Transcript of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson on Career Changes, Jason at WrestleMania, Girl Dads & Jabronis | Ep 159

He was like, Hey, good luck to you, DJ. Great working with you. And I said, Thank you, coach. And then I hang the phone up, and my dad's listening to the call. I said, I don't want to do that. Closing that chapter in my life. He goes, Well, what are you going to do? I said, I'm going to be a boxer. He hated the idea. No. Yes.

Welcome back to New Heights, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, for a very, very special episode, A One Dream Show, brought to you by Peloton. We're your host, I'm Travis Kelsi. This is my big brother Jason Kelsi out of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Shout out to the heights, man. Yeah, baby. I miss Everybody back in the Heights, man. Subscribe on YouTube, WNDY Plus, wherever you get your podcast, and follow the show on all social media @New Heights Show with one S for fun clips throughout the week.

Jason, tell the people how special this episode is.

Oh, we got an absolutely incredible Incredible special guest episode for you guys. If you smell what New Heights is cooking. All right. Without further ado, let's get right into it. I guess we're going to do the intro. First of all, should we call you Dwyane, The Rock, the final boss? Where are we going by these days?

Whenever comes out, brother. It doesn't matter what your name is.

That's right. My guest today is 64 Podcaster from the University of Miami. He was a member of the 91 on the Hury Games National Championship team. You might know him as the 10-time WWE heavyweight champion born from this hit film such as the Fast and Furious franchise Jumaji, Moana, among others, and upcoming, The Smashing Machine. 92% Please welcome Dwyane The Rock Johnson.

Let's go, boy. Good to see you.

Dude.

Could not resist.

You got me, man. You got me. Good to see you, dude.

Well, thank you so much for coming on, man. You're one of our icon guests. We've always wanted to have you on this show, man, to just shoot the shit with your brother. This is so cool because this movie is unbelievable. The Smashing Machine, the story of Mark Kerr, the legendary UFC fighter in the beginning days of the UFC, right?

Yeah, in the beginning days.

I'm very interested. What was it about Mark Kerr that really Did you know of him before the script or before the movie came to you or the opportunity came to you or how it all came about and just what you knew about Mark Kerr and the UFC at that time?

Yeah, absolutely. Before I get into that, let me just take a moment, give you guys are flowers. Congratulations on the podcast, man. And not only that on the podcast, but also just congratulations on your careers, man. Just really incredible careers. For you guys like you, guys in the league who have become world champions like you, I always say, That's my dream, man. You guys are living my dream. That's what I thought. That was the goal. Anyway, so thank you for having me on. Good to see you. With Mark Kerr, he was one of the pioneers of MMA, one of the founding fathers of MMA, of UFC, two-time heavyweight tournament winner. Back then, when you fought in the tournament, you fought, and if you won, you didn't go home and fight the next week. You fought that night. His career started out in Valley Tuto down in Brazil, that won everything that night. He became a legend, and his ascension, man, was like a rocket. I actually met Mark back in the late '90s, back Back then, MMA, UFC wasn't as big a global as it is today. The big organization was Pride in Japan. A lot of those guys would come over from Pride, and we'd be, WW guys, we'd all be in LA working out at the same gym, the Gold's gym in Venice, and we're in the same arenas, too, as well.

So I met Mark back then, and the guy was a legend. He was always this walking contradiction of a human being where he was just insanely jacked. He was, at one time, the greatest fighter on the planet. He was like Tyson, undefeated, dominant, and feared. But with Mark, what was interesting about Mark was he's so kind-hearted and tender and soft-spoken, and he would wreck these dudes. And afterwards, he'd go back in the locker room and check on them, Hey, are you okay? Are you all right?

Which makes a dude even scarier, right?

He's doing that. Crazy. In the mid 2000s, he had a documentary out called The Smashing Machine. And that documentary was so heartbreaking because the guy at one time was the greatest in the world, and then he lost. He lost in Japan, and you never quite got over that loss. Then, like a lot of athletes who we know, he succumbed to pressure. He battled his demons, and he became addicted to drugs. He overdosed twice. He's lucky to be alive. Back then, when I saw that documentary, I felt, This is an incredible story. But now, years later, in 2019, I take this documentary to Benny Safty, and I just watched Uncut Gems, and I said, Man, Benny, I love your filmmaking style. I have a movie here. It's not the big blockbuster movie. It's small and it's intimate, but it's also moving. I showed him the documentary, and he said, I'm 100% in. But the cool part about the story that I know you guys will appreciate is there was a Mark Kerr back then. He was the man, dominant and feared, battled his demons, and he lost everything. Then there's a Mark Kerr today who is so grateful to be alive and so present in every moment.

Here's That's awesome. Here's the reflection of what happens when you get knocked down, you get knocked on your ass, especially if you battle addiction, you get sober, you stand back up, man, and you become this beacon of hope to a lot of people out there who are struggling. It's awesome.

Fuck yeah, Mark. Amen, brother. It's an amazing film. Movies about fighters in general, there's a lot of that relatability of getting knocked down, having to fight your way back up. I always just love them across the board. That's right. You've had so many unbelievable films as an action star, a comedian. You've done all these genres.

The Rains is crazy, man.

What caused this film now? Why the biopic? This was such a different light where you absolutely killed it, brother. Thank you, brother. Captain, hats off. Thank you, man. Really got into the character and did a great job. What really made you want to go into this genre?

There was two things. That's a great question. Number one was, for a long time, I've had this blessed career that I'm so fortunate and grateful for that I've been able to have this blessed career and make these films where it allowed me to work my ass off, continue to build, continue to grow. But I was in this position where I was chasing box office. It's great. There's something motivating about that. But I wanted to chase the challenge, and I felt like it was time to make that switch. To be honest with you, I wanted to challenge myself. While these movies are big and they're hard to do and they're fun and a A lot of people like them when you win. Then you have some movies that flop and tank, and that's okay, you got to move on. But I was really looking to challenge myself and get out of the comfort zone and rip myself open and then see what the fuck is going to happen. I don't know, but I'm going to give this thing a shot and you got to go for it. It was that combined with the voice. I had a little voice right in here, man, behind my rib cage.

In between my ears, that was like, Hey, You don't want to wake up one morning and go, Man, I should have done that thing. I should have taken that risk and taken that chance. So it was that voice. And I finally, after all these years, listened to that voice. There's a great George Strait song that I love.

Wait, you haven't been listening to that voice? No, I've been listening to the voice.

You know what happens? It's like you listen to the brain, and the brain is saying, Hey, listen, don't fuck this up. You're in a comfort zone. It's good. There's a lot of people who are dependent on you. You're making a lot of These movies make money. They do well or they don't do well. But then the heart is its own boss, as you guys know. The heart will ultimately be the one to say, No, we're going to override the brain and go take this risk. You know what? There's something... I tell you what, and I want to know from you guys being elite athletes and champions, is it's good to be scared. Yeah, absolutely. It's good. To be scared of some shit.

I like to face that fear, man. It's real.

There's a great A quote by Cusamata, Mike Tyson's former trainer. The hero and the coward both feel the same emotion. They both feel fear. The difference is the reaction to that emotion. I just love that. I've carried with it forever. That's another fighter quote. There's so many I just... Fighting culture in general. That's one of the reasons I love this film. For me and Travis, really, we got into UFC probably at the tail end of Mark's career. It was more like Chuck Liddell.

Tito, those guys. That bullshit. It was...

Yeah, exactly. I remember Mark Coleman. I remember Mark Kerr, but I didn't know it as much as I did after coming out of this thing. Just so much respect for these guys that grew the sport, right? When they got legend, Boss Rootin in there in the corner, that was amazing.

So dope, man. We had Boss Rootin, we had Alexander Usik, we had a lot of guys, man. But you're right about these guys who paved the way. Back then, those guys weren't making a lot of money at all. They were banging their bodies up, man, a lot.

Doing a biopic like this, how much did How did you have to be around Mark? I feel like you have to find... Because the mannerisms, the style of fighting, stuff like that, how much was he on set helping you with all this stuff? Was there a reference in terms of a fight coach?

Last year, I started my prep for Smasher Machine. We started shooting, I think, in August. My prep started in January. Because what I started in January was really got to know Mark, spent a lot of time with Mark. But the crazy thing is, again, we're all a little fucking crazy sometimes. You got to be a little crazy.

You got to be a little crazy.

It keeps you from going insane. No sane person makes it in this world. I can get to the top of anything. You got to be crazy. You got to be cozy. Yeah, exactly.

Whalen Jenning says, I'm happy to be crazy. It keeps me from going insane. I love that. I was also training for Russellmania, and that's when I saw you, Jason, there in Philadelphia. Absolutely. I was training for that. Once I got out of Russellmania, then I shipped my focus to the training camp for MMA. Spent a lot of time with Mark, and you guys will appreciate this, is I had to gain 30 pounds for the role. But as you guys know, Mark Kerr's muscle had a certain quality to it. It was that fast twitch. Yes, it's so impressive. Expressive. I still had to move, and he had this tiny waist, and I was like, God, man, that's a lot of weight to carry. But I did my best, worked out with Mark, worked out with MMA coaches, MMA fighters as well. I had a 12-week training camp. That was a whole other education for me because I grew up in the world of pro- wrestling. Loved the pro- wrestling. I knew my way around a wrestling ring. But MMA is a whole different beast and a whole different monster. So I spent a lot of time with Mark.

But you know the thing that moved me most that I didn't realize until I got into this with Mark was that there's Mark, the physical specimen, how walked, how he talked. There was a physical transformation for me, a vocal transformation. But the biggest transformation was his emotional transformation. You realize you guys know fight culture, you respect fight culture. It's like these fighters There's a unique mentality that they have, and you realize right away, it's not about the wins or the losses, it's about the pressure. Absolutely. The pressure that these guys go through, man. There's that idea of I can't remember who said it. Floyd Patterson may have said this, but the only thing you're left with when you lose is yourself. I wanted to find out for Mark. There was one of these fights in Japan, which you guys saw the movie, where he's fighting for Jida at the end. He's on all floors. Fajita is rocking him, but Mark's with it. His eyes are open and he's just taking a beating. I said to Mark, Mark, what was going through your mind? Were you numb from some of the stuff you might have been taking?

What was it? Because you were with it. He said, DJ, man. He goes, There's 40,000 Japanese fans. He said, I couldn't fucking move my body, but I'm not going to tap and I'm not going to quit. I just waited. Either the referee is going to call it or this guy is going to knock my lights out. I was just waiting for either one to happen. Holy cow. Just that mentality. Dude, that's crazy. That's the thing that really became my anchor, that mentality. That's so cool. Yeah.

Well, again, you killed it. Thank you, brother. I appreciate that. It was an absolute blast to watch. It was so crazy seeing probably the most charismatic, energetic guy I've ever seen on film or in a WWE ring walk into this, just like Stone Cold, zero motion at times killer. That's how it moves through the movie. Then you see the highs and lows throughout it. But you did a phenomenal job, brother.

Thank you, Jason. Thank you so much. This meant a lot to me. I've been saying this as we've been promoting the movie because I really mean it, is, Smash Machine changed my life in ways that I've never imagined. As this thing continues to go on and we continue to have conversations about it, people continue to see the movie. It's been the experience of a lifetime. Of a lifetime. That's awesome.

I'm happy for you.

Thank you, brother.

Thank you. I do have a question, though, about the MMA and the wrestling world. I mean, obviously, your very understanding of being in a ring and having 40,000 cheering you on. Was there Was there ever a moment where you were like, Hey, you know what? I want to give that a shot. I want to go into the MMA ring. I want to go into UFC. Was there ever a thought or an opportunity? Maybe somebody put a contract on the table. It's like, It's there if you want it.

Listen, me right now, as you're training in MMA camp, it's like, Okay, you know how Ego will start knocking at your door and be like, Hey, who the hell is he? I could be a bad motherfucker doing this rig.

I think so.

But then the reality, what happens, and he's not an MMA fighter, but he's arguably going to be one of the greatest of all time, is Usik, we were in the ring, and the moment I locked up with him, that was very sobering. Again, it's just he's that fighter mentality, and you could feel it, and man.

You could just feel it right away.

You could feel it right away. I'll tell you what, when I was... Years ago, though, when those guys were going to Japan in the mid to late '90s, We weren't making a lot of money because we were on the lower... We were opening match in WW. There was a time where me and my buddies started, Hey, do you think we could go over to Japan? I think we might be okay. We might be able to do well. Those guys are making a lot of money. And then you realize, No, wait. Those guys will take my jaw and knock it into another area. I'm not doing that. I don't like to get hit in the face. Sometimes, you just got to be real.

Just got to be real, man. That's so good.

I love it. Well, can't wait. Everybody, check out the Smashing Machine. You're not going to regret it.

You're not going to regret it.

Let's flash back, if that's all right with you. You talked about football was always the dream growing up, your time at the U. What was that like? I mean, defense tackle, '91, Hurricanes team. You're behind Warren Sapp. Take us back to that time.

That was crazy, man. When I came in, I came in as a freshman in 1990. I was kicking ass, man. I was balling. I was actually number two as a true freshman behind Russell Maryland. Russell Maryland was number one draft pick for the Cowboys, and I was bawling. I get hurt the last day of training camp. An offensive guard runs me into the ground. My entire shoulder pops out. It's hanging out. The doctor had to come back and put it in. You guys have been there. I had to have complete reconstruction on my shoulder, tore everything, went into depression, had a miserable freshman year. I got a 0. 7. 0. 7? Yeah.

That's hard to do. I can relate to that.

That's hard. You're going to try to get a 0. 7. That's hard.

That was the other way, though. I was having so much fun. I had a 0. 7. You weren't having fun. I wasn't having a fun.

I got a 0.

7.

But anyway, so just a miserable freshman year. But the dude who ran me into the ground, that's Mario Cristobal, who's now the head coach in my. Oh, heck, yeah. Heck, kick-in-ass, man.

How about it?

How about it? That's my boy. I'm so proud of those guys down there. But the U at that time in the early '90s, late '80s, early '90s, they rewrote the game in terms of swagger, in terms of how to play. We had a mentality down in Miami, which was speed kills, bottom line. You guys know that. Oh, yeah. Warren, our freshman year, they bring in Warren Sapp, who's a tight-end. Yeah. He's coming in, he's running routes, hands like butter, just like you. He's He's fucking around and he's in practice. He's catching punts with one hand. He already looks like, Man, you could put this guy anywhere. We come into training camp and he's in the defensive line room. I sit down, I said, What are you doing here? He looks at me. True story. You got to ask him this. He goes, I've come to take your job.

No way.

I said, You ain't taking my job. He said, I come to take your job. I said, Well, we'll see. Cut to me on the bench. Hey, Hey, good job.

He called it.

There we go.

That's a beast. He called it. Oh, you ready for me? Not yet. All right. But man, that team back then, we had Warren, we had Ray Lewis, Rohan Marley. Our defense was insane. So sad. Insane. Take care. Insane. Take care. Did you guys play at the same time at Cincinnati?

Oh, yeah. You did? Oh, yeah.

Okay. We crossed over for a couple of years. Long story short, Travis was ineligible for my senior year, so we never really played that much.

We had to bring that up, too.

I always bring it up because I still harbor resentment around that. But we did cross over. We had a lot of success. Not as good as the hurricanes, but Cincinnati had some… We went to two BCS Bowl games, including the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl.

That was the old Orange Bowl down there, yeah?

Yes. Oh, yeah, baby. That's where I was like, Man, I spent one week down there in Miami when I was a freshman in college. I can only imagine what four years down in that place.

I wouldn't survive.

Brother, let me tell you something. That's That's why I was- Especially during the time at the U, are you kidding me?

Back then? You guys were the superstars of the world.

Yeah, where it was like the dolphins were good at that time, but the canes, they were the talk of the town. So I was for sure. I was smart to get locked down my freshman year.

There we go.

I'm not getting in trouble. No.

That's very smart.

It's so crazy to think about what NIL and the transfer portal has done. For a team like the U, you guys had every single year had five stars coming in and just waiting for their opportunity to get into the game. It's so mind-blowing to me that that isn't happening anymore. If kids aren't starting or getting playing time as a freshman, they're in the portal going somewhere else. And I think it might have leveled out the playing field and things like that. But I feel like the U is, I don't know, historically, it'll never happen again.

How talented they were. They were so stacked across the board. Kids would have left. They wouldn't have had that big of a deep of a team. Is that what you're saying, Travis?

That's what I'm assuming.

I don't know. Look, we were deep. Our second and third teams.

All ended up being first-round draft.

It was crazy, man, back then. It was crazy back then. How do you think you guys would have done back then if NIL was there? Would you have been searching for that?

How I started as sophomore and junior was really a top player, almost was thinking about coming out as a junior. So maybe I would have transferred. I don't know. It's hard to think. Offense linemen still aren't getting that money. Really, most of the money is going to the quarterbacks and the receivers and the big positions.

Any money when you're in college is good money. It's good money, yeah. The NIL, the stuff they were talking about. We were doing some stuff at tight in U, and guys were talking about over the course of their three or four years that they were getting NIL. They got over like 100 grand, 200 grand? 200 grand? In my mind, I'm like, I wasn't getting anything like that.

We're just looking for the Pell grant or something. Exactly.

You sacked Charlie Ward in '93. Is that correct? Did, yeah. Yeah, got to sack. What was The Rock's go-to move? What detack were? Were you a big power guy?

Arm over, swim, dip and rip?

Yeah.

What were we doing? You know what I do? I get my hands on the dude right away. You were guard, right? I'm assuming. What were you sending me back?

I played guard in college, but I played center at the NFL.

Okay, so say it's me and you. Yeah. We line hard.

I'm already afraid, to be honest with you.

You're being very kind to me, man. I'm trying to get my hands on you before you got your hands on me. I give you a little shiver. That's a good strategy. I do that little boom. I pull you down and ride right over. Push, pull.

Push, pull, man. That's a dangerous one.

My coach, who you guys know, Ed O'Jaron. Oh, yeah. Crazy Ed, man. That's him. My crazy Ed, my Coach-O. He was our coach down in Miami, and he said, Dewey, you got great upper body violence. I said, Look, I don't even know what the fuck that means, but that sounds good to be made. You got great upper body violence. But If you think about it, as you guys know, as players, if a player has upper body violence, then you could control the game, right?

Violent hands, maybe.

I'll tell you what I say. I know exactly what Gojo is talking about. You got the violence where it's not just power, but it's another level of twitchiness with the strike, where it jolts you. There's guys that have that, and there's guys that don't really have that jolt. Then the ability to push and pull with that. Yeah, man, that's a dangerous combo.

That's right. It's like a piston. Yes. Yes.

Where did Dewey come from?

Why Dewey? It was a nickname that my mom gave me. When I was a baby, my godmother took me and gave me to my mom. She goes, Is he wet? And she goes, Oh, he's just a little Dewey. Okay. And then it stuck. But then, okay, which is fine because we like to keep our parents' nicknames at the house. My mom and dad came to watch me play, and they came to my first practice at Miami. My mom was like, Hey, Dewey, come here for a second. And I was like, Oh, no, no, no. If you give a nickname like that around the boys, you're done.

They're running with it. It's sticking.

They're running with it. So everybody was like, Dewey? What the fuck? And then it's just stuck. That was it.

That's great. Holy cow.

Thanks for bringing that up, Jason. I appreciate it.

You said Dewey. I was like, What is this?

He's two for two right now. He's bringing up the good stuff.

Played with Doug Fluty in Calgary? You played in the CFL? I didn't know this, coming into this, to be honest with you, doing a little research.

When I came out in '95, I had a dismal senior year. I got hurt. I blew out, ruptured two disks in my back. You guys know what that's like. When that happens at the beginning of the season, then you're just chasing. You're chasing pain. You're trying to chase relief. You're getting your injections. That's just all of that. Opportunities. That's it. That was really the thing. You're right. That was the thing that really messed me up because I knew right away, blow out two this in my back. The doctor said, You can have surgery or just ride the season out. I said, I don't want to have surgery. It's your senior year. You know, I am coming back. It's not like, No, this is it. I'm just, who knows what's going to happen? Maybe I could get a rep here or rep there. Just a shitty senior year. I didn't get drafted, but I got a call from Calgary, and I went up there to Calgary. I played up there for a little while, and then I didn't make the team. I was on the practice squad, and we were making maybe about 300 bucks Canadian a week, which wasn't a lot to live on, man.

But I was still, you're living the dream, and you're hoping that, Hey, I can parlay this into... I could get on an NFL squad next year and make that practice roster, and those guys are making 100 grand or whatever it is. So you keep the dream alive, keep the dream alive. And then I got cut from the CFL mid-October. I'll never forget it. And I got sent back home. And so I got sent back home. Wally Buono, who's a legend up in the CFL, he wound up becoming my mentor. He said, Listen, we're going to let you go, but man, you're a great player. Love to call you back next year. I said, Okay, thank you for the opportunity. I get sent home. You know how when you leave home and you go to college, you guys go to Cincinnati, you leave it home, you don't plan on going back home with your parents. This is it. Afterwards, you're hoping to make it to the league and do what you guys did. I got cut from Canada. I go back home, and I don't have a place to go now. I got to move back in with my mom and dad in their little apartment in Tampa, Florida.

That was so sobering for me because it's like, there's a dream. It all goes away. Then I was down there, and then I get the call from Wale Bruno after the season again ended. He goes, Hey, our season just ended. I think they either competed for or they won the Great Cup. He goes, We just had a big year. Jeff Garcia was up there, by the way, too, as well. He was their quarterback. Oh, wow. He goes, I'd love to have you back. I said, Coach, I appreciate it. In this moment, you know how you guys know that there's a defining moment in your life when you look back like, Man, had I not made that decision, I would have been on a different road. In this moment when he said, Hey, I'm calling. I got great news. I got to bring you back. Next training camp, and we'll start all over again. I said, Coach, I appreciate it, but I'm going to have to close this chapter in my life. He was like, Hey, good luck to you, DJ. Great working with you. I said, Thank you, Coach. Then I hang the phone up, and my dad's listening to the call.

My dad goes, Who was that? I was like, Oh, that was the coach from Canada. He goes, What do you say? I said, Oh, he offered me a job to come back. He goes, Oh, that's great. I said, Yeah, I'm not going to take it. He goes, What are you talking about? I said to my dad, who was a pro-wrestler. Yes. I said to him-Oh, you've seen the pictures? Yeah. He goes, What do you mean? I said, I don't want to do that. Closing that chapter of my life. He goes, Well, what are you going to do? I said, I'm going to be a He hated the idea. No.

He was like, Worst decision. Worst decision.

He hated it. We got to a huge fight that night. I played up there in Canada for a little while, and that became very defining for me, man. Because, by the way, the thing I wanted most in my life, and I told you guys this, is I wanted your life. I wanted to be in the NFL. That was my goal. It wound up being the best thing that actually never happened for me. Absolutely.

Did you know on that call, when you were saying no, did you know previously before it that you were going to go into wrestling? Or was it literally at that moment where you're like, No, man, I'm going to go do this other thing?

It was at that moment.

God, that's crazy.

It was at that moment. Because I was down there in Tampa and I was working at Bally's gym, and I was selling memberships. I didn't know what the fuck I was doing. But then I just in that moment when he said, Hey, you got a shot? Right then I went, I'm out. Thank you anyway.

Something's crazy.

Something's calling. Something's calling. It's that voice.

I'll tell you what.

And what was calling down the road that you had no idea was the fact that you own a pro football team now. There we go. How about it, baby? Could you have ever imagined it after a call like that, that you'd be sitting there as the owner of a NFL team?

No, there's no way. I mean, that's the I think. It's so humbling that your life can come full circle in that way, because while I never got that shot to live the dream that you guys have the privilege of living, years later, I have the opportunity to be the owner of this league and owner of the league with myself, Danny Garcia, Mike Rupoli, and Fox, Jerry Cardinal, too, as well. That This full circle moment, man, to be able to create opportunities for players is the greatest feeling in the world. I mean, all this other stuff is wonderful, but to create these opportunities for players, just to play the game that we all love and to take care of the families, put food on the table, pay the bills, and let them ball out has been amazing, man. By the way, this opening day of this season, we had 46 NFL players on NFL teams, man. Hell, yeah.

Oh, no, it's It's doing exactly that. It's giving guys opportunities to put the film out there, show that they can make plays, show that they can get developed under a scheme. I love to go. When I was down in Texas, and I just love the atmosphere. I love seeing Wade Phillips coach that football team, and I believe they were going in to try and win the Championship that week, or at least in the playoffs that week. So congrats on all the success.

Thank you, man.

And you already know it. You might not have had that I have privilege of living this life, but it seems that you live life with the privilege to live life. No matter what it is that you're doing, you're so humble about it, and you create your own path, man. You create your own path, and it's so cool to hear the story behind it all.

Thank you. You got to. That's what we got to do, is work hard and create our own path. Even if we don't know what it is. Got to have faith in the work and the process.

You knew what it was. You knew what it was. The Wwe, baby. The Attitude era. That's it. We got to get into it, man. We got to talk some wrestling. Iconic, man. Where do you even come up with this? How does it even come together?

It was like, well, back then in the Attitude era. Keep in mind, that was before WWA was publicly traded. It was well before, owned by TKO, obviously. We flew under the radar. There was a point where when I turned heel in the late '90s, and I was mixing up with Stone Cold Steve Austin, and we were going back and forth and having our matches.

That shit was bananas.

Golden days. Golden days because you could fly under the radar. It reached a point, and I remember telling a guy who's a good friend of ours, mine today. He helps run a division of seven bucks. His name is Brian Kowertz, and he was one of the first writers ever for WWE. We used to write my stuff all the time together. I said, You know what, man? You know how lucky we are right now? He said, What? I said, We could say anything tonight to this crowd. We could sing, we could talk shit. I could talk in another language. I could talk whatever it is. I said, It's whatever we want. I said, There's a whiteboard. Let's write it. The stuff about whether it's if you smell. You're getting me so fired up right there.

Dude, I'm telling you.

It's like, Jason, do you remember that time, right? In the attitude area?

Oh, my gosh. That was in the. Oh, my You got your ass back.

I'm all right, Lord.

You know I was bringing it back. I was going to bring that back. That was good. That was good, baby. But it was a special time, man. I love it back. That time was a very cool time. That was also a cool time where there were just characters that were larger than life. Everything evolves and everything in ebbs and flows, and I get it, and I love pro-wrestling. I always love pro-westling.

Back then, that was special. You guys made it what it is today, no doubt.

Damn, man. That was a fun time.

What was life as a WWE superstar? We always talk about life as an NFL player. How is it different in wrestling?

I want to hear from you guys on this one. This is where you're on the road, 365 days He said, There's no season. It's hard. It's not apples to apples. It's when you're comparing NFL to WWE, but there is no season. You're in a different city every night. Our goal was to put on a good show, send the fans home happy, don't get hurt, protect each other's bodies. I'll see you down the road. I'll see you at the next town. Travis, Jason, I'll see you in Arlington. Then the next night, we're in Dallas. The next night, we're in Austin. Let's not get hurt. Let's take care of ourselves and send everybody home happy and injury-free. But the problem is in that world, and it's just the way that it is, but you guys know this, you're always injured, and you're always working through your injuries, and you're always letting pain be your guide, and you're always trying to protect yourself. While it was incredible, and the world of pro wrestling is incredible, and I love it, and what an opportunity it is because you get to connect every night with a different crowd. The crowd in Dallas, that's a different energy than in New York.

As you guys know, you go to these different cities. It's a different vibe, right?

A different world, baby. That's fun, though.

Kansas City is different than Miami. You name it. Philly is different, and it is fun.

Did you have any favorites? What were your favorite cities? I didn't want to cut you off. No, it's all good.

Chicago, New York, nothing like the garden, right? Yeah. Down in Texas, amazing, too, as well. Philly. What I loved about Philly, that's a heel town.

Dude, there's a lot of support. I know you know this, but for The Rock in Philadelphia, he is beloved like no other.

Man, Philly is my town. That's why I came back last year, man, at that Russellmania. There was nothing like it. I think compared to the league, to the NFL, is there's no seasons. Also, it's incredible. It's dreams come true for all of us, but also it's tough, man. It's tough being on the road every night because what that means is then it's tough on your body. You're getting banged up every night. You're working hurt every night, and you're trying to keep up. Also, it takes its toll on marriages and on relationships. It's hard.

When there's no season, you're all season.

But how does that compare to you guys when you guys are on the road every week? You're banged up, you're trying to-We're actually not on the road every week.

We're only on the road half of the season. That was one thing that was eye-opening to me, even just going into media. I travel more as a media member, going to games than I did as a player, because every week you're going to a new stadium. But I think it's a big commitment in season. You get one-off day a week. So It's the same thing. There's a really intensely busy time period, which is six months, seven months. Then after that's over, you get a lot of offseason to reaffirm all of these relationships and spend time with your family's loved ones. That's where it's different. The season is shorter. It's not 365 days, but for that shortened season, you're at the building every single day of the one day. Oh, Pretty much.

It sounds like the similarities are amongst the routines of it. You want to have that professionalism to always make sure that you're at your peak on the night, on the game night, on wrestling night, or when the TV is live. You just want to make sure you're being that for the organization, for the people around you. I guess there is that that that similarity of just the gruesome strain that you got to go through to have fun when the lights are on.

I got two questions for you guys. Let's hear them. Let's go. Jason, when you retired, and you go out on top, it's like, again, it's the dream. It's my dream. I was watching that from afar. I was like, Man, it's amazing. You give this impassion speech. It's incredible. The next camp, and you weren't there. Was that It was hard for you? I've always wondered that.

Absolutely, 100%.

Did you fall into mini depression? Did you work through that? What happened?

I don't know how to label it, to be honest with you. There's definitely a part of it, I would say, would be you really miss being there with the guys.

Was there a void that you had to fill?

For sure. For every day for 13 years, I was a regimended person. Even in the offseason, we talked about the season is only a certain short period of time. To be the best at anything, you're putting in work 365 days a year. That's right. You get used to this, Okay, Monday, I'm doing this. Tuesday, I'm doing this, Wednesday, and you get into that repetition, and then you build all these relationships with people. Then training camp is the most heightened state of like, Hey, football is getting ready to get going. That's right. I'm very fortunate. I still live in Philadelphia, so I can still go to the building and get a little bit of it, but you're not in it. You're not going through the grind with your teammates. I miss going out and busting my ass and being hurt and tired after a practice, and then going to the cafeteria and bitching about it with my buddies and trying to...

You get this same time, this fucking bullshit.

I miss all that so much. With every success of year, and I've talked to a lot of guys that have retired, you miss less and less of it. The one time, I still get goosebumps before every game. When the national anthem plays and that kickoff is about to happen, there's a very visceral connection that comes to you. You start smelling the grass if it's a natural field. I don't know. It's hard to think that that will ever go away.

How did you feel about that?

Yes, to answer your question. Absolutely.

That's when you flip that switch, man.

That's when you flip that switch. But what's your flip switch these days?

Man, I got a lot of things. My flip switch is… Man, it's a good question. Trying to… Well, let me see.

But probably, I would assume, going on the road, right?

It's a different There's no more physicality thing that I had when I played the game.

Like the tactile thing where you could grab something and...

Yeah, and that was a different switch where it's like, Okay, I'm going to try and...

Violent hands. Can't use violent hands out of here.

Violent hands no longer help me. That's right.

He's got four little girls. He's right.

Girl, dad, I know. You soft-eads.

You soft-eads.

You get fired up to either offer players help. I still go to the building and I still offer young guys support and to be able to help them in their careers or wherever I can in some type of mentorship level. You get fired up to be the best at whatever you're doing. Now I get to operate in a more creative space than I really ever got to in the field of football, which has been fun and different. I feel, and I felt last year in a lot of ways, you're almost like a rookie again. You're going into a new field. Instead of being a veteran where you have all these things set in place, you know how to do everything.

You know what works. You feel that fear. You feel that, I was just going to ask you that.

Were you scared?

You feel that, and you're trying to figure out, how can I be the best at this new thing? What can I do? How do I study? How do I prepare? How do I bring something new that other people aren't doing? That's what is probably the new switch. It's a little bit different than when you played. It's more of a creative thinking about things from, what can I do that's different and unique than what everybody else has been doing?

But it's still fulfilling for you.

It is. It's fulfilling in a different way. I don't know that anything, quite frankly, is going to replace playing football in front of hundreds of thousands of people and millions of people on TV. But I think I got the privilege to do that for a long time. At some point, that time ends and my time was over, and I get fulfilled in different ways now. I don't know that it's the same type of fulfillment as playing, but it's still pretty damn good. I'm still pretty damn fortunate to have a good time. I still get to talk about football, a game that I love. I get fulfilled at home being with my kids and my family.

When When I finally retire down the road, me and Jason are just going to be in the back putting the pads on for all time's sake.

Getting that fulfillment back one time.

Just a violent hand, baby. Violet hands.

But think about this is, and Trev, I have a question for you, too, as well, is nothing will ever take the place of putting on the pads and strapping up that chin strap, putting on the helmet, and there's 100,000 people. Nothing will ever take that place. But I think about everything that you're doing now and how you've applied all of your mastery skills to become one of the greatest of all time champions, et cetera, to what you're doing now. But also thinking about all the guys who maybe are on the cusp. Hey, I got about another year or two left in me, but look how he's doing it. Look how Jason's doing it. I want to do it like that. You're creating, I think, an already really cool blueprint for athletes who are thinking about, What's my next step? The way he does it? I want to do it like that.

It's funny you mentioned that because I've been following this big bear's footsteps my entire life. Man, I went to Cincinnati. I followed him into the football world, then went to Cincinnati. Then we both got drafted by Andy Reid. I just been following his footsteps every Everywhere I go. Everywhere, man. He's paved away from me to make him live in my own life.

He passed me a long time ago, Trey.

Paving the way. Paving the way for so many. Trey, I got one question for you. The question, I was thinking about this earlier, the question about pressure. You will go down as one of the greatest of all time. Everything you got going on. By the way, congrats to your girl on the weekend. Thank you. Cruising weekend she has. Thank you. She has awesome.

Life of a showgirl. Life of a showgirl.

My daughters are listening to the album now. It's very cool. Pressure, not only pressure as a professional athlete, especially once you become the greatest on the planet and the pressure to go back to it, because now there's know, if you don't win that and become the greatest, and you don't become Super Bowl champions, then it's like us at Miami. If we didn't win the national championship, all right, that's our season's failure, really. It doesn't matter what our record is. How do you handle that pressure? Because you have the pressure of a pro athlete, which is fucking insane. But then the pressure of being in a spotlight, in another spotlight that's so big. Is there a thing? Did you notice a shift? Did you feel a shift?

I definitely noticed a shift, but I'm not going to lie, man. I've been so blessed, so fortunate. My love for this game and my attention to detail and the scrutiny I have on myself has been more pressure than anybody could put on me. And I've just always loved to find that answer, find the reason why I'm not having success, find the reason why I lost on this rep. So the year in, year out, I feel like the only thing that I really got to channel is just my energy for that day. The attention to detail, the focus, the professionalism, that's always going to be there. But how am I coming in to work? Am I coming in to work enjoying what I'm doing? Is that infectious? Is that going to make Is it going to make the guy next to me want it just as bad as I do? Is it going to make the guy next to me go that extra mile when he sees me going the extra mile? How can I make this team better from the inside out? And I think that's one of the biggest things. That's how you handle pressure of the outside world is to just grind your fucking tail off inside.

I was saying I've been blessed in terms of all the other pressure, the worldwide pressure and everything. I've been so blessed to have the love. So you look at that as a blessing. I I look at it as a blessing, but I look at the life that I have as a blessing because of the people that I have in it. Having a support system as my family, having a support system like my brother and Taylor and all my friends that I've known since I was in fucking preschool, and we were rock bottom each other on the fucking recess.

Do you have any idea how many times we got called to the principal's office, rock bottoming people in their figure woodchips? That's the counseling in the principal's office, Jason Kelsi in the principal's office.

But I feel like when you got that ecosystem, and I've been so fortunate to have that ecosystem my entire life. My family has been there for me every step of the way. My friends have been there for me every step of the way. That That pressure, that outside pressure, doesn't feel as tough when you have all that in the house. Exactly. It's not as scary. I don't have to think about how the world is viewing me because the people around me and the loved ones around me know exactly what's real. You always got to separate that reality from the tabloids and the worldwide media that has to talk about it and is going to find something to say about it more than what's real and how you're living your life, for sure.

So the noise, it's the home anchor that allows you to block out all the noise.

Yeah. And the fact that I get to do something I love. That'll always, I think, I'll have to find that fulfillment that you guys were just talking about. I actually wanted to ask you that same question.

Yeah, I was about to say, throw right back at it.

You're stepping away from the WEEE full-time. That was such a huge part of your life.

It was at the height of wrestling. Worldwide, I felt like the attitude there was just peaking, and you step away and go into acting. What was that like? Did you find fulfillment right there in the same way?

No, not in the same way. Thank you. That's such a good question, man. There's nothing, just like you guys with the football field. You line up, you put your hands in the dirt. There's nothing like it. There's nothing like getting in the ring, and there's 20, 30, 40, 50, 100,000 people. You could connect with them. You could tell a physical story from beginning to end. There's nothing like that. I love it and I miss it. But I had the voice, and it was just, Hey, there's more. You could stay here and do what you love, or you could get out of this zone, which is comfortable. And by the way, I get it. We know that. When you're in a comfort zone, it's called comfort zone for a reason. It feels good. Especially if everything is going well and everything is aligned, and you're paying bills, and everything is going well. But I wanted to grow. That's it. I really wanted to grow, and I wanted to do more, and I wanted to challenge myself in ways that I hadn't been challenged. I'd not been to Hollywood. I didn't know shit about Hollywood other than, I love movies, and I'd love to make movies.

I'd love to test myself. In 2004, was my last Russellmania, and I quietly tried to, as much as I could, just quietly transitioned and step away. That was scary because, as you were saying, I was lucky enough to... I was on top. It was like Jim Brown. I think I'm going to say that.

That's a great reference.

Jim Brown. He was leading the league in yards. He's like, Hey, I'm going to go to this other thing and challenge myself.

The face of it.

He was the face of the league, and that's what I did. It was scary at first. But ultimately, I realized it's scary and it's okay. You know what also helped, and I was really lucky about this, is I was doing okay in terms of money, and I wasn't chasing the dollar. I wasn't like, Hey, I'm fucking starving here. I have seven bucks. Those days were behind me. It was like, I don't have to worry about that. Then I could just concentrate on acting and acting coaches. My first role in Hollywood as a leading man wasn't, Hey, here's a small little independent This is Scoping King franchise.

We're going straight to Blockbuster Bay. We're going straight there.

It's sink or swim. You're baptism by fire. I was really fortunate that I kicked out my career in that way.

Well, you built up a legacy ready for that to kick off. That's hats off to you. That would have to be a daunting decision, but you nailed it, brother. I actually, as you said earlier, your dad did not encourage your wrestling career, very much was mad at you. Your daughter recently now with Nxt as the on-screen GM. Are you supportive of this? Where do we stand as dad this time?

You know what happens is we're in control of where the dominoes stop falling.

Yeah.

In my world, while my dad didn't approve at first, we got into a massive fight. We had a complicated relationship, my old man. But I was in control of where that domino is going to stop falling. With my daughter, Simone, she's my oldest daughter. Like you, I'm a girl dad. I have three daughters, 24, 9, and 7, all different age ages. You'll get there trapped soon. You'll see the blessings.

That's right.

But with my daughter, man, I was so proud. But here's a cool thing. When she came to me, and she came to me at 16 and said, I want to do what you do. I love this business just like you do, and I to do it at 16. She became the youngest WWI signee at 16. She was going to NYU. She gave me a call, me and her mom, and she said, I want to pivot a little bit. I'd like to go directly into WNE, NXD and start training down there in Orlando. You don't have to ask me twice. I'm like, Okay, hey, I got you. But here's a great thing. The most beautiful thing about this is I never got that call from her. I never got the call like, Hey, dad, I want to do what you do. Can you call WNE? Can you call Vincent Mann at that time? Could you call nick Khan? Could you call somebody? Never once did she ask me, Could you make that call? She was just like, I want to do what you do. I want to blaze my own path. I want to call myself Ava Raine, not The Rock something or anything like that.

She was like, I just want to do it on my own. I love you. I respect you. I was like, Baby, listen, I wanted to do the same thing. I wanted to make it on my own. My grandfather was a boxer. I was like, Your great grandfather and your grandfather were wrest. I love that you want to do it on your own. I'm here, I got your back. She's been doing a great job, and I keep tabs on her. She was born when I was 29. If you think about it, at that time, we know as dudes, in our 20s, we think we know what we're doing. We don't know shit. We're not We're just trying to keep up, and we're trying to make it look like, Hey, we're good. We got under control. It was almost like her and I grew up together. These days, her being in the wrestling business has actually bought us closer together. That, to me, is the biggest joy, man, because my babies, just like you, Jason, and one day you'll know, Trab, babies are everything. That's it.

It is 100%. It It takes you. The moment the first one pops out, it's like, Okay, my entire hierarchy of priorities is completely shifted. Just like that. In an instant. Seriously, it's crazy. You'll see, Trab. It's crazy.

We're putting that voo-do on to you and Taylor right now. That's right.

Peloton is changing the game in fitness with the new Peloton cross-training Tread Plus, powered by Peloton IQ. Let me tell you, this thing is like having your own elite training camp at home.

Jason, how have you liked working out with your Peloton?

It's right there. It's always where I need it. Sitting in the corner, sitting back there. I got the bike, do it on the Tread. I'm a big Tread guy. I like the Tread. Then you can watch shows, you can watch instructors. It's just a great product.

Something else that's really cool, the screen swivels now, so you can easily go from running to strength training or stretching. There's so many classes that Peloton has that you can on. Moving the screen around just makes it so you don't have to move that heavy old bike or tread. It's like having a whole training facility right there, one place, one equipment.

It is nice. Having the trainer access is good. Peloton IQ actually counts your reps and corrects your form with intelligent strength coaching, which we definitely need when working out at home. And get this, it tracks your progress and can even suggest weights to help you level up your strength game. The rep counter is nice.

I also heard that Peloton IQ creates personalized workout plans based on your goals. In each class, you're coached by instructors who bring that energy you need. That's what Peloton is all about, matching your energy and elevating your game to help you get to the next level. Whether you're just starting out or you're, I don't know, like a vet like Jason is.

Let yourself run, lift, flex, push, go, more. Explore the new Peloton Crosstraining Tread Plus at onepeloton. Com.

I appreciate your time up to this point. We got one last segment for you, Big Dog. It's called We Got to Ask, but you don't have to answer. You could tell us to just fuck off if you don't want to answer this.

I'll answer it all.

But we got to ask, man.

Look, I've been drinking tequila the whole time. It's five o'clock somewhere. You got some of the best tequila around, man. Come on, brother. No doubt.

All right, so we almost used Jibroni as a nickname for fans of this show. Do you own the word Jibroni?

I do not own the word Jibroni. I think it's just out there. I own the name The Rock, not Jibroni. But wait. I might own that because I own everything-You might own it. Associated with The Rock. It doesn't matter if you smell, so I might. I know that, let me give him props. The Iron Chic was, he made that word. He made it? He made that word famous. What? He used to, especially in the locker room, Oh, this Jibroni is that. This Jibroni is that. So he would call people Jibroni. So that's where I got it I always got to give him flowers. But it's really cool. It's actually in the Webster's Dictionary, and I get the credit for it, but it's really the Iron Chic.

It's really the Iron Chic. Yeah.

A lot of people were asking me because I said it after we won one of the AFC Championships, I got on the mic and called the Cincinnati Marriott Jibrony for calling us out. I know you did.

I know you did. I was like, Yeah.

Let's go. I've been waiting my whole life to get this mic, you Jibroni. But I had to look crazy. A lot of the buy Mom's friends or dad's friends or just people in the building, where I say, What's a Jibroni exactly? If you don't know, you're probably a Jibroni.

You don't want to be called a Jibroni.

What is the greatest rock insult of all time?

The greatest rock insult of all time is, okay, what's your opinion? Who's going to win the Super Bowl this year?

It's got to be the Kansas City Chiefs.

All right. Got to be the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, I'm speaking as a rock. Well, the rock says, You take your opinion that it's got to be the Kansas City Chiefs. You take your opinion, you roll it up at a... But that's right. You know it's coming. You roll that something, you turn it sideways and stick it straight up your candy ass. That was a crazy insult. I remember those guys at WD at that time.

It was like, your candy ass. They were like, Where did this come from?

I remember saying, Well, telling somebody to stick something up their asses, that's an But when you turn it sideways, when you turn your pinion sideways, it's a whole different thing. That's so good. God, that's good.

How did you feel the first time you walked into an arena and you saw When you saw little kids quoting The Rock, what was that first feeling like when you saw it? Because you already know that the wrestling world is wide range of everyone, just like a lot of the sports world. But there's something when you get the kids behind you that It's just it's some of the most fulfilling stuff and just see them going crazy. But when you started seeing them quote some of the things you were saying, how was that feeling?

There was nothing like it because you realize if the kids are quoting what you're saying, then they're saying that on the playground. Yeah. Oh, yeah. If they're saying that on the playground, then it's awesome for you. You know they're getting in trouble. They're getting called to the principal's office. It was amazing.

You used to post ridiculous cheap meals on your social. We got a few of them here. Pancakes stacked, Mile High. Did you actually eat these, or these just mess it around, having fun on Instagram?

No, I take a shot at it. I try to eat everything I can, man. But that's The cheat meals, I feel like... Well, let me ask you guys this. Do you guys have a cheat day? Is it Sunday? Or maybe today's it. So it's a day before your-Today's it.

You play? It's two days before. So it's Friday. Fat guy Friday. Fat guy Friday.

He's transplaying Monday.

You weigh in on Friday morning.

We would call Fat guy Friday, and that's your day to just unload.

Okay, so wait, I got a question then. Jase, give me your fat day Friday. What's your cheat day look like?

My cheat day is I'm going in there after practice, the fast Fridays. You're going in there right afterwards into the cafeteria. I'm getting wings, as many as I can put on a plate, blue cheese, each and every different flavor, pizza, and then I'm going to finish it off with some ice cream. That's my Just stereotypically, that's what I had every Friday.

Wings and pizza. He inherited that from his father.

Wings and pizza. Playing on a Sunday, so you have 48 hours, approximately, or 36, somewhere in there to burn that off. Wings, pizza, and beer. Not beer, but you got it. Okay.

Well, that, too. Yeah.

Yeah. Then try.

Chloric intake. Mine starts as soon as I weigh in in the mornings. Guys, I'm still I don't even know if I should be telling everybody.

I forgot about the donuts. I forgot about the donuts Friday morning.

I was about to say, as soon as so, every Friday, the QB is going to get donuts.

And shout out to Lamar's Donuts. It's a historical donut shop here in Kansas City. And I see that yellow box, man, and I just go in and I get two nice fluffy glazed donuts. That's just where I start before practice. And then once practice ends, I usually grab some barbecue and just enjoy it. But throughout the week, I'm pretty like...

I That's pretty sensitive. Yeah, you're strict also, yes. But also, you're the goat, so you don't want to give away what you're eating right now. I can't do that.

I will say it has gone up a level since Taylor has come into the picture because she loves to bake.

She's got sourdough, those pop tarts. Sourdough pop tarts, sourdough cookies.

It goes on and on. She loves to make cinnamon rolls. I'm not going to lie, I used to look at your cheat meals and was like, Man, at least I'm not cheating that crazy.

Dude. Well, wait. What's interesting is, so you guys don't have cheap days after your games?

After the game, you're usually pretty free eating. At least I was. Like, right after the game. I'm going to eat whatever I want now that I just played.

Was that as ceremonial as your Fat Guy Friday?

Not usually, because the day right after the game was never always going to the same spot. Whereas Fat Guy Friday, you always were in the building You and your teammates, like Travel Mars. I forgot to say, we would always, I think it's Baylor's donuts in Philadelphia. Then the calf would always have certain food there. That was more the ritual of the cheap meal. Then after games, you're going out with family. If they're in town, you're doing whatever. But yeah, you're usually pretty loose with what your intake is as well.

Well, let me ask you this. Now, I'm just curious. Really quickly, after games, do you ever acquire a quiet moment?

Maybe at your locker I mean, what do you think, Trev?

Yeah, not at home games.

Or when it felt really quiet, actually, was when we lost. Because even when you lose, you're going to go out with your family, but you're thinking of all the plays that didn't go right. You're not even mentally there and present because you're still in that game. The moment I would get back to my house, I would get my iPad and I would rewatch the game. With nothing happening, everybody else is asleep, and I'm at 2: 00, 3: 00 in the morning, especially if it's a night game, and you're going through all the plays. That was when it really was the quiet moment. In victory, not so much. For whatever reason, you're partying, you're having fun.

Yeah, it's hard to win in the NFL, man. I'll enjoy this. No need to be quiet now. No, I think I have a lot of moments of reflection. I have a lot of moments of those quiet moments where you're just appreciating either where you are or you're dreaming about being somewhere bigger. I think I've always had those moments. I'll never not have those moments, and they come more sporadically than they do just after a game. But I think I'm with Jason on that one. When it's one that hurts, you need to have that voice or reason. You have to watch the film. You have to sit there and figure things out on your own before you can attack it the next workday. But I'm so fortunate. I was telling you, man, win or lose, I've always got somebody at the game or a bunch of people watching, especially at the home games or the big games in the playoffs. There's always somebody there to enjoy it with. If we're winning, we're having a blast, and there's not much quiet going around.

But when you're losing, it's so nice to have that support, but also you're also left really with yourself. That's what I was wondering. I'm just curious for the both of you. In the losses, when you're watching film that night, are you watching broadcast or are you watching the silent game?

Silent. Sideline game. They call it the All 22. It's basically you get a sideline view and you get a behind line of scrimage view, looking at it from the back side of it.

It's game time. It's game time.

That usually gets uploaded if it's a home game, right away. If it's an away game, those are even worse. You want to talk about quiet? Be on an airplane after a loss going back across the country. You know what I mean?

You get 3-4 hours of quiet time there.

John's seen a He recently announced he will be retiring from WEEE. Who should his final match be against?

That's a good one.

Just saying.

That says it all.

Two of my favorite It's one of my favorites, man.

I have a tiny bit of influence in the booking of it, but it really is just... It's whoever John wants. Really, that's what it comes down to. Whoever he That makes sense. That should he... It's not me or nick Karl, or Triple H. It's whoever John wants. That guy has earned it. You know what? The best part about John is he comes as advertised. So who you think he is, that's who he is. He's a good dude, and I love that guy.

It feels like it, man. Everything that guy does, he is so authentic. You never see him being somebody different. That's a great, well put.

No, he's a good dude, man. He's been kind. He's really cool. That stuff matters me these days, any day. But if somebody's kind and cool.

All right. As a dad, do you know how many times I've seen Moana? It is such a great film. You killed it. I don't know, man. What was that like? You guys just came out with Moana 2 not too long ago.

Yeah, with Moana 2 at the end of last year. It's amazing. You never know in our business what's going to hit, what's not. Just like, You prepare for your season. You never know where you're going to go. You guys could be, Did you just come off a Super Bowl win? They never know what happens. Every season brings a different alchemy and a different energy. Every movie is different. The most gratifying part about Moana is just this global, I think, embrace of Polynesia culture.

You beat me to it. That's what I love about it.

You're teaching everybody, man.

All of the Disney movies that I like the most are the films that really do a great job of highlighting the cultures that they represent, whether it's Moana, Coco. They're like Princess and the Frog in Louisiana. I think that's the older one. But Moana is just such a fantastic film, and it really does encapture Polynesian culture. You might be the most well suited to perform a live-action of Maui. We're doing it. Of any voice actor, right? We're doing it.

We're doing live-action. Oh, really? Yeah. So live-action Moana, I have to actually film. I have five more days of filming Live Action Moana, and it's all the songs. What? Let's go. You're welcome. Yes. Yeah. Hell, yeah. We'll do that, and Live Action Moana come out next summer. We can't wait. Hell, yeah. The director, Tommy Kael, is the director of Hamilton. That little play that maybe a few people have seen. Just a few people have seen it.

I don't know who else has it.

That's a good one. It was awesome, man. Yeah, I can't wait for that. Awesome.

Of all your acting co-stars, who would make the best WWE tag team partner?

Easy. Easy. Kevin Hart. Kevin Hart, I knew it. Philadelphia bar. Here we go, baby.

Every time you guys team up, it's iconic, man. It'd be electric. It'd be electric.

Promos would be incredible. It would be crazy.

It would be the most epic.

Dude, I called him. One time, I called him. As a matter of fact, we're getting ready to shoot Jumanji 3 in about a month.

Congratulations.

Let's go, baby. Jumanjis have been some of my favorites.

Can't wait to work with Kev again. But man, his nickname, I always joke about this, Kevin Hart's wrestling nickname will be Honky Pete.

Honky Pete.

You got to give us some death. How did you get Honky Pete?

You don't want to know, but he's just on the We did read you're going to be working with friends of the show, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese on your next film.

What are you guys working on?

Can you tell us anything? I can.

I'm happy It's going to be Martin Scorsese and Leo. He was on the show. It was an amazing show, by the way. Emily Blunt as well, who will produce it with me. This story is based off of a man by the name of Nappi Pulava. That name won't mean much to you guys now, but Nappi Pulava, just so you guys know, is a man who lived, who's still alive. He just turned 90. He was the godfather of all of the islands of Hawaii.

Oh, wow.

Imagine Casino and Goodfellas wrapped up in Hawaii, and he ruled the islands, and he was that guy. I will play that bit.

I didn't even know that that took place in the islands.

It's incredible. And the story is incredible. Nick Bilton is writing it. He's writing it now. Scorsese has a script. We should connect with him next week. But also, for me, to work with Leo, to work again with one of my favorites, Emily, but also to work with one of the goats in Scorsese. Scorsese. I'm honored to play this role, honored to work with Scorsese.

Yeah, that's awesome.

I'm looking forward to that. I'm already looking forward.

You said Emily. I thought when you said former co-star, you thought would make a great wrestler. I thought you were going to go Emily Blood. That's where I thought you were going to go. She's making a great one, too.

She's a badass. She's a force.

That's right.

On a scale of 1-10, what did you think of Jason's Russellmania appearance?

My laughing is an indication. Very brief. No, no. It's not. You know what? I'll give it a 9. 9.

How about it? This guy, he's a generous man. He's a generous man.

Out of 100. Out of 100.

Out of 100. Out of 100.

Here's what I love about that. Understand that in our world of pro wrestling, even though pro wrestling is global and it's publicly traded these days, the idea that a celebrity and someone who is at the top of the game, who's made it, who's just the greatest like you, anytime anyone comes into the world of pro wrestling, it's the greatest thing to us. It doesn't matter how big the wrestling world has become and these superstars, how big, it doesn't matter. Anybody. So it's always a big deal, man. And again, I grew up in the business, so it's like any celebrity or champion or anybody who comes in is a special thing. You did great. Yeah.

Well, it was a complete honor for me and Lane. We actually, during the week, we didn't know what we were going to get asked to do. They're like, Hey, do you want to be a part? I'm like, All right. Well, we'd never wrest. We went to the Monster Factory down in South Jersey, got some pointers, and saw wrestling on that tier, which was incredible.

That's a iconic place you went.

Yeah. No, we saw all the pictures on the wall, all the wrestlers that had been through. It was special, man. It was awesome. Did you have fun? Very honored. Oh, my God, I had a blast. How could you not? They made it pretty easy. They were like, You're going to jump at this point, throw this, and then boom, boom, boom, we're out of here. Just bring the energy. That's all.

That's it. It was fun. You did. That was all. What do you want about you, Trap? When are you going to come in?

Oh, man, listen, when the opportunity presents itself, I'll dive in there. I've been dreaming about this, been working on my moves in the living room for years, trying to get my chance. I feel like I'm more of an aerial act, though. I'm off the road. I'm off the road. I'm off the road. On the top row?

6'5 aerial.

On the top row, baby.

That's scary.

You're going to break your neck on that. That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm telling you right now. That thing is not as- I love this shit.

I'll die for this. It's like the final boss in Travis. We got to figure that out. Here we go.

We do got to ask this last question. We ask it to all our guests, usually in whatever field. Don't really know which field to go for from here, but we'll ask you for Hollywood, I guess. Do you have a Welcome to Hollywood moment?

Oh, man.

Can be good, can be bad. Yeah.

Be like, Holy shit, I'm actually doing this, or like, Well, that was it.

Yeah, sure. It would be... Okay. The very first movie I ever did was a movie called Mummy Returns. That was, Brandon Fraser was one of the biggest stars in the world, as he is today, he's a legend. I was so excited to be cast in the film, small part, called The Scorpion King. Brendon, by the way. Small part. At that time, it turned into something. Okay. It turned into something. But for that, it was just in the beginning of the movie and at the end of the movie, five minutes total in the movie. I was just so excited at the opportunity. Brandon Frazier, by the way, I always want to make mention of this. He was one of the biggest stars in the world. That was his franchise. I'm coming in. I've never acted before. I'm excited. He could have easily said, I don't know if I want this wrestler. He embraced me. I love that man for that, and he helped kick off my career. Hell, yes. I go to... We're in the Sahara Desert, right outside of Morocco. I'm shooting the movie. I don't know what I'm doing. I haven't shot anything. This is before the first take.

I'm in the Scorpion King outfit. I'm sick, by the way. I got like a 100-degree fever. I'm freezing. It's 110 degrees in the Sahara Desert. My brain is spinning. I'm wobbly. Shit. It's not the way I wanted to kick off my acting career. The director, Steven Somers, he calls action. We the scene. It's an action sequence. A lot of guys, stunt guys, are running and flying and doing all this stuff for me, really taking care of me. He yelled, Cut. Boys, when he yelled, Cut, I knew in that moment, I got, You know how you hear that acting bug? Oh, the acting bug. I thought that was bullshit. I didn't know what acting bug was. He yelled, Cut. I went, This is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Oh, my gosh.

That's amazing. Holy cow.

I love that. Cot the acting bug right there in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Yeah, it was very cool. That's amazing.

That's an awesome story, man.

Listen, we can't thank you enough. Thank you so much for coming to us.

I'm not had a last. Dj, thank you so much for your time, for just you being you, man. You are even cooler of a person than what's your persona and everything you've shown the world. You're such a humble guy, such a real guy. I just can't say thanks enough for everything you've done for a young Jibroni like myself throughout my career, man. I still remember the day I got introduced into the Super Bowl by you, and I got to see you work in that moment. I was so just engulfed in you as a professional and you as a person. And you said, what's up to me? You would know me my whole life, man. It just made my fucking life, dude. So thank you for doing that. And thank you for coming on and telling some stories and having some fun with us. And congrats again on the smashing machine, man. You fucking rock.

Hell, yeah, man.

Well, look, thank you both. I appreciate it. Jason, Trab, thank you. Jason, I met you last year. It was an honor to meet you in Philadelphia and Trav. I think we're down in Miami, right? When we met. So when I was doing the big intros for that game, I remember dapping up Trab as my man. I remember thinking, this is a big motherfucker. I remember. Holy shit. I was like, man. But listen, thank you guys so much. I had a blast. I don't get a chance to do this a lot. So just hang out with my boys. So thank you so much. I appreciate it.

You're the man, dude. Whenever you want to do it again, dude, please. You're always welcome back anytime, man.

We'll do it again. We'll do it in person, and we'll have some tequila.

Be good. Hey, I'm good on that. You don't got to threaten me with a good time. All right, now.

Hey, that wraps up another episode of New Heights. Thank you so much to Dwyane, The Rock Johnson, for joining us.

Why is he such a good dude?

I don't know. I mean, it's probably because- Such a good dude, man. Charming, handsome, chat. Fucking great actor.

Really good at what he does. Yeah.

What the fuck. Driven, motivated. And appreciative, man.

He's just so humble. He's so humble and appreciative, man.

Make sure you subscribe to the New Heights channel on YouTube and follow New Heights on the WNDYR app or wherever you get your podcast. You can listen to new episodes of New Heights ad-free right now by joining WNDYR Plus in the WNDYR app or on Apple podcast.

Once again, New Heights, A WNDYR Show brought to you by Peloton. Get that exercise right there in your house, your room, your gym, your garage, right there, whenever you need it. All the show on all social media @New Heights Show with 1-S. For fun clips throughout the week. As always, thanks to our New Heights production team for putting this one together. And thank you to all the 92 percenters for tuning in. Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as we do it. Always, shout out to The Rock, baby. Dj, you're the best, brother.