grandfather's ring names, although his real name was acknowledged by the announcers. He was initially reluctant to take this ring name but was persuaded by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross. He was given the nickname "The Blue Chipper" and his lineage was played to on TV, where he was hyped as the WWF's first third-generation wrestler. Maivia, a clean-cut face character, was pushed heavily from the start despite his wrestling inexperience. He debuted on Monday Night Raw as a member of Marc Mero's entourage on November 4, 1996. His first match came at Survivor Series, on November 17, in an eight-man elimination tag match; he was the sole survivor and eliminated the final two members of the opposing team, Crush and Goldust. On February 13, 1997, he won the Intercontinental Championship from Hunter Hearst Helmsley on Monday Night Raw. Maivia then successfully defended the title against Helmsley at In Your House 13: Final Four. He had his first WrestleMania match at WrestleMania 13 where he was victorious in his Intercontinental Championship defense against The Sultan. WWF fans started to reject his character and push from the company. He defeated Bret Hart by disqualification in a title defense on the March 31 episode of Raw is War. Behind the scenes, Hart mentored Johnson for his first year in WWF and refused to be booked to take the title from him. On April 20, at In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker, he lost to Savio Vega by countout but retained the title. Audiences became increasingly hostile toward Maivia, with chants of "die, Rocky, die" and "Rocky sucks" being heard during his matches.

The Nation of Domination (1997–1998)

After losing the Intercontinental Championship to Owen Hart on the April 28, 1997 episode of Raw Is War and suffering a legitimate knee injury in a match against Mankind, Maivia returned in August 1997 and turned heel for the first time in his career by lashing out at fans who had been booing him and joining Faarooq, D'Lo Brown and Kama in the stable called the Nation of Domination. He then refused to acknowledge the Rocky Maivia name, instead referring to himself in the third person as The Rock, though he would still be billed as "The Rock" Rocky Maivia until 1998. The Rock would then regularly insult the audience, WWF performers, and interviewers in his promos.

At D-Generation X: In Your House, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock in under six minutes to retain the Intercontinental Championship. The next night on Raw Is War, Austin was ordered by Mr. McMahon to defend the title in a rematch, but forfeited it to The Rock instead, handing him the title belt before hitting him with the Stone Cold Stunner. The Rock feuded with Austin and Ken Shamrock through the end of 1997 and beginning of 1998. On January 19, 1998, at Royal Rumble, The Rock defeated Shamrock by disqualification to retain the Intercontinental title. Later that night, he entered the Royal Rumble match and lasted until the final two before he was eliminated by Stone Cold Steve Austin. On March 29, at WrestleMania XIV, he defeated Shamrock by disqualification once again to retain the title. The next night, on Raw is War, The Rock debuted a new Intercontinental Championship design and would later overthrow Faarooq as leader of the Nation of Domination to spark a feud between the two. He then successfully defended the Intercontinental title against Faarooq at Over the Edge: In Your House on May 31. The stable would then refer to themselves as simply "The Nation".

The Rock and The Nation then feuded with Triple H and D-Generation X, with the two stable leaders first meeting in the quarter-final of the 1998 King of the Ring tournament, which The Rock won. At King of the Ring, The Rock defeated Dan Severn in the semi-final match and lost to rival Ken Shamrock in the final. The Rock then resumed his feud with Triple H, as the two had a two out of three falls match at Fully Loaded: In Your House for the Intercontinental title, which The Rock retained in controversial fashion. This led to a ladder match at SummerSlam, where The Rock lost the title.

The Rock saw a big uptick in fan support during this time, causing him to be booked in a feud with fellow Nation members Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown, turning babyface in the process. Henry defeated him at Judgment Day: In Your House, after interference from Brown, effectively breaking up the stable.

WWF Champion and rise to superstardom (1998–2000)

The Rock was then entered into the "Deadly Game" tournament for the vacant WWF Championship. The finals occurred at Survivor Series, where The Rock defeated Vince McMahon's associate, Mankind, to win his first WWF Championship. A "double turn" then occurred as The Rock turned heel again after allying with Vince and Shane McMahon as the crown jewel of their stable, The Corporation, after the McMahons betrayed Mankind. On December 13, 1998, at the pay-per-view named after him, Rock Bottom: In Your House, The Rock had a rematch with Mankind for the WWF Championship. Mankind appeared to win the match when The Rock passed out to the Mandible Claw submission move, but Vince McMahon ruled that since The Rock did not tap out, he retained his title.

The Rock continued to feud with Mankind over the WWF Championship, which was traded back and forth between them. First, in the main event of the January 4, 1999 episode of Raw Is War, Mankind defeated The Rock after interference from Stone Cold Steve Austin. Then at the Royal Rumble on January 24, The Rock regained the title in a brutal “I Quit” match, a type of match that only ends if one of the combatants says “I quit” on a microphone. Intended to show a vicious mean streak in The Rock's character, this match went horribly wrong as at the end of the match The Rock hit Mankind in the head with a steel chair eleven times instead of the scripted five- five shots already being a risky amount (most wrestling matches in the Attitude Era involving steel chairs had at most 2 or 3 shots to the head). After the 5th shot, Mankind was still at ringside instead of being two-thirds up the entrance ramp where he was supposed to be, and after the eleventh shot which knocked a bloodied Mankind out, a recording of Mankind saying "I Quit" from an earlier interview was played over the PA system. On January 31, during an episode of Sunday Night Heat, The Rock and Mankind participated in an Empty Arena match, a match that took place in an arena with 22,000 empty seats where any part of the facility could be used to contest the match. After 20 minutes of chaotic brawling in the ring, the stands, a kitchen, the catering area, an office, the arena corridors and finally a basement loading area, Mankind pinned The Rock using a forklift truck to win the WWF title. This match was referred to as "Halftime Heat" as it was televised during halftime of that year's Super Bowl. The two faced off again, at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House, in a Last Man Standing match which ended in a draw, meaning Mankind retained the title. Their feud ended on the February 15 Raw Is War, when The Rock won his third WWF Championship in a Ladder Match after Big Show interfered on his behalf. The Rock then lost the WWF Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XV.

The Rock's popularity continued to grow and audiences still cheered for him even though he was a heel. He then lost the title rematch against Stone Cold Steve Austin at Backlash: In Your House after he was betrayed by Shane McMahon, turning him face again and starting a feud with Triple H, The Undertaker and The Corporate Ministry. On April 29, 1999, WWF aired the pilot episode of SmackDown!, a term derived from one of The Rock's catchphrases. In the episode, The Rock continued his feud with The Corporate Ministry. This led to a match with Triple H, at Over the Edge, which The Rock won, and a match for the WWF Championship against The Undertaker, at King of the Ring, which The Rock lost. The Rock then lost a number one contender's match to Triple H, at Fully Loaded, after interference from "Mr. Ass" Billy Gunn. The Rock then defeated Gunn in a Kiss My Ass match at SummerSlam.

Shortly after SummerSlam, The Rock began teaming with former opponent Mankind and the two became known as The Rock 'n' Sock Connection. They became WWF Tag Team Champions for the first time after defeating The Undertaker and Big Show for the titles on the August 30, 1999 episode of Raw is War. The two performed a number of critically acclaimed comedic skits together, including one called "This Is Your Life", which saw Mankind bring parody versions of people from The Rock's past on television, such as his high school girlfriend and his high school football coach, only to have The Rock insult them. The segment earned an 8.4 Nielsen rating, one of the highest ratings ever for a Raw segment. The two lost the titles back to Undertaker and Big Show on the September 7, 1999 episode of SmackDown! and won them back from them on the September 20, 1999 episode of Raw is War. Rock and Mankind then lost the titles to The New Age Outlaws on the very next episode SmackDown!. Rock and Mankind would win the tag titles for the third and final time after beating the New Age Outlaws on the October 12, 1999 episode of SmackDown! before losing the titles to The Holly Cousins on the October 18, 1999 episode of Raw is War.

At Royal Rumble, on January 23, 2000, The Rock entered the Royal Rumble match and was one of the final two remaining, along with Big Show; In an attempt at a "false finish", Big Show intended to throw The Rock over the top rope in a running powerslam-like position, before The Rock countered the move on the ring apron, sending Big Show to the floor before re-entering the ring as the winner. However, The Rock's feet accidentally hit the floor during the reversal attempt although those watching the event on TV did not see that. This was played up in the storyline as Big Show provided additional video footage showing this fact, and claimed to be the rightful winner. The Rock's number one contendership for the WWF Championship was then put on the line against Big Show at No Way Out, which Big Show won after Shane McMahon interfered. The Rock then defeated Big Show, on the March 13 episode of Raw Is War, to regain the right to face the WWF Champion, Triple H, at WrestleMania 2000 in a Fatal Four-way elimination match, also including Big Show and Mick Foley. Each wrestler had a McMahon in his corner: Triple H had his wife, Stephanie, Foley had Linda, The Rock had Vince and Big Show had Shane. The Rock lasted until the final two but was eliminated by then-reigning champion Triple H after Vince betrayed him by hitting him with a chair.

Record-breaking world champion (2000–2002)

In the following weeks, The Rock continued his feud with Triple H and eventually won his fourth WWF Championship, which he won on April 30, at Backlash, after Stone Cold Steve Austin intervened on his behalf. The following night on Raw, he successfully defended his title against Shane McMahon in a Steel Cage match. On May 21, at Judgment Day, The Rock faced Triple H in an Iron Man match with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. With the score tied at five falls each, and with seconds left on the time limit, The Rock was disqualified when The Undertaker attacked Triple H, thus giving Triple H the 6–5 win and the title. The Rock won the WWF Championship for a fifth time at King of the Ring on June 25 by scoring the winning pin in a six-man tag team match, teaming with Kane and The Undertaker against Shane McMahon, Triple H and Vince McMahon, whom he pinned. The Rock successfully defended the championship against Chris Benoit, on July 23, at Fully Loaded. The next month, he successfully defended his title against Kurt Angle and Triple H at SummerSlam. The Rock had another successful title defense against Benoit, Kane and The Undertaker, on September 24, at Unforgiven.

The Rock then lost the WWF Championship to Kurt Angle, at No Mercy, in October. The next month, The Rock feuded with Rikishi and defeated him at Survivor Series. The Rock wrestled a six-man Hell in a Cell match for the WWF Championship, at Armageddon, which Angle won to retain the title. On the December 18 episode of Raw, The Rock won the WWF Tag Team Championship with The Undertaker, defeating Edge and Christian, before losing it back to them the next night at a SmackDown! taping. In 2001, The Rock continued to feud with Angle over the WWF Championship, culminating at No Way Out in February, where he pinned Angle to win the WWF Championship for a sixth time. The Rock then feuded with the Royal Rumble winner, Stone Cold Steve Austin, whom he lost the title to at WrestleMania X-Seven after Austin allied with Vince McMahon, who interfered on his behalf. On the next night's Raw Is War, during a steel cage title rematch, Triple H attacked The Rock, allying with McMahon and Austin and helping Austin retain the championship. Austin and Triple H then formed a tag team called The Power Trip, while The Rock was indefinitely suspended in storyline. Johnson used this time off to act in The Scorpion King.

The Rock returned in late July 2001, when the WWF was feuding with rival promotions, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), during what's known as The Invasion storyline. In reality, WCW and ECW were purchased by Vince McMahon and the WWF. Many former WCW and ECW wrestlers were then brought onto WWF television and formed The Alliance to compete with WWF in storyline. The Alliance and Vince McMahon then both attempted to persuade The Rock to join their team. The Rock then aligned with McMahon and the WWF. The next month, The Rock defeated Booker T, at SummerSlam, to win the WCW Championship for the first time. He later lost the title to Chris Jericho at No Mercy. The next night on Raw, he teamed with Jericho to win the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Dudley Boyz. The two then lost the tag titles to Booker T and Test on the November 1, 2001 episode of SmackDown!. The Rock defeated Jericho on the November 5 episode of Raw for his second WCW Championship.

As part of the WWF's battle against The Alliance, The Rock wrestled in a "winner takes all" five-on-five elimination tag team match at Survivor Series where the losing team's company would be dissolved in storyline. He was a member of Team WWF along with Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, and Big Show. The Alliance's team consisted of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Shane McMahon. In the end, it came down to a one-on-one between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Rock seemed to have the upper hand, until his teammate Jericho entered the ring and attacked The Rock. Austin tried to capitalize on this by pinning The Rock, but Kurt Angle revealed his true allegiance by attacking Austin. The Rock then pinned Austin, giving Team WWF the victory and forcing The Alliance to disband. The Rock's WCW Championship was renamed the unbranded "World Championship" following the Alliance's loss. At the next pay-per-view, Vengeance, The Rock lost the World Championship to Jericho, who would then unify the WWF and World titles later that night. The Rock then unsuccessfully challenged Jericho for the now Undisputed WWF Championship at Royal Rumble.

At the next pay-per-view, No Way Out, The Rock defeated The Undertaker in a singles match. The event also saw the WWF debut of the famed WCW faction New World Order, which at the time consisted of "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall. This later led to a match between The Rock and Hogan at WrestleMania X8. The match was billed as "icon versus icon", with both men representing the top tier of two generations of wrestling; ultimately The Rock pinned Hogan at WrestleMania X8. Despite The Rock portraying a heroic character and Hogan a villain, a portion of the crowd attending the SkyDome was rooting heavily for Hogan. In an interview in 2013, Hogan said he and The Rock changed the style of the match on the fly based on the crowd's response. After the introduction of the first-ever brand extension, the WWF held a "draft lottery" on the March 25, 2002, episode of Raw. The Rock was the number one overall pick, going to the SmackDown brand before taking a sabbatical from wrestling.

The Rock made a surprise return on a June episode of Raw before going to his assigned brand of SmackDown. There, he was named the number one contender for the WWE Undisputed Championship, which he won for a record-setting seventh time at Vengeance, on July 21, by defeating Kurt Angle and then-champion The Undertaker in a Triple Threat match. The Rock successfully defended the title at the Global Warning event in Melbourne, Australia, against Triple H and Brock Lesnar after pinning Triple H. On August 25, at SummerSlam, after interference from Lesnar's manager Paul Heyman, The Rock lost the WWE Undisputed Championship to Lesnar along with the record for the youngest WWE Champion, which he had set in 1998. In 2018, writing for ESPN.com, Sean Coyle noted in a retrospective review of the event, that following his victory over Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8, The Rock "started to see a dip in fan support" and "that dip turned into a plunge" by the time Rock had his match with Lesnar at SummerSlam because fans knew he was leaving WWE to pursue an acting career. This was evident by the fact that he was met with a negative crowd response during his match against Lesnar. After the event ended, The Rock was visibly angry at the crowd reaction. When he tried to do a post-show speech for the crowd, the fans attending the Nassau Coliseum would still boo him. The Rock then took time off to kickstart his acting career.

Final feuds and first retirement (2003–2004)

The Rock returned on the January 30, 2003 episode of SmackDown! to set up another match with Hulk Hogan at No Way Out. Because of negative fan reaction during his previous couple of matches as a result of his budding acting career, The Rock turned heel again. The Rock then defeated Hogan at No Way Out before assigning himself to the Raw brand. There, he had various small feuds, including one with The Hurricane. He also began performing "Rock Concerts", segments in which he played the guitar and mocked WWE performers and fans in song.

After failing to win a number one contendership for the World Heavyweight Championship, The Rock went into another program with Stone Cold Steve Austin. This led to a match at WrestleMania XIX, which called back to their previous two WrestleMania encounters, both of which Austin had won. The Rock won after delivering three consecutive Rock Bottoms, ending their long-running rivalry in what turned out to be Austin's final match. The next night, Raw was billed as "The Rock Appreciation Night", in honor of his victory over Austin. That night, he was attacked by a debuting Goldberg. At Backlash, Goldberg defeated The Rock, who then briefly left WWE to film Walking Tall.

Throughout the rest of the year, The Rock made occasional appearances, reverting to a face character. In 2004, The Rock aided Mick Foley in his feud against Evolution, leading to a reunion of The Rock 'n' Sock Connection. They lost against Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista in a handicap match at WrestleMania XX, when Orton pinned Foley after an RKO. This would be Johnson's final wrestling match until November 2011. The Rock appeared in WWE sporadically following WrestleMania XX. He made returns to provide support for Eugene against Jonathan Coachman, made a cameo in his hometown of Miami and helped Mick Foley against La Résistance. Later in 2004, he hosted a pie-eating contest, as part of the WWE Diva Search, and ended the segment by giving Coachman a People's Elbow. The Rock's contract with WWE then ended and he started his full-time acting career.

Return to WWENon-wrestling appearances (2007–2009)

On March 12, 2007, The Rock appeared on a WWE show after nearly three years, via a pre-taped promo shown during Raw. He correctly predicted that Bobby Lashley would defeat Umaga at WrestleMania 23 in Donald Trump and Vince McMahon's "Battle of the Billionaires" Hair vs Hair match. On March 29, 2008, Johnson appeared to induct his father and grandfather Peter Maivia and Rocky Johnson into the WWE Hall of Fame. Johnson's next appearance was via a pre-taped promo on October 2, 2009, during the Decade of SmackDown.

Feud with John Cena (2011–2013)

On February 14, 2011, The Rock was revealed as the host of WrestleMania XXVII, appearing live on Raw for the first time in almost seven years. During a lengthy promo, he addressed the fans and started a feud with John Cena. After numerous appearances via satellite, The Rock appeared live on the Raw before WrestleMania XXVII to confront Cena. After he and Cena exchanged insults, The Miz and Alex Riley appeared and attacked The Rock; he fended off Miz and Riley, only for Cena to blindside him with an Attitude Adjustment.

On April 3, at WrestleMania XXVII, The Rock opened the show by cutting a promo. After appearing in numerous backstage segments, The Rock came to ringside to restart the main event between Cena and The Miz as a No Disqualification match, after it had ended in a draw. As revenge for the Attitude Adjustment Cena had given him on Raw, Rock hit Cena with the Rock Bottom, allowing The Miz to pin him and retain the WWE Championship. After the match, Rock attacked Miz and hit him with the People's Elbow. The following night on Raw, The Rock and Cena agreed to a match at WrestleMania XXVIII the next year. They then worked together to fend off an attack by The Corre, which at the time consisted of Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, and Ezekiel Jackson.

The Rock appeared live on Raw in his hometown of Miami to celebrate his 39th birthday. On September 16, WWE announced The Rock would wrestle in a traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series tag team match, teaming with Cena at Survivor Series in November. However, on the October 24 episode of Raw, Cena instead suggested The Rock be his partner in a standard tag team match against The Miz and R-Truth, a team called Awesome Truth, which Rock agreed to the following week. On November 14, during the special Raw Gets Rocked, The Rock appeared live, delivering Rock Bottoms to Mick Foley, who had been hosting a "This Is Your Life"-style segment for Cena, and later both members of Awesome Truth. The Rock and Cena defeated Awesome Truth on November 20 at Survivor Series, when The Rock pinned The Miz. After the match, The Rock gave Cena a Rock Bottom.

Leading up to WrestleMania, The Rock and Cena had several verbal confrontations on Raw. On the March 12, 2012 episode of Raw, The Rock hosted his first "Rock Concert" segment since 2004, mocking Cena in his songs. On April 1, at WrestleMania XXVIII, The Rock beat Cena in the main event after countering Cena's attempt at a People's Elbow into a Rock Bottom. This event broke the record for biggest professional wrestling pay-per-view buyrate. The following night on Raw, The Rock praised Cena, calling their match "an honor". He then vowed to once again become WWE Champion.

On July 23, at Raw 1000, The Rock announced he would wrestle for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. During the show, he encountered then-reigning WWE Champion CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena, all of whom expressed a desire to face him. The Rock later saved Cena from an assault by Big Show, only to be laid out by CM Punk. On the January 7, 2013 episode of Raw, The Rock returned to confront his Rumble opponent CM Punk. On January 11, he made his first SmackDown appearance in ten years, getting into an altercation with Team Rhodes Scholars, resulting in him delivering a Rock Bottom to Damien Sandow and a People's Elbow to Cody Rhodes. The Rock closed out the 20th-anniversary episode of Raw, on January 14, with one of his "Rock Concerts", leading to a brawl with CM Punk. The following week on Raw, The Rock was attacked by The Shield. Vince McMahon then asserted that if The Shield attacked The Rock in his title match with CM Punk, Punk would be stripped of the WWE Championship.

On January 27, at Royal Rumble, CM Punk would seemingly defeat The Rock after the arena lights went out and someone attacked The Rock. Vince McMahon then came out and was about to strip Punk of the championship, however, at The Rock's request, he instead restarted the match. This culminated in The Rock defeating Punk to win his eighth WWE Championship. Punk received a title rematch with The Rock, at Elimination Chamber, with the added stipulation that if The Rock was disqualified or counted out, he would still lose the WWE Championship. The Rock would pin Punk to retain the championship. The following night on Raw, The Rock unveiled a new WWE Championship design, with a different center plate and removable customizable side-plates which had his "Brahma Bull" logo. The Rock then resumed his rivalry with John Cena, who won that year's Royal Rumble to set up a rematch of the previous WrestleMania match between the two at WrestleMania 29, only this time with the WWE Championship on the line.

On April 7, at WrestleMania 29, Rock lost the WWE Championship to Cena, ending his reign at 70 days. Despite being advertised for the Raw after WrestleMania, where it was stated that The Rock was still entitled a rematch for the WWE Championship, The Rock did not appear because of a legitimate injury sustained during his match with Cena, in which his abdominal and adductor tendons tore from his pelvis. Johnson underwent surgery on April 23 to reattach the torn tendons.

Sporadic appearances (2014–present)

In April 2014, The Rock appeared in the opening segment of WrestleMania XXX along with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan. On the October 6 episode of Raw, The Rock made a surprise appearance to confront Rusev and Lana; this resulted in the Rock clearing Rusev from the ring.

The Rock appeared at the 2015 Royal Rumble event during the main event match, where he helped his relative Roman Reigns fend off Big Show and Kane after Reigns eliminated them from the match. Reigns then won the match and The Rock endorsed him in the ring. The Rock appeared at WrestleMania 31 alongside Ronda Rousey, getting into an in-ring altercation with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Rock and Rousey prevailed after he attacked Triple H and she overpowered McMahon. On June 27, The Rock appeared at a live event in Boston where he confronted Bo Dallas and gave him a Rock Bottom.

On the January 25, 2016, episode of Raw, The Rock was in a segment that saw him converse with The Miz, Big Show, Lana and Rusev before he and his relatives, The Usos, got into an altercation with then-WWE Tag Team Champions, The New Day. The Rock appeared at WrestleMania 32 where he announced that WWE had broken the all-time WrestleMania attendance record before being interrupted by The Wyatt Family. The Rock got into a verbal back-and-forth with Bray Wyatt before having an impromptu match with Wyatt Family member Erick Rowan. The Rock won after giving Rowan a Rock Bottom and pinning him in six seconds, which set the record for the fastest win in WrestleMania history. The Rock was then aided by a returning John Cena to fend off Wyatt, Rowan and Braun Strowman. On the February 20, 2017 episode of Raw, The Rock made an untelevised appearance after the broadcast had gone off the air, where he promoted and filmed a scene for his then-upcoming film Fighting with My Family.

On August 3, 2019, The Rock officially announced his retirement from professional wrestling. On September 30, 2019, after weeks of speculation, The Rock announced that he would be making an appearance on SmackDown's 20th Anniversary on October 4, marking his first appearance on SmackDown since October 2014 and his first televised appearance since April 2016. At the event, he would cut a promo with Becky Lynch before they were interrupted by King Corbin. After attacking Corbin, The Rock and Lynch celebrated in the ring.

Independent circuit (2009)

On September 30, 2009, The Rock appeared at a World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) show to support the pro wrestling debut of Sarona Snuka, the daughter of his long-time friend and mentor Jimmy Snuka.

Mainstream crossover

The Rock appeared on Wyclef Jean's 2000 single "It Doesn't Matter" and in its music video. He also recorded "Pie" with Slick Rick for WWF The Music, Vol. 5.

In 1999, Johnson appeared on That '70s Show as his father, Rocky Johnson. The next year, he was on Star Trek: Voyager as an alien wrestler that used The Rock's famous moves.

In 2000, he hosted Saturday Night Live (SNL) for the first time. Fellow wrestlers Triple H, The Big Show, and Mick Foley also appeared on the show. Johnson has stated the success of that episode is the reason he began receiving offers from Hollywood studios. He has since hosted SNL another four times.

In 1999, The Rock was listed No. 5 on Entertainment Weekly's Top 12 Entertainers of the Year. In 2000, Access Hollywood ranked him number six in their list of the Top 10 Celebrities of 2000. That year, Rock was also listed in the Forbes Celebrity 100 and People Magazine's 25 Most Intriguing People.

The Rock was listed Entertainment Weekly's 101 Most Influential People in both 2000 and 2001. In 2001, he was also listed on E!'s 20 Top Entertainers. In 2002, The Rock was listed on E!'s 25 Toughest Stars. In 2003, he was listed in VH1's 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons and was No. 13 in People Magazine's 50 Favorite TV Stars.

The Rock made a surprise appearance at the official Xbox unveiling during Bill Gates's keynote speech at the ongoing Computer Electronics Show in 2001.

Johnson's motion picture debut was as The Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns (2001). The movie broke a two-year record for the highest-grossing single day in film history by earning US$28,594,667. The movie's financial success led to Johnson's first leading role, in the spin-off The Scorpion King (2002). He received US$5.5 million for the role and Guinness World Records named him the record-holder for highest-paid actor in their first leading role.

The Rock has appeared on the covers of many magazines, including Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, and TV Guide. He has also appeared in, and been the cover athlete for, several video games.

As of September 2019, his Instagram account is the fourth most-followed in the world.

Legacy in pro wrestling

The Rock has been listed as one of the all-time greatest professional wrestlers as well as one of the top draws in wrestling history. Many have placed The Rock on their "Mount Rushmore of Pro Wrestling", including Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and John Cena. In "Cable Visions: Television Beyond Broadcasting", The Rock was described as "for a long time, the WWE's biggest star and probably held the greatest international appeal". R. D. Reynolds stated in his book "The WrestleCrap Book of Lists" that The Rock was "the biggest star for WWE from 1999 until 2004".

The Rock main-evented the most bought pay-per-view worldwide in WWE history (WrestleMania XXVIII), the most bought pay-per-view domestically in WWE history (WrestleMania X-Seven), the highest rated Raw in history, the highest rated SmackDown in history, and was part of the highest rated segment in WWE history. His return in 2001 did a 7.1 rating which was the highest rated segment of the entire year. The Rock was also part of the highest rated match of the 21st century. His WWF Championship defense, on May 1, 2000, against Shane McMahon did an 8.3 rating on the regular time and a 9.1 on the overrun making this match the second most watched professional wrestling match in the United States of this millennium, only behind a 12 minute long match between The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin which drew a rating of 9.5 which is the highest rated segment in Raw history.

In 2011, The Rock's return to an episode of Raw generated an average of 4.7 million viewers in the United States, with 7.4 million tuning in during his promo. Raw 1000 was the highest rated Raw episode of 2012 and his segment with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan was the highest rated segment of the show. In 2013, the night after The Rock won the WWE Championship for the first time in over a decade, at Royal Rumble, Raw got its highest rating of that year.

Derived from one of his catchphrases "lay the smackdown", WWE introduced its second flagship program WWE SmackDown in 1999 which later became television's second longest-running weekly episodic program in history. The term "smackdown" was instituted in Merriam-Webster dictionaries since 2007.

The Rock holds the record for most Raw shows main-evented in one year (38 in 2000), most SmackDown shows main-evented in one year (36 in 2000) and tied with Stone Cold Steve Austin (in 2001) for most PPV shows main evented in one year (12 in 2000).

Film career

Johnson entered Hollywood and the film industry, becoming a star initially through his wrestling popularity and noted work ethic. Over his acting career, he has become one of the highest paid and most successful actors in Hollywood. He began his acting career on television while wrestling. In his first television acting job, in 1999, he played his own father in an episode of That '70s Show called "That Wrestling Show". Nearly a year later, he appeared in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Tsunkatse" as an alien wrestler who fought popular character Seven of Nine. While Johnson was away from WWE, the company continued to sell "The Rock" merchandise, and he continued to be featured prominently in the opening montages of their television shows.

Johnson began his theatrical career in The Mummy Returns (2001), The Scorpion King (2002) the action-comedy The Rundown (2003) and the Walking Tall (2004). He played a supporting role in Be Cool (2005) and was the primary antagonist in Doom (2005). Roles in Gridiron Gang (2006) Reno 911!: Miami (2007) Southland Tales (2007). He played a cocky famous American football player in The Game Plan (2007) and Agent 23 in Get Smart (2008). He presented the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 80th Academy Awards.

Johnson became known for reinvigorating film franchises after portraying Marvin F. Hinton / Roadblock in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and reprising his role as Luke Hobbs in Fast & Furious 6; while also starring in true-story films Pain & Gain and Empire State (all released in 2013). That same year, he hosted and produced the TNT reality competition series The Hero, and won the Favorite Male Buttkicker Award at the 2013 Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards. In May 2013, it was announced that he would executiveproduce and star in Ballers, an HBO comedy-drama series about NFL players living in Miami, Florida. By December of that year, Forbes named Johnson the top-grossing actor of 2013, with his films bringing in $1.3 billion worldwide for the year. Forbes credited the success of Fast & Furious 6, which grossed $789 million globally, and Johnson's frequent acting work as primary reasons for topping the list.

Johnson starred as the title character in Hercules (2014) and reprised his role as Luke Hobbs in Furious 7 (2015). He hosted another reality series for TNT in 2014, entitled Wake Up Call, which saw him "lending a helping hand to everyday people who were facing enormous challenges in their lives" alongside guest experts such as Rocco DiSpirito, Jillian Michaels, and Josh Shipp. It was announced that he would executive produce and star in the horror film Seal Team 666, and is set to play Nick Schuyler in the drama film Not Without Hope. In 2016, Johnson co-starred with Kevin Hart in the action-comedy Central Intelligence and had a lead voice role in the Disney animated film Moana, in which he voiced the Polynesian demigod Maui. He reprised his role as Luke Hobbs in The Fate of the Furious, which was released in 2017. Johnson starred in two other blockbuster movies that year, Baywatch and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle as Mitchell "Mitch" Buchannon and Dr. Smolder Bravestone, respectively. In 2018, he starred in two action films, Rampage and Skyscraper.

In 2019, he produced and appeared as himself in Fighting with My Family, a comedy drama about WWE superstar Paige and her family, who are also professional wrestlers. Johnson's role within The Fast and the Furious franchise continued with Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, co-starring Johnson and Jason Statham. David Leitch directed the project from a script co-written by franchise-writer Chris Morgan, and Drew Pearce. The film began principal photography in September 2018, and was released on July 26, 2019. Though initially believed to be a part of Fast & Furious 9, Johnson has since stated that he will not appear in the film; instead, opting to begin developmen on a sequel to Hobbs & Shaw. Johnson reprised his role as Bravestone, in Jumanji: The Next Level. With the critical and financial success of Welcome to the Jungle, production on the movie began in early-2019, with a scheduled release on December 25, 2019.

Johnson will star in Netflix's upcoming Red Notice, written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. It will be the third time the two collaborate, following Central Intelligence and Skyscraper. The film co-starring Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds, will begin production in fall of 2019. Production on Black Adam is slated to follow thereafter, in mid-to-late 2020. A film centered around Teth-Adam / Black Adam, a part of the DC Extended Universe, was announced to be in development January 2017. Originally cast in the role as early as September 2014 as the antagonist, in a film centered around the superhero Billy Batson / Shazam, his villainous role for Shazam! was re-worked into two separate films. Though Johnson would not appear in Shazam!, he served as a producer and his likeness was used through special effects in flashback scenes. Johnson will co-star with Emily Blunt in The Walt Disney Company's Jungle Cruise, as Frank and Lily Houghton, respectively. Cast in the role in August 2015, the film was announced to be based on the themepark ride of the same name. Jaume Collet-Serra serves as director, with a script by Michael Green from a previous co-written by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. In addition to his work on the film, Johnson assisted with re-designing the titular ride for all Disney theme parks. Jungle Cruise is scheduled to be released on July 24, 2020.

Noted for his busy schedule and for developing multiple projects at once, a sequel to the box-office hit San Andreas was announced to be in the pre-production stage with director of the first film, Brad Peyton returning as director along with the main cast (marking the fourth collaboration between the actor and filmmaker following Journey 2, San Andreas, and Rampage respectively). Though originally attached as producer and star, Johnson will now serve solely as the former on a film adaptation of The Janson Directive. John Cena will fill the leading role, with Akiva Goldsman attached as screenwriter. Additionally, he will produce and star in a Netflix exclusive film titled John Henry & The Statesmen, as the titular folklore hero. The film will be directed by Jake Kasdan, from a script co-written by Kasdan and Tom Wheeler. With the first official teaser trailer released in October 2018, the project marks Kasdan and Johnson's third collaboration, following Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level.

Johnson will co-produce and star in The King, a film about king Kamehameha Kūnuiākea, founder and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. The project will be directed by Robert Zemeckis from a script written by Randall Wallace. The movie will be comparable to Braveheart in tone, given Wallace's work on both films, and will depict the king's role in resolving the wars among the islands of Hawai'i. The King will begin production in 2020. Johnson is also attached to produce/star in a sequel to Big Trouble in Little China, as well as project under development with Shane Black focusing on a new interpretation of Doc Savage. In April 2018, he announced that he is working on a film that will include Chris Pratt as his co-star. On November 14, 2019, Johnson announced a December 22, 2021 release date for the standalone Black Adam film.

Other work

In 2000, Johnson published his autobiography, titled The Rock Says..., which he co-wrote with Joe Layden. It debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list and remained on the list for several weeks. In 2012, Johnson founded his production company, Seven Bucks Productions.

In 2013, Johnson hosted and produced the TNT reality competition series The Hero. In 2014, he hosted another TNT reality series entitled Wake Up Call. In 2019, Johnson started hosting an NBC competition series called The Titan Games.

In March 2016, Johnson partnered with the American fitness apparel manufacturer Under Armour to release "Project Rock". The first item in his partnership with Under Armour, a gym bag, sold out in a couple of days. His second item, a black T-shirt sporting his signature "Brahma bull" sold out after being worn at WrestleMania 32. Johnson also released an alarm clock app as part of "Project Rock" that received more than one million downloads in its first week of release. Since then, they have released sneakers, headphones, and other apparel.

In 2016, Johnson started a YouTube channel titled "The Rock" with the help of online personality Lilly Singh. His first video was called "The YouTube Factory" and featured several internet stars.

In 2019, Johnson announced he would be launching his own competitive bodybuilding show, alongside business partner and ex-wife Dany Garcia, called "Athleticon" set to rival other long-standing bodybuilding shows such as The Arnold Classic and Joe Weider's Mr. Olympia. The show is set to debut October 9–11, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Personal life

Johnson married Dany Garcia on May 3, 1997. Their daughter Simone was born on August 14, 2001. On June 1, 2007, they announced they were splitting up amicably. Johnson then began dating Lauren Hashian, daughter of Boston drummer Sib Hashian. They first met in 2006 while Johnson was filming The Game Plan. Hashian and Johnson were married on August 18, 2019, in Hawaii. They have two children.

As of 2014, Johnson has a home in Southwest Ranches, Florida, as well as Los Angeles, California. He also owns a farm in Virginia. In 2009, he gained Canadian citizenship through his father. Though he was previously registered as a Republican, he voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 United States presidential elections. He did not vote in the 2016 U.S. election, and is an independent voter as of 2017.

In recognition of his service to the Samoan people, and because he is a descendant of Samoan chiefs, Johnson had the noble title of Seiuli bestowed upon him by Malietoa Tanumafili II during his visit there in July 2004. He received a partial Samoan pe'a tattoo on his left side in 2003, and, in 2017, had the small "Brahma bull" tattoo on his right arm covered with a larger half-sleeve tattoo of a bull's skull.

In February 2020, the WWE announced that Johnson's daughter Simone had begun training at the WWE Performance Center, making her the first-ever fourth-generation WWE Superstar.

Activism and philanthropy

Johnson attended the 2000 Democratic National Convention as part of WWE's non-partisan "Smackdown Your Vote" campaign, which aimed to influence young people to vote. He also had a speaking role at the 2000 Republican National Convention that same year.

In 2006, Johnson founded the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation, a charity working with at-risk and terminally ill children. On October 2, 2007, he and his ex-wife donated $1 million to the University of Miami to support the renovation of its football facilities. The University of Miami renamed the Hurricanes' locker room in Johnson's honor. In 2015, Johnson donated $1,500 to a GoFundMe to pay for an abandoned dog's surgery. In 2017, he donated $25,000 to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. In 2018, Johnson donated a gym to a military base in Oahu, Hawaii. After the 2018 Hawaii floods, he worked with Malama Kauai, a nonprofit organization, to help repair damages caused by the floods. Johnson has also worked with Make-A-Wish Foundation on a number of occasions.

Championships and accomplishments

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

United States Wrestling Association

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment/Federation

Match of the Year (1999) vs. Mankind in an "I Quit" match at Royal Rumble

Match of the Year (2002) vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8

Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1999, 2000)

Wrestler of the Year (2000)

Ranked No. 2 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2000

USWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bart Sawyer

Best Box Office Draw (2000, 2011, 2012)

Best Gimmick (1999)

Best on Interviews (1999, 2000)

Most Charismatic (1999–2002, 2011, 2012)

Most Improved (1998)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)

WCW Championship (2 times)

WWE Championship (8 times)

WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)

WWF Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Mankind (3), The Undertaker (1), and Chris Jericho (1)

Royal Rumble (2000)

Sixth Triple Crown Champion

Deadly Games WWF Championship Tournament (1998)

Slammy Award (9 times)

Best Actor (2014)

Game Changer of the Year (2011) – with John Cena

Guess Who's Back or: Return of the Year (2011)

LOL! Moment of the Year (2012, 2013) – insulting John Cena using the history of Boston, Massachusetts, Rock Concert on the 20th anniversary episode of Raw

Match of the Year (2013) – vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29

New Sensation (1997)

"Tell Me You Didn't Just Say That" Insult of the Year (2014) – insulting Rusev and Lana

"This is Awesome" Moment of the Year (2015) – with Ronda Rousey

[wrestlingatthemovies]

Fighting With My Family (2019)

Biographical drama from WWE Studios and Dwayne Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions about the rise to fame of 2 time WWE Divas Champion Paige.

The film shows The Anti-Diva wrestling on the UK independent scene, in NXT and on the WWE main roster with Impact Wrestling’s first female world champion Tessa Blanchard often doubling as Paige in wrestling scenes. There are lots of training sequences that not only show in ring segments but also promo work and boot camp style cardio work.

The Rock appears as himself in a number of scenes portraying a mentor to the aspiring diva.

WWE wrestler Zelina Vega portrays then WWE Divas champion AJ Lee in the movie's finale; Paige's debut WWE match.

Clips from a number of WWE shows are played throughout the movie including King of the Ring 2001, Wrestlemania XXX and Monday Night Raw.

There are a number of high profile wrestling cameos the most significant of which are by The Miz, The Big Show and Sheamus. Former World of Sport champion Dave Mastiff also cameos alongside someone portraying inaugural NXT UK Champion Pete Dunn as fellow applicants in her WWE tryout scene. Clips of from the Channel 4 documentary The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family that inspired the movie featuring Paige and her wrestling family play over the end credits of the movie.

Featured Wrestlers:

Zelina Vega as AJ Lee

Tessa Blanchard as Paige (wrestling sequences)

JD Knight as Pete Dunn

Actors portraying wrestlers

Nick Frost as Ricky Knight

Lena Headey as Julia Knight (Sweet Saraya)

Florence Pugh as Paige

Tory Ellen Ross as Young Paige

Jack Lowden as Zak Zodiac

Thomas Whilley as Young Zak

James Burrows as Roy Bevis

As themselves and/or archive footage 

The Rock

The Miz

Big Show

Sheamus 

Michael Cole

Jerry Lawler

Steve Austin

Paige

Zak Zodiac

Sweet Saraya

Roy Bevis

Ricky Knight

John Cena

As wrestlers:

Jody Fleisch

Darrell Allen

Nina Samuels

James Mason

Joey Knight

Rishi Ghosh

Nathan Cruz

Kip Sabian

Voodoo Queen Amarah

Robin Lekime

Erin Angel

Flex Maxted

Dave Mastiff

Ligero

Paul Robinson

Lory

Justin Sysum

Scarlett Bordeaux

Wrestle Rating:

5 out of 5 receipts

A heartwarming story that is genuinely laugh out loud funny in places. Its refreshing to see a wrestling movie made by people who understand wrestling so when coupled with some high profile wrestler cameos Fighting With My Family is a must see film for fans of the squared circle.

[noromannet-blog]

Rocky Johnson, father of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson dies at 75

Former WWE Hall of Famer Rocky "Soul Man" Johnson, father of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, has passed away today at age 75. Different media, as well as WWE, have confirmed the news in the last hours. Brian Blair, a friend of Johnson and head of the Cauliflower Alley Club, has reported that the former champion had spent the last two weeks sick, according to the  Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Rocky Johnson was born in Amherst, Canada, in 1944. At age 16 he began preparing to be a boxer, arriving to train with legends like Muhammad Ali, Goerge Foreman, and Henry Clark. However, he went on to prepare to work as a pro-wrestler by moving to Toronto. Johnson stood out for being one of the most agile and athletic talents of the 70s. This contrasted with its great physical constitution, measuring almost 1.90 meters high and more than 115 kilos in weight. Johnson had an arsenal with colorful movements such as his punch combinations moving like Muhammad Ali, in addition to a series of three tall Dropkicks and his finisher, the Boston Crab. His debut came in 1964 in Canada. After a short time, the fighter legally changed his name to Rocky Johnson and continued working in different companies in the country, such as Stampede Wrestling and International Wrestling, coming to team up with Don Leo Jonathan to win the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championships in 1967. Johnson began to attract the attention of more promoters, beginning to accept dates in the United States. In 1970 he moved to Los Angeles, California. There he met and married his second wife, Ata Maivia , the daughter of "High Chief" Peter Maivia, who was a regular teammate. Johnson already had two children from a previous marriage, but in 1972 he had his only child with Ata, Dwayne Johnson . Years later they separated and Johnson remarried, this time with Sheila Northern.

Johnson's career continued to grow in Los Angeles during the 1970s, becoming one of the most prominent " babyface " during the pro-wrestling boom in the city. He continued to accumulate successes in other territories, obtaining several individuals and tag team championships wherever he went, both in Big Time Wrestling in San Francisco and in Memphis Wrestling against Jerry "The King" Lawler. In 1982 he arrived at WWF, where he began to have individual rivalries against talents such as Don Muraco and Greg Valentine. Even so, this stage stood out for his team alongside Tony Atlas, forming "The Soul Patrol". Johnson and Atlas managed to defeat The Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika) in late 1983, becoming the first black stars to win the Tag Team Championships. Three years later he finished his stage at WWF and continued working more intermittently, ending his retirement in 1991. Subsequently, Dwayne Johnson asked his father to train him in the world of pro-wrestling. Dwayne had always been a fan of the business and wanted to enter after not being able to continue his career in American football. "Soulman" was reluctant at first, but ended up training Dwayne Johnson with Ron Slicker. Johnson introduced his son to Pat Patterson, who worked at WWF looking for talents. Patterson decided to recommend Vince McMahon to hire Dwayne Johnson, noting that he saw potential. Rocky Johnson returned to WWE to coach Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), the company's development territory. In 2008 he became part of the WWE Hall of Fame with "High Chief" Peter Maivia. Rest in peace. Read the full article

[vulturehound]

SmackDown Live 20th Anniversary Will Take Place on FOX Premiere Episode

SmackDown Live 20th Anniversary Will Take Place on Fox Premiere Show

(more…)

[wwelivestream247]

The Rock Dwayne Johnson RETURNING To WWE?! Ex WWE Star ARRESTED! | WrestleTalk News July 2018

The Rock Dwayne Johnson RETURNING To WWE?! Ex WWE Star ARRESTED! | WrestleTalk News July 2018

Click Here to See WWE Live Stream Event (SmackDown) The Rock Dwayne Manley Returning To WWE?! Ex WWE Star Arrested and more on this WrestleTalk News July 2018� VISIT WRESTLETALK. COM TODAY! Subscribe to WrestleTalk!

Raw rankings, via Wrestling Observer :

Smackdown Live ratings, through Wrestling Observer –

Miz and Mrs ratings, through Wrestling Inc –

The particular Rock Dwayne Johnson time for…

[placetobenation]

SmackDown on Fox Episode #1

SmackDown Episode # 1,050

Los Angeles, CA – Staples Center

10/4/19

It has been over a year since the announcement was made and now we have finally made it to the night when SmackDown returns to network television on Friday nights as it makes it’s long awaited premiere on the Fox network. Not only will SmackDown be celebrating the move to Fox but it will also be celebrating its 20th Anniversary. This won’t just be any season premiere as WWE announced that this will be a star studded event with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, The Undertaker, Steve Austin, and the man whom’s catchphrase the show was built around Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson featured on the show. In addition there is a stacked card for the show including a WWE Championship match that features Brock Lesnar wrestling on TV for the first time in 15 years.

Prior to SmackDown there was a half hour pre show from outside of the Staples Center that showed the superstars arriving at the arena and walking the blue carpet. There were also several interviews with various superstars who gave their thoughts on SmackDown moving to Fox. Renee Young and Booker T interviewed New Day which led to the big reveal of the brand new SmackDown set which is huge and looks better than the new Raw set that was revealed earlier this week. WWE did a great job of using both their own announcers as well as announcers from Fox to conduct these interviews, I hope this continues as it makes WWE feel major league to have real sports announcers like Erin Andrews involved in the product. I will give the Fox announcers credit as on this night it felt like they were treating this show as an equal to any other sport they cover and didn’t come off as if the show were below them which was a relief after the Rey Mysterio and Nacho Libre comparisons that were made last week. 

SmackDown opens with Vince and Stephanie McMahon coming out onto the stage to welcome us to the show and then it cuts to the  new SmackDown intro video which looked really good and the theme “Are You Ready” by AC/DC was a really good choice of song for the show. 

We are shown the announcers and much to my surprise there is no Renee Young. I was under the impression that she would still be at the announce table but would have a different role, but that wasn’t to be so to say that I was disappointed to only see Michael Cole and Cory Graves sitting there would be an understatement. The fact that SmackDown is now a two man booth has to mean that Jerry Lawler eventually gets the boot from the Raw announce team pretty soon and that will be a great improvement as I do believe that Vic Joseph and Dio Maddin can handle things on the red brand all by themselves. 

“The Man” Becky Lynch comes out to start the show and talks about how much she loves SmackDown and how SmackDown is where she broke through the glass ceiling and became who she is today and the fans helped her the entire time and she wants to repay the favor by kicking some ass tonight. Becky is interrupted by King Corbin, but before he can even enter the ring he is interrupted by “The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment” The Rock. 

The Rock and Becky make jokes at Corbin’s expense which include Rock calling him a “broke-ass Burger King on crack”. Corbin tries to retort but it’s no use as Rock and Becky tear him a new one at every chance. Rock tells Corbin not to take the whole king gimmick so seriously, after all you don’t see Becky walking around carrying a giant pair of testicles to which Becky replies that if she did, they would be way bigger than the set that Corbin has. The Rock actually let Becky hit his “It Doesn’t Matter What You Think” line which got a nice pop from the crowd. Rocky runs down Corbin’s accomplishments and Becky suggests that Rock is trying to say that Corbin is a Super Tough Dude and Rock agrees with that, in fact, he says that from now on when Corbin enters any arena the fans will be chanting STD at him and Becky replies that that will indeed stick to Corbin for life. Corbin starts taking off his robe and crown and then goes to attack Rock but Becky grabs him and both Becky and The Rock beat up on Corbin with Becky hitting her rotating leg drop and The Rock hitting both a People’s Elbow and a Rock Bottom before closing the segment with “If Ya Smell What The Rock Is Cooking” and celebrating with Becky.

This was a really fun way to open the show and a great use of The Rock to put Becky over even more than she already is as she went out there and was seen as equal to one of the biggest stars in WWE history and currently one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. This segment added more fuel to the rocket that is pushing Becky to the moon. According to rumors this segment was originally supposed to be just Rock and Corbin, but The Rock requested to work with Becky, if this is true that is huge for Becky as this would be the third WWE legend to endorse her on tv as both John Cena and Steve Austin have done so previously with Austin even allowing Becky to give him the Stunner on his own “Straight Up Steve Austin” show. 

We come back from a commercial and we cut to the crowd for the first of many celebrity sightings of the evening as we see the beautiful Trish Stratus, Lita, & Maria Menounos who is now rocking pink hair. Match #1: Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair vs Sasha Banks & Bayley

Bayley takes a cheap shot at Becky, who is in the corner, but Charlotte makes her pay for that as she delivers some chops and kicks to Bayley in the corner. Charlotte tries for her version of the snap suplex, but Bayley counters and slams Charlotte to the mat by her hair before dragging her into the corner and tagging in Sasha. Sasha and Bayley send Charlotte hard into the corner and then Sasha follows up with a snapmare and a running meteora to a seated Charlotte which got a 2 count. Charlotte comes back with a series of chops until she loses focus for a second which allows Sasha to get out of the ring and onto the apron where she tries for a shoulder block but Charlotte moves and lands a couple of kicks that send Sasha to the floor. Charlotte goes up to the top but Bayley tries to cut her off only to be knocked to the floor by a forearm from Becky, however Bayley quickly recovers and shoves Charlotte off the top and to the floor as we go to commercial with Sasha and Bayley celebrating what they had just done to Charlotte.

As we come back from commercial Charlotte is in the ring with Bayley and it seems like Charlotte must have been worked over during the break as we quickly get a hot tag to Becky. Becky hits a clothesline on Bayley and then goes after Sasha but she drops down off the apron Becky delivers some strikes in the corner on Becky and then takes her down with a running shoulder block. Becky catches Bayley and hits her with a Bexplex before attempting to lock in the Dis-Arm-Her but Sasha comes in to distract Becky and this allows Bayley to take control for a second before Becky is right back in control with a kick to the head and a leg drop off the middle rope on Bayley for a 2 count. Becky turns her attention to Sasha which allows Bayley to attempt to get a surprise win with a school girl rollup but Becky kicks out and hits a basement dropkick on Bayley. Beky runs at Bayley but Bayley is ready for her as she flapjacks her down onto the top rope, thankfully for Becky this happened near her team’s corner so Charlotte makes a blind tag into the match. Charlotte hits a charging Bayley with a backbreaker and then hits Natural Selection which could have gotten the win, however Sasha breaks up the pin. Becky gets back to her feet and we have a staredown between Becky and Sasha before they start trading punches which is broken up by Bayley momentarily until Charlotte comes over and now all four women are fighting it out. Charlotte hits the snap suplex she was looking for earlier on Bayley while Becky takes down Sasha and then comes off the top with a dropkick that sends Sasha rolling out of the ring for a breather. That breather wouldn’t last long as Charlotte climbs up top once again and takes out both of her opponents with a diving moonsault. Charlotte rolls Bayley back into the ring and locks Bayley into the Figure Eight and it isn’t long before Bayley is tapping out giving the babyfaces the win. Becky and Charlotte celebrate their win while Bayley and Sasha lick their wounds on the outside. Winners: Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch    Match Rating: **3/4

When these four women are in the ring together you are never going to have a bad match, however compared to other matches they have had, this match was just ok as it wasn’t anything really special or groundbreaking but it served its purpose of showing the new Fox audience that the women in WWE are just as good as the men and that they are to be seen as on the same level as the guys. This match also did a good job of hyping the Raw Women’s Championship match between Sasha and Becky this Sunday at Hell in a Cell, it also gave a reason as to why Bayley and Charlotte will be facing each other Sunday (the match between Bayley and Charlotte was announced later that night) for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

We cut to the back to Erin Andrews who is interviewing The New Day about Kofi’s big WWE Championship match later on in the night. Erin asks Kofi his thoughts about people considering him the underdog in the match against Lesnar, Kofi explains that he has been considered the underdog in every match he has had since winning the WWE title but he just looks at every opponent as a mountain to climb and Brock Lesnar just happens to be that next mountain to climb and overcome. Erin asks if Xavier and Big E will be out there with Kofi and Xavier explains that Kofi wants to do this on his own, the interview finishes with the usual New Day hip swivel with Erin dancing along with them. 

As we come back from break they show Tyson Fury in the crowd and then some highlights of the blue carpet event earlier in the evening. They then show Hall of Famers Mick Foley and Kurt Angle watching the show from ringside. 

The WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins makes his way to the ring, but out of nowhere we are treated to an edition of the Firefly Funhouse. Bray introduces the Fox audience to all of his friends in the Funhouse including Ramblin Rabbit who is alive once again after being killed on Raw. Ramblin Rabbit is dressed up like Seth Rollins and says he is Seth’s biggest fan and warns him not to step inside Hell in a Cell with The Fiend. Bray decides to use Ramblin Rabbit to show Seth what will happen at Hell in a Cell, Ramblin Rabbit it placed inside a cage with Mercy the Buzzard who will be playing the part of The Fiend. Mercy rips Ramblin Rabbit into pieces before Bray picks up Ramblin Rabbit’s  body and decapitated head and warns that history has a way of repeating itself and that it’s time for Rollins to hurt because everyone in the Funhouse has been hurting for too long. 

Shinsuke Nakamura along with Sami Zayn make their entrance as we go to commercial break. 

As the show comes back we see Hogan making his way to his seat beside Ric Flair. 

Match #2: Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura w/ Sami Zayn As soon as the bell rings Nakamura locks in a flying armbar, but Rollins quickly powers up and gets to his feet before sending Nakamura into the corner. Nakamura rolls to the outside of the ring looking to regroup but Rollins takes him down with a series of suicide dives. Rollins rolls Nakamura back into the ring before Sami Zayn momentarily distracts Rollins allowing Nakamura to figure out a game plan. Rollins goes to pick up Nakamura but is met with a flurry of strikes, Rollins avoids being hit with a sliding knee and then hits Nakamura with a Slingblade. Nakamura is in the corner and sends a charging Rollins outside to the apron and tries for a kick but Rollins blocks it and hits one of his own that dazes Nakamura enough for Rollins to be able to hit a springboard knee and then a superkick that just glances off the side of Nakamura’s head. Rollins is looking for the Curb Stomp but before Nakamura can even get in position the lights start going out as The Fiend is fixing to make an appearance. 

Winner: No Contest     Match Rating: **1/4

The lights start flashing and both Seth Rollins (who has made his way up the ramp to the stage) and Nakamura who is still in the ring start looking around trying to find The Fiend before he finds them. The Fiend shows up behind Rollins and locks in the Mandible Claw before tossing Rollins off the stage. 

I thought this whole segment from the Firefly Funhouse to the point where The Fiend locks in the Mandible Claw was really well done. The only complaint I have is that Rollins being thrown off the stage didn’t really connect as well as they wanted as it was kind of hard to tell what was going on due to the darkness and flashing lights. One thing about the Firefly Funhouse that I am interested in (other than wanting to see if they ever turn the puppets into actual characters) is what the deal is with Ramblin Rabbit as he is the only one who repeatedly goes against what Bray wants to hear and keeps pissing him off to the point where Bray is now killing the poor Rabbit on a constant basis and also we need a backstory as to why Rabbit has so many lives. As far as the actual match between Rollins and Nakamura I thought it was really good for the very short time they were given and would like  to see more matches between these two.  

Match #3: Kevin Owens vs Shane McMahon (Ladder Match – Loser is Fired)

Kevin Owens doesn’t even get an entrance as he is already in the ring when we comes back from commercial. Shane makes his way to the ring but KO meets him in the aisle with punches before sending him into the steel steps. KO bridges a ladder between the ring and the barricade and slams Shane’s head into it multiple times. KO sets a ladder up in the ring and goes to climb it, but Shane quickly pulls him down and hits him with a Russian leg sweep. Shane then goes to climb the ladder but is pulled down quickly as well as KO hits him with a headbutt and then looks to throw a ladder at him but Shane ducks and the ladder goes flying to the outside. KO goes for a Stunner but Shane pushes him away so KO levels him with a clothesline instead. KO goes out and grabs the ladder he threw and then of nowhere Shane hits a baseball slide sending the ladder into KO. Shane hits KO with the ladder before cleaning off the announce table and laying KO on it, Shane beats KO down and hits him with the top piece of the announce table before going up top and delivering his signature elbow sending KO and himself through the table. We then go to commercial. 

As we come back from commercial KO has miraculously recovered and has Shane laid out on the ladder he set up earlier between the ring and barricade, KO hits a big frog splash from the top rope through the ladder. KO sets up a new ladder in the ring and goes to climb it but somehow Shane is able to stop him by hitting him in the back of the leg with a chair. Shane hits KO with a couple of chair shots before setting him up in the corner with a ladder propped up against him and then Shane goes up and hits the Coast to Coast sending the ladder into the face of KO. Shane climbs the ladder once again and somehow KO musters the energy to get back to his feet and powerbomb Shane onto a ladder that was set up horizontally in the corner. KO climbs up and grabs the briefcase which saves his job and sends Shane O’ Mac to the unemployment line. After the match KO grabs Shane and tells him he’s fired before delivering a stunner. Winner: Kevin Owens  Match Rating: **3/4

If you are looking for a ladder match full of psychology and limb selling this is definitely not the match for you, but if you are looking for a crazy spot fest with hardly any transition moves in between those spots then this is for you as these two played their greatest hits and put on a wild match with crazy bumps. I look forward to seeing where KO goes from here and whether or not he will keep up the Stone Cold lite gimmick now that he won’t be feuding with a McMahon. We also have to wonder just how long it will be before Shane shows back up on tv, I’m giving it until next week as he will most likely be the Raw representative picking talent for the draft. 

Kayla Braxton interviews Paul Heyman who talks about what happened on Raw when Brock Lesnar destroyed both Rey Mysterio and his son Dominick and says that both of them were in Brock’s way just like tonight Kofi is in Brock’s way and tonight Brock will get rid of Kofi Kingston.

Match #4: Braun Strowman, The Miz, & Heavy Machinery vs AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, & Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler and The Miz start things out and immediately Ziggler is able to hit a Zig Zag. Ziggler taunts Miz and looks to hit a Superkick, but Miz catches the leg and hits Ziggler with a DDT. Miz makes a hot tag to Braun who comes in and makes easy work of Ziggler as he squashes him in the corner, Braun goes for a cover that gets broken up and that is when everything breaks loose as we get everyone trading moves with the bigger stars getting to hit their finisher. Everyone is out of the ring except Braun and Ziggler. Braun runs around the ring hitting all his opponents with shoulder blocks. Braun then goes face to face with World Champion boxer Tyson Fury and Braun puts his fists up looking for a fight until Ziggler comes off the apron with an axe handle to the back of Braun which only stuns him momentarily as he quickly grabs Ziggler and sends him into the ring post and then into the barricade right in front of Tyson Fury and causes Fury to fall back into his chair. At this point Fury is getting pissed as Braun just laughs at him but this distraction allows Ziggler to hit one superkick, but as he goes for a second one Braun snatches him up and hits the powerslam for the win. 

Winners: Braun Strowman, The MIz, & Heavy Machinery via Pinfall   Match Rating: *1/4

As Braun is celebrating with his team Fury jumps the barricade and immediately security steps in to hold him back as Braun laughs in the ring. 

I’m not sure if this match was really needed as there had to be some other way to set up Strowman vs Fury as it made guys like AJ Styles, Randy Orton, & The Miz feel so insignificant to be in a match where they were barely even in the ring, why couldn’t they have just used lower card guys instead of making some of their bigger stars look like extras in a movie. I thought at first that this will be a fun WrestleMania match for Braun that they just set up, but the fact that they are giving Fury a live mic on Raw must mean that they are going to do this match sooner than WrestleMania and that can only mean that we will be getting Strowman vs Fury at Crown Jewel in Saudia Arabia on Halloween Night and that is quite disappointing as this is a match that could’ve been a big draw for WrestleMania, but instead it will be wasted on a show that nobody cares to watch.  

As we come back from commercial we see antics from earlier in the night where EDM DJ Marshmello is accidentally pushed into Carmella and ends up winning the 24/7 title. 

Daniel Bryan will be on commentary for the next match.

Match #5: Roman Reigns vs Erick Rowan (Lumberjack Match)

Roman and Rowan lock up and Rowan is in control early as he hits Roman with a boot that sends him to the outside with the lumberjacks who beat up on Roman before rolling him back into the ring. Roman escapes a powerslam attempt and then ducks a clothesline only to deliver one of his own that sends Rowan to the outside where the lumberjacks were waiting to roll him back into the ring, but Rowan starts fighting with the lumberjacks. Roman runs around the ring looking for the Drive By but Rowan catches him and sends Roman into the barricade. The heel lumberjacks start attacking Roman until the babyfaces comes over and make them roll Roman back in. Roman gets to his feet and is met with a spinning kick by Rowan for a 2 count as we go to commercial.

As we come back from commercial Rowan has Roman in the two fisted vice which Roman is able to fight his way out of with some gut punches and a couple of uppercuts. Rowan sends Roman into the corner where he misses an avalanche and this allows Roman to hit his series of corner clotheslines followed by a leaping clothesline and a Samoan drop which gets him a 2 count. Roman looks to go for the Superman Punch but Rowan catches him momentarily before Roman elbows out of his grasp and then charges at Rowan who is able to get a boot up, but Roman just bounces back off the rope and hits the Superman Punch. Harper comes down to the ring and attacks the lumberjacks until Bryan runs over to attack Harper only to get thrown into the barricade. It’s time for the trope of all the lumberjacks fighting until Roman dives over the top taking out everyone. Rowan grabs Ali and uses him as a projectile as he sends him into Roman. Rowan rolls Roman back into the ring and hits a running crossbody for 2. 

Roman is able to get out of the Iron Claw slam and hit another Superman Punch on Rowan but as he turns around he is leveled with a Discus Clothesline by Harper only for Bryan to take Harper down with a running knee. Rowan grabs Daniel and looks to hit the Iron Claw slam on him but he leaves himself open to get speared by Roman and this was enough for Roman to pick up the win. 

Winner: Roman Reigns via Pinfall   Rating: ***

After the match Roman and Bryan shake hands and are ready to take on Rowan and Harper this Sunday at Hell in a Cell. 

Match #6 Kofi Kingston © vs Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman (WWE Championship)

As soon as the bell rings Kofi runs at Brock and tries for some kind of jumping clothesline, but Brock catches him and hits the F-5 and wins the match in less than five seconds. 

Winner: Brock Lesnar via Pinfall   Match Rating: DUD

As Lesnar is celebrating his big title win Rey Mysterio’s music hits but this time it isn’t Dominick who he comes to the ring with but rather it’s former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez. Cain gets in the ring and takes Brock down before delivering a series of mounted punches on the new WWE Champion. Brock escapes up the aisle and keeps teasing that he wants to go back in, but thinks better as the first SmackDown on Fox closes with Rey Mysterio and Cain Velasquez in the ring as Brock  is on the ramp with fear in his eyes. 

I really don’t understand why Lesnar needed the title if his next feud is going to be against Cain Velasquez as that feud doesn’t need a title surrounding it as there is plenty of story to tell without it. I thought when Cain came out that Dominick had cut his hair and got some tattoos because I had no clue who Cain was as I don’t watch any UFC or MMA unless it is involving Paige Van Zant.  I do hate that Kofi had to lose the title as he was doing a fantastic job as champion and there was still so much more he could’ve done in that role, but we all knew that once SmackDown went to Fox it wouldn’t be long before the strap was around Lesnar’s waist as they want the champion to be someone the mainstream Fox audience is familiar with. I am interested to see where Kofi goes from here, hopefully he is able to stay at the top of the card and not slide back down. I could see him and the rest of New Day possibly going over to Raw in the draft and them being the top babyfaces on that brand as it is expected that a lot of the current top guys over there such as Rollins and Styles could be going over to SmackDown. I think New Day could do some really interesting things with Bray Wyatt over on Raw. 

This first episode of SmackDown on Fox was a miss for me as I had much higher expectations than what they gave us, first off they pretty much bait and switched everyone as other than The Rock none of the legends did anything after being advertised to be on the show for weeks and weeks. If Fox wants SmackDown to be more in ring action and less story driven they definitely failed on that aspect tonight as all of the matches were really short and other than Rowan vs Roman none of the talent got to really show what they are capable of. Ten years from now this episode of SmackDown will be remembered more for the “real” sports stars getting involved in angles rather than anything the WWE stars did on this night and for the  first night on a new network I’m not sure that is the impression that you should’ve left the fans with at the end of the night. Next week will be somewhat of a big show as well and also probably minimal in ring action as it’s time to shake things up with the draft and who knows what WWE will look like when that is over. 

[spartint-blog]

Guy Smarts: Dwayne "The rock" Johnson pays tribute to Brian Christopher, WWE star who died of suicide

Guy Smarts: Dwayne "The rock" Johnson pays tribute to Brian Christopher, WWE star who died of suicide

"RIP brother. Spent all week trying to process the hard loss of my good bud, Brian Christopher Lawler," Johnson wrote alongside the post, which included an old photo of him and Lawler.

On Sunday, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson took to social media to share a heartfelt message of love and admiration for his former WWE buddy, Brian Christopher Lawler, 46, who died following a suicide attempt at the end���

[newssplashy]

Guy Smarts: Dwayne "The rock" Johnson pays tribute to Brian Christopher, WWE star who died of suicide

"RIP brother. Spent all week trying to process the hard loss of my good bud, Brian Christopher Lawler," Johnson wrote alongside the post, which included an old photo of him and Lawler.

On Sunday, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson took to social media to share a heartfelt message of love and admiration for his former WWE buddy, Brian Christopher Lawler, 46, who died following a suicide attempt at the end of July.

 "RIP brother. Spent all week trying to process the hard loss of my good bud, Brian Christopher Lawler," Johnson wrote alongside the post, which included an old photo of him and Lawler. "He became a great friend the day I stepped foot in the small wrestling territory in the south known as the USWA to start my pro wrestling career."

Johnson talked about all the good times he shared with Lawler, including tracking down gyms to get their workouts in.

"We rode together daily (1500 miles per week), trained together at any gym we could find, ate together at any Waffle House off the highway, wrestled together in flea markets to state fairs, shared motel rooms together, and would always dream (and talk shit;) about what life would be like once we made it to the big leagues of the WWE," he wrote.

Even after the two of them made it big, Johnson noted that nothing changed about their friendship: The pair continued to do everything together - and always had a blast.

"Imagine us acting like crazy Wiffle Ball idiots at 2am in the parking lot of the Motel 6," he wrote. "Our jaws would hurt from laughing so hard. Then we’d finally take our butts to bed, hit the gym in the morning, drive 200 miles to the next town to wrestle and start the night all over again."

According to reports, Lawler was found hanging in his Hardeman County jail cell in Tennessee in July after being arrested for driving under the influence, driving on a revoked license, and evading arrest. He was taken to the hospital, where he died the next day.

"I never knew him to be suicidal, but I guess sometimes the pain just gets to be too much for one to take," Johnson - who has long been open about his own battles with depression - wrote in the post.

"I’ll miss you man and the times we had," he continued. "Thanks for being a great friend. Thanks for being my boy."

If you are struggling with depression, please seek professional help or call the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI(6264). If you are having thoughts about harming yourself, call 911 immediately or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

source http://www.newssplashy.com/2018/08/guy-smarts-dwayne-rock-johnson-pays_12.html

[newssplashy]

"RIP brother. Spent all week trying to process the hard loss of my good bud, Brian Christopher Lawler," Johnson wrote alongside the post, which included an old photo of him and Lawler.

On Sunday, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson took to social media to share a heartfelt message of love and admiration for his former WWE buddy, Brian Christopher Lawler, 46, who died following a suicide attempt at the end of July.

 "RIP brother. Spent all week trying to process the hard loss of my good bud, Brian Christopher Lawler," Johnson wrote alongside the post, which included an old photo of him and Lawler. "He became a great friend the day I stepped foot in the small wrestling territory in the south known as the USWA to start my pro wrestling career."

Johnson talked about all the good times he shared with Lawler, including tracking down gyms to get their workouts in.

"We rode together daily (1500 miles per week), trained together at any gym we could find, ate together at any Waffle House off the highway, wrestled together in flea markets to state fairs, shared motel rooms together, and would always dream (and talk shit;) about what life would be like once we made it to the big leagues of the WWE," he wrote.

Even after the two of them made it big, Johnson noted that nothing changed about their friendship: The pair continued to do everything together - and always had a blast.

"Imagine us acting like crazy Wiffle Ball idiots at 2am in the parking lot of the Motel 6," he wrote. "Our jaws would hurt from laughing so hard. Then we’d finally take our butts to bed, hit the gym in the morning, drive 200 miles to the next town to wrestle and start the night all over again."

According to reports, Lawler was found hanging in his Hardeman County jail cell in Tennessee in July after being arrested for driving under the influence, driving on a revoked license, and evading arrest. He was taken to the hospital, where he died the next day.

"I never knew him to be suicidal, but I guess sometimes the pain just gets to be too much for one to take," Johnson - who has long been open about his own battles with depression - wrote in the post.

"I’ll miss you man and the times we had," he continued. "Thanks for being a great friend. Thanks for being my boy."

If you are struggling with depression, please seek professional help or call the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI(6264). If you are having thoughts about harming yourself, call 911 immediately or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

via NewsSplashy - Latest Nigerian News,Ghana News ,News,Entertainment,Hot Posts,sports In a Splash.

[newssplashy]

Guy Smarts: Dwayne "The rock" Johnson pays tribute to Brian Christopher, WWE star who died of suicide

"RIP brother. Spent all week trying to process the hard loss of my good bud, Brian Christopher Lawler," Johnson wrote alongside the post, which included an old photo of him and Lawler.

On Sunday, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson took to social media to share a heartfelt message of love and admiration for his former WWE buddy, Brian Christopher Lawler, 46, who died following a suicide attempt at the end of July.

 "RIP brother. Spent all week trying to process the hard loss of my good bud, Brian Christopher Lawler," Johnson wrote alongside the post, which included an old photo of him and Lawler. "He became a great friend the day I stepped foot in the small wrestling territory in the south known as the USWA to start my pro wrestling career."

Johnson talked about all the good times he shared with Lawler, including tracking down gyms to get their workouts in.

"We rode together daily (1500 miles per week), trained together at any gym we could find, ate together at any Waffle House off the highway, wrestled together in flea markets to state fairs, shared motel rooms together, and would always dream (and talk shit;) about what life would be like once we made it to the big leagues of the WWE," he wrote.

Even after the two of them made it big, Johnson noted that nothing changed about their friendship: The pair continued to do everything together - and always had a blast.

"Imagine us acting like crazy Wiffle Ball idiots at 2am in the parking lot of the Motel 6," he wrote. "Our jaws would hurt from laughing so hard. Then we’d finally take our butts to bed, hit the gym in the morning, drive 200 miles to the next town to wrestle and start the night all over again."

According to reports, Lawler was found hanging in his Hardeman County jail cell in Tennessee in July after being arrested for driving under the influence, driving on a revoked license, and evading arrest. He was taken to the hospital, where he died the next day.

"I never knew him to be suicidal, but I guess sometimes the pain just gets to be too much for one to take," Johnson - who has long been open about his own battles with depression - wrote in the post.

"I’ll miss you man and the times we had," he continued. "Thanks for being a great friend. Thanks for being my boy."

If you are struggling with depression, please seek professional help or call the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI(6264). If you are having thoughts about harming yourself, call 911 immediately or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

source http://www.newssplashy.com/2018/08/guy-smarts-dwayne-rock-johnson-pays.html

[newssplashy]

"RIP brother. Spent all week trying to process the hard loss of my good bud, Brian Christopher Lawler," Johnson wrote alongside the post, which included an old photo of him and Lawler.

On Sunday, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson took to social media to share a heartfelt message of love and admiration for his former WWE buddy, Brian Christopher Lawler, 46, who died following a suicide attempt at the end of July.

 "RIP brother. Spent all week trying to process the hard loss of my good bud, Brian Christopher Lawler," Johnson wrote alongside the post, which included an old photo of him and Lawler. "He became a great friend the day I stepped foot in the small wrestling territory in the south known as the USWA to start my pro wrestling career."

Johnson talked about all the good times he shared with Lawler, including tracking down gyms to get their workouts in.

"We rode together daily (1500 miles per week), trained together at any gym we could find, ate together at any Waffle House off the highway, wrestled together in flea markets to state fairs, shared motel rooms together, and would always dream (and talk shit;) about what life would be like once we made it to the big leagues of the WWE," he wrote.

Even after the two of them made it big, Johnson noted that nothing changed about their friendship: The pair continued to do everything together - and always had a blast.

"Imagine us acting like crazy Wiffle Ball idiots at 2am in the parking lot of the Motel 6," he wrote. "Our jaws would hurt from laughing so hard. Then we’d finally take our butts to bed, hit the gym in the morning, drive 200 miles to the next town to wrestle and start the night all over again."

According to reports, Lawler was found hanging in his Hardeman County jail cell in Tennessee in July after being arrested for driving under the influence, driving on a revoked license, and evading arrest. He was taken to the hospital, where he died the next day.

"I never knew him to be suicidal, but I guess sometimes the pain just gets to be too much for one to take," Johnson - who has long been open about his own battles with depression - wrote in the post.

"I’ll miss you man and the times we had," he continued. "Thanks for being a great friend. Thanks for being my boy."

If you are struggling with depression, please seek professional help or call the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI(6264). If you are having thoughts about harming yourself, call 911 immediately or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

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