.
[dramatic music]
♪
- I came as soon as I heard. How's the big guy holding up?
- [crying] - It's not looking good.
The doctor's in there with him now.
♪
- I'm afraid he's not gonna make it.
- [sobbing]
To his campaign event.
Candidate Johnson's sick with food poisoning.
He'll be down for about 24 hours.
- 24 hours?
- Okay, no one can leave this room
until we find out who's behind this.
We all have our reasons for wanting
to poison Candidate Johnson.
- What?
No, it was Chef Susan.
She made a batch of bad clam chowder.
- There was a new seafood guy at the farmers' market.
- I don't get it.
You came so highly recommended from Courteney Cox.
- Cox has made a powerful enemy.
- Which one of you is Randall?
- Um, you don't recognize me?
I used to be an actor.
- Uh, he's asking for you. - Really?
[chuckles]
Coming, Dwayne.
[knocking]
Knock, knock.
Uh...
just let me, uh, find a lamp.
- No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Keep it dark.
The cones in my eyes are sensitive when I'm sick.
Randall, I need your help.
- Yeah, of course. What do you need?
- Can you tie this tie for me?
You told me you worked at Brooks Brothers
for a summer, right?
- Well, for seven years, actually.
But why are you getting dressed?
The doctor said you need to rest.
- No, no, no, I can't rest.
There's no time for rest.
The election is happening in three days,
and I'm just getting momentum back in my campaign.
I gotta keep going.
- Dwayne, you've been food poisoned.
- Randall, when you're faced with challenges,
sometimes you gotta answer the call,
like that time back in 1996 when I got a call
from Pat Patterson that... [snaps fingers]
Changed my life.
- You ever been to Corpus Christi?
- Yes, of course, many times.
I hadn't.
- Well, WWF is taping down there,
and Vince wants to take a look at you in a dark match.
That's the match for the crowd before the real show starts.
- A dark match for Vince, sounds good.
- All right, we'll send the plane tickets over,
and you'll fly out tomorrow.
- You got it.
Uh, then what happens?
- Oh, you make your debut.
Hopefully you don't stink up the joint,
and you go from there.
Just get down here.
You got your own wrestling gear, right?
- Yeah, of course.
I didn't.
- Great, we'll see you tomorrow.
- Thank you, Mr. Patterson.
Looking forward to it.
That part was true.
[laughter]
Whoo-hoo!
- Dewey, this is incredible!
- Your first match ever is for the WWF?
- Did you hear that, High Chief?
It's finally happening.
You need to tell everybody in heaven.
- Wake up Jesus if you have to.
- Wait, they want me to fly out tomorrow.
I've gotta train Pam at the gym.
- I'll take care of that.
[touch tones beeping]
Hello, gym? Dwayne quits. Tell Pam.
[laughter]
What's next?
- Uh, I need some wrestling gear.
Can I borrow some trunks?
- [laughs]
- Tights?
I'm not making my wrestling debut
looking like some broke-ass Robin Hood.
- You know towards the end, I didn't train legs.
Maybe your Uncle Tonga got some trunks you can borrow.
- Now, my Uncle Tonga was a legend.
- Hey.
Hey!
I know you can hear me.
You know, just because your sport is fake
don't mean your ears are fake too.
[laughs]
- Just enjoying my fish and chips.
- Well, don't fill up before your fake fight.
[laughs]
You want to go?
[screaming]
- [spits]
- He bit my nose off!
- More tartar sauce, please.
Then I got back to my fish and chips.
But the man's wife wasn't--
- Uncle Tonga, you know I love this story,
and, uh, I can't wait to tell it to my kids one day.
It's just, I'm kind of in a rush.
I'm wrestling for Vince tomorrow,
and I need to borrow some gear.
- You're wrestling for Vince?
- Mm-hmm.
- Then I have some advice for you.
Remember who you are.
- What do you mean?
- A lot of things are about to change for you.
People are going to want to change you.
So just remember who you are.
- So I had my dad's too-small boots,
my uncle's too-big trunks,
and I was ready to show who I was.
I just needed to make one more call.
[touch tones beeping]
Hey, Dany.
- Hey, it's good to hear from you.
- Yeah, I know it's been a while,
but I was waiting to reach out
until I had some good news.
I'm doing what I said I'd do.
I'm giving this wrestling thing a shot,
and now somehow I'm wrestling a match
for the WWF this weekend.
- Oh, that's amazing.
[chuckles]
I mean, I kind of already knew.
Your mom called and told me.
- [laughs]
Yeah, of course she did.
- That's incredible, though.
So how do you feel?
- Um, nervous but confident.
And I know what I gotta do.
- And you're gonna do it.
You've been busy if the WWF is already auditioning you.
How many matches have you had now?
- None?
Wait, you mean, like, no WWF matches.
- No, no matches period, Steve.
This is my first one ever.
I arrived in Corpus Christi
and was picked up by my opponent,
WWE veteran Steve Lombardi, AKA The Brooklyn Brawler.
Steve actually broke my dad into the WWF,
and now he was doing the same for me.
- Sold out.
15,000 fans.
Oof, hell of a way to make your debut.
[uplifting music]
.
- Your first match in front of Vince McMahon
and 15,000 screaming fans,
your career in the balance.
I know you were excited.
But weren't you also terrified?
- I was running on adrenaline.
Plus, I was where I wanted to be.
And, uh, I was just really focused on giving it my all.
[laughs]
But first, I would meet the man
in charge of my match that night,
the legendary ex-wrestler
The Freebird,
Michael "P.S." Hayes.
It's an honor to meet you, sir.
Spent hours practicing your moonwalk in junior high.
- Well, I see Rocky's boy's got good taste.
- Yeah.
- You know your uncles The Wild Samoans broke me in?
- I do, and I just want to say
I'm so grateful for this chance.
- Yeah, well, I'm grateful the hotel bar
stays open till 3:00 a.m.
Now, look, this is your first match.
I don't want to overcomplicate things.
Brawler here is a ring general.
You need to follow his lead and keep it simple.
You got six minutes, and that includes entrances.
No more, no less.
- Yeah, you got it, so what about the finish?
How do you want Brawler to go over?
- Kid....
Vince didn't fly you here to lose.
You're going over.
- The only thing crazier than having your first match
on a WWF stage in front of 15,000 people
was actually winning that match.
It was unheard of.
- Dwayne!
- I wanted to call my parents
and tell them the news,
but there was so much going on.
Luckily they figured out a way to stay informed.
- Hoo-hoo! Y'all know what this is?
- A computer, Rocky.
- So you're familiar.
Luckily this fell off the back of a Circuit City truck.
[modem screeching]
And the sound.
Okay, now all we gotta do is log in
to the WWF AOL chat room, find someone in Corpus,
and they'll give us some updates.
"Hello,
it's Rocky Johnson."
[messages chiming]
Jim Hellwig, The Ultimate Warrior.
- What great luck getting him on the first try!
- Guess my name still carries some clout.
"I'd like an update
"on tonight's dark match
in Corpus Christi."
[message chimes]
[rock music playing]
♪
[messages chiming]
What?
"I'm not trying
"to deny you anything.
I just want updates on my son's dark match."
♪
- "I breathe the air that smells of combat."
- Damn it, Jim, now's not the time.
- This isn't working, Rocky.
We need to come up with another plan.
- Dewey, baby! - Hey, Sheiky baby!
- The Iron Sheik was still wrestling?
- No, but he had just been hired back as a heel manager.
- I just talked to Rocky.
I promised I'd call during your match,
give family updates,
like Dan Rather at Berlin Wall.
- Man, Dad's always working the angles.
- Excuse me, bubba.
I need to find jabroni Ultimate Warrior.
He's been very rude in chat room.
Jim!
Jim, where are you?
Jim Hellwig!
- Hey, Dwayne Johnson.
- Steve Austin.
- The man who revolutionized the wrestling business,
in my opinion, the greatest of all time,
but back then, he was simply known as...
- The Ringmaster.
- Yeah.
I'm a huge fan of your stuff in WCW, by the way,
Stunning Steve, Hollywood Blondes.
What, um--
- Happened? - Yeah.
- Long story short, Vince gave me
this Ringmaster gimmick,
where I'm a great technician in the ring,
but I never talk.
- Like, ever?
- He says my wrestling does the talking.
- And does it?
- Hell yeah, but my words
are pretty damn good at talking too.
- [laughs]
- But it could be worse.
They call that Mantaur.
What territory you come out of?
- Uh, Tampa-ish.
- How long you been working?
- Uh, this is my first match.
- What?
- Whoa.
Did he just say this is his first match?
- I'm Dwayne Johnson.
Nice to meet you.
- Hunter Hearst Helmsley.
- And this guy who looked like he was late
for a fox hunt would one day become...
And now Triple H is one of my closest friends in wrestling,
but back then, we were planting the seeds
on what would grow into a classic rivalry.
- You know, in a few months, I should be
Intercontinental Champion.
- Nice, that's the same title
Don Muraco let me wear when I was ten.
It feels really good. You'll like it.
- Nice. When I win,
I'll make sure to send you an autographed picture.
Maybe you can sell it and buy some matching ring gear.
- Nice.
Hey, speaking of gear,
did you need any help polishing this cane?
'Cause I would gladly like to shine it up,
turn it sideways, and stick it straight up--
- Hey, it's Rocky's kid.
Mick Foley.
Heard about you winning tonight.
Tough break.
- What do you mean?
- Well, if you were losing,
there'd be hardly any pressure.
When you win, Vince is gonna be looking
for that crowd reaction.
Could decide whether you stay in the big leagues or not.
The pressure is on.
Have a nice day!
- [sighs]
- Don't sweat it.
Go out there. Do your thing.
Have some fun.
Meanwhile I'm pretty sure I'm getting fired.
[bell tolls]
- The Undertaker.
I was in total awe of his presence.
I'd only heard him say the words "rest in peace,"
so what came out of his mouth next
stayed with me for the rest of my life.
- [bleep]!
[wrestlers cheer]
- Oh, this is so freaking cool.
Undertaker.
I just, uh, wanted to introduce myself
and show my respect.
I'm Dwayne Johnson.
I'm wrestling in tonight's dark match.
- Go tear it up, kid.
Make them remember you.
- Dwayne.
Showtime.
- Got it.
Showtime.
Time to be the man in the arena.
Time to answer the call.
.
- My name is Bruce Prichard.
What are we calling you? - Uh, Dwayne Johnson.
- Dwayne Johnson? That's it?
- That's it.
Do you know who I talk to for some entrance music?
- Oh, you want some entrance music.
I'll fix you up something nice.
- Great. Oh, Mr. McMahon.
- Ah. - Dwayne Johnson.
I just want to let you know
how grateful I am for this opportunity.
- Pat said we should take a look at you.
You know, your dad provided us
with many great memories over the years.
Looking forward to seeing all you've got.
- I won't let you down. - All right, now.
- So did it ever cross your mind that the history
between Vince and your dad would be an issue?
- No.
Vince is a businessman, and I knew
he was always thinking big picture.
Plus, if there was any heat between my old man and Vince,
they kept it between themselves.
- Hmm. What's it say?
- Ooh, "Too hot, get out of the kitchen."
- What?
- Oh, it's one of those novelty thermometers.
- Oh.
[laughter]
That's fun.
- I really just don't feel well.
- Yeah.
Aw.
[laughter]
- Ah! You good?
- Yeah. - All right.
Remember, doesn't matter if you work
ten years or ten minutes.
You made this moment happen,
and you control what happens next.
['80s-style synth music playing]
- Huh?
Well, that's when I learned not to ask
for ring entrance music.
- Hey, six minutes starts now.
Time to go.
- [exhales sharply]
[crowd cheering]
This was it, my big shot.
And I was gonna soak it all in.
- From Miami, weighing 272 pounds,
Dwayne Johnson!
- Who the hell are you?
- Who is this guy?
♪
- And from New York, weighing 253 pounds,
The Brooklyn Brawler!
- As Brawler made his way to the ring,
I thought to myself, "Six minutes.
Six minutes to change the course of my life."
- Let's see what you've got, kid.
- Ding, ding, ding.
[bell dings]
- All right!
- [grunting]
- [shouts]
Take that, you punk!
[shouting]
Who's the man? Who's the man?
[crowd yelling]
[shouts]
[groans]
- Yeah!
- Go back to Miami!
[crowd jeering]
- [sighs]
- [laughs]
And the crowd goes mild. [laughter]
- Dewey has Brawler in the corner.
He's kicking him in the gut.
- Is he hurt?
You can tell if he's hurt or just selling, right?
- Are his kicks smooth?
They better be. The boy just had to show his legs.
- His legs look great, bubba.
Jabroni moose, move!
[both grunting]
- What do we do now?
- Give it a second and sell.
These people care about you at all,
they're gonna let us know.
- [groaning]
So I leaned in to what my dad had taught me.
This wasn't the time for flashy moves.
I needed to connect with the crowd
and make them give a damn.
[groaning]
- Let's go dude!
- [groaning]
[cheers and applause]
This was a huge moment for me.
When you're an unknown babyface
and you get a positive response from the crowd,
it means you're doing something right.
[cheers and applause]
[dynamic music]
♪
- Comeback time.
Make it a great one.
[grunting]
[crowd yelling]
crowd: Oh!
- Man, I was feeding off their energy,
and that feeling was indescribable.
[cheers and applause]
- [chuckles] Okay, okay.
[crowd yelling]
- [grunting]
[cheers and applause]
crowd: One, two, three!
[cheers and applause]
- The winner of this contest: Dwayne Johnson!
[cheers and applause]
- Dewey wins!
Dewey number one!
[laughter]
- Hell yeah.
- He's green as grass, but what an athlete.
Like his old man.
.
- I get goose bumps hearing you talk about that match.
- It was epic, I have to say.
- Reminds me of my first stage experience at UCLA.
It was the day before my first play,
an all-Asian adaptation of "The Hudsucker Proxy,"
and I hadn't slept all night.
- Randall, what are you doing?
- Sorry, I got carried away.
So you win your first match.
That must have felt incredible.
- Oh, it did, but, you know, more than the joy,
it was standing in the middle of that ring
and feeling the crowd, and...
for the first time in my life,
I felt like I was home.
[cheers and applause] - Great job, dude.
- [laughs] Great job.
- Good job, man. - Thank you guys.
Thank you, sir.
- Bro, did you hear that? They popped!
- Yeah, what does that mean?
- It means they gave a crap,
and they cheered when you won.
- Thank you. I won't ever forget this.
- Hey, you know what this watch says?
Six minutes exactly.
- Hey! - Just like your wedding night.
[laughs]
Dewey, follow me.
- Thank you. - Yeah, of course.
- People are impressed.
They can't believe it's your first match.
- I haven't felt anything like this.
- Vince wants you to come to the TV taping
in San Antonio tomorrow.
- Yes, sir.
- See you there, kid.
- So what happened in San Antonio?
- Well, I had my second dark match,
which I lost, but it went great.
And after that, I was summoned
to the WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut,
to have a one-on-one meeting with Vince McMahon,
which I was told could be more intimidating than any match.
But, uh, I really wanted to impress Vince,
so I wore the best outfit
that a broke-ass kid with seven bucks
could put together:
my finest mom jeans,
a five-year-old Tommy Hilfiger shirt,
and a pair of custom snakeskin boots
that I got up in Calgary.
[knocking] - Dwayne, thanks for coming.
- No problem.
- Great to see you.
Oh, nice boots. - Yeah.
- Hope you didn't get 'em custom for this meeting.
- No, I can't afford boots like these.
They were free. - Ah.
- I got them with a coupon from Jeff Garcia's gift bag
when I was in the CFL.
- Can't beat free.
- Yeah. - Come on.
[sighs]
Dwayne, I think you have a lot of potential.
I mean, you are a complete natural out there.
- Thank you. - You did great.
But you're not ready for the WWF.
[somber music]
- Okay.
- Which is why I'm sending you to Memphis.
- Memphis, that's, uh, Jerry Lawler's promotion.
- Exactly.
You'll go down there,
learn the fundamentals, you know,
ring psychology, how to cut a promo.
When you're ready,
we'll call you back up to the WWF.
- Some wrestlers stayed in Memphis for months,
some for years.
Some never got the call.
But I wasn't fazed, because this was my shot.
Thank you so much, Vince.
And again, truly grateful for this opportunity.
- You got a car as nice as those boots?
- Uh, no, the last car I had
had a homeless guy living in it.
- [laughs] Well, get one.
You're gonna be driving all over the territory.
- No problem.
- You got a place to stay in Memphis?
- Yeah, I have family there.
- Welcome home, brother.
[laughs]
[groans] Oh, there he is. There he is.
You're looking sharp, man.
Well, come on.
- [snoring]
- Sweet dreams, big prince.
Oh, uh, I didn't just kiss you.
[birds chirping]
Ah! - Ah.
- Finally The Rock has come back...
both: To his kitchen.
- Oh, that was awesome.
- [laughs]
I feel so much better,
and I want to apologize for yesterday.
I know we lost a crucial day
in the homestretch of this campaign.
- Actually, sir, no, we didn't miss a beat.
General Jackson, freshly out of the hospital
after her incident in Tennessee,
stepped in for all of your events.
- Your VP did "Meet the Press,"
visited a construction site,
and ran a half marathon.
- Ah, so she answered
the call. - She answered the call.
Damn it, thought we could go two-for-two
with the in-unison statements. - Mm.
Mm, try it again?
- Yeah.
- So she answered the call. - So she an--
- No, it's not there.
We lost the moment.
- So she answered the-- - Nope.