The Rock: Vulnerabilities, Being a Girl Dad, Future of XFL & How Wrestling Saved My Life | The Pivot

key words or secret words huh we don't have like key words around the kids we just say did you wash she said yeah I watched nothing oh that means y'all gonna that's action yeah isn't that smoothness I decided to run around the bush and what you doing hey you look good now you wash okay you don't like that I mean I think because I'm 43 it's obvious what you guys were talking about maybe it's not clear to your three-year-old or two-year-old that's what I'm saying maybe Chaz doesn't get it isn't that clever I'm sure a Chan gets it nah I hate that our kids are naive he's 11 but he's naive oh there all right here we go what's up right what's up man I'm trying not to okay all right here we go it's all going downhill hey you hey everybody you left the terramina home man I thought we gonna have a birthday yeah it's here thank you very much Happy Belated yeah thank you I heard you had a special message in your gym uh with the term of endearment that you're the members of your staff like to call you what was it again believe it was [ __ ] face yes yes a strong resounding happy birthday [ __ ] face was waiting for me in the gym but here's what's cool first of all it was a great surprise I walk in and I look and I'm like oh look at this and I realized I got about five people in my life who would do that so there's five people in my life right now who would call me [ __ ] face and I was like Mom I can't believe well that was fun though yeah it was cool it was cool hold on [Music] yeah [Music] man well welcome to the pivot thank you man Chan Freddy T I'm RC this is truly for us uh an honor just having an opportunity to follow who you are as a man and who you've become as an Entertainer but the father and all of the things that you've done that I don't think people get an opportunity to praise you for or hear from you about so just thank you for continuing to show us daily that what you achieve doesn't have to change what your foundational premises and bases of Life are man well thank you for that RC I appreciate it good to see you Fred good to see you Channing and you know I've been following you guys for a long time you guys do a great job I love the setup I love the show I love how you guys interact not only with each other but also with the guest and what Drew me probably almost two years ago and I think I reached out to you it might have been Fred while I hit him up on the sign like man you guys are doing a great job I might have I started following you guys probably leaving comments I think too as well but you guys do such a great job of uh first of all making all the guests feel comfortable out of the gate because you've all been there you know what the grind is like what the hard work is like what the UPS of success and the game of football that we all love what that brings but you also know the pain of what happens as it starts to go down or failures start to come your way again in a game that we all love because I always feel like the game of football that we love the hard work the discipline and things like that it transcends just the game it's the stuff that's applicable to life so everybody you guys bring on from Shaq to Kevin yeah everybody I always loved all these and again you make everybody feel comfortable because you've been there right and then you guys know this right being in the public eye a lot of times you could sit down with the media and wondering where they're going what kind of agenda they have you're still trying to be a professional and you know give a great interview but it's different than this appreciate that man well this show is presented by Old Spice and they did it especially for you because the whole time coming up here we were talking about self-confidence and he was saying he's excited that there's finally another 10 on the set with him said so far the moment he said the only the only people that he felt a kinship with somewhere together you and A-Rod might compete with me in what way compete like if the women have to choose yes it's not our choice well saying I must admit though bro you have gone up five notches to me now that you got the new team self-confidence and His Old Spice says smelt confidence Sky High but since they sent us something with a little 24-hour moisture for you I think need to take care of these Knuckles before we finish our conversation with The Rock there you go man get yourself together they put my sweat in this this is my sweat he's not short on confidence but you know in talking about the things that we do get to see from you especially just an overwhelming just a bit of positivity every day and the things that you try to do whether it's mental health and continuing to give people the motivation to be their their best selves and even watching the young Rock which is what you said a love letter to wrestling you can see some of the ways you moved around you know your father being kicked out when he was 13 you living in different states by the time you were 13. I think it was what like Hawaii Nashville Pennsylvania yeah all in one year when you have that sort of upbringing and you as a family and a young man is yourself go through those sorts of adversities how did you did you use those things to shape who you are now as a man well I try to these days keep those times in the Forefront of my mind I try to keep them close and you know we've all been there so we've we've all had our seven bucks moment and when I was playing up in Calgary for the CFL I was cut in October sent home and at that time you know I'd left University of Miami the guys who I was playing with at that time Ray Lewis Warren Sapp they were lighting the world on fire their dreams were coming true they were buying their mom's houses and when I got cut from Canada That season it was that was when I had seven bucks in my pocket so we've all had those moments in seven bucks with seven bucks seven seven bucks but what I found and as I got a little luckier down the road of life and was able to achieve a thing or two um I started to apply gratitude and I was always trying to apply gratitude anyway you know I've always been that way I think at my core just trying to find the good in something because it's easy to get lost in the sludge of things especially when things are down um so what I tried to do is try to keep all those times the hard times or keep them in the Forefront of my mind and then I also tried to realize but this didn't happen right away because I'd gone through two three bouts of depression over the course of years and during that time like the football one for me was a big one you know you three you guys lived my dream of making it to the league playing professional football and and achieving that Pinnacle so the biggest thing for me was trying to understand the reason why and if it weren't this dream that I was so focused on and so determined to make and work my ass off you know how it is like in high school then you go to college and you're working hard and all your boys around you some of them are going to the league every year and it's like all right my time has come my time is coming and it doesn't happen and the tidal wave of disappointment out of that that was a rough one for me it wound up being I always say me playing in the NFL wound up being the best thing that never happened to me because it really helped shape and inform who I am as you were saying so um so you know I could sit here today and tell you that how grateful I am that I didn't make it um and I could also tell you and I'll share this with you as my boys is that every draft every year I'll watch that draft because I remember it like it was yesterday as you guys did right where we're just sitting in the house waiting for the phone to ring my phone didn't ring on that first day on the second day it rang and I was at this is it I picked up that phone and I said hello and I hear um is my Samoan name for my grandmother who passed away I was like oh Grandma she's like you get draft yet to the NFL no grandma no goodbye I love you boom so anyway it's shaped me and helped me wow to who I am we have one other person here that has that similar story Ryan was undrafted but he's also the only one here that has a Super Bowl ring so he's so that's his way of kind of throwing it back in our face and you're you're Larger than Life man and you know I'm pretty sure a lot of players a lot of guys that that even though it was your dream to be in the NFL and it didn't happen but you've accomplished so much greatness that I'm pretty sure at this point in these other guys lives they wouldn't mind that trade-off uh but you spoke about the uh the box of depression yeah I'm big on Mental Health I was once to a guy who suffered injuries in my career didn't feel like I was able to achieve my maximum potential and I've been there now I I totally been there uh just tons and tons of questions one to question the man upstairs all that different stuff my faith like where are you going to go but your other about was I think you say you were 15. when your mother of the attempted suicide your mother due to you guys being evicted up in Nashville um those two different moments in terms of shaping your life right uh and when they look at us they see the outside looking at you yeah it just seems like everything is just amazing you're fine the inside how how is everything now and is being a a girl dad does that help you tap into your vulnerability to deal with your mental health it it does yes um well thank you for asking that and I really appreciate you being open and this and again one of the reasons why I love and respect this show is you guys do go to those places and you are vulnerable and you are open and it's important to be that way so the first time Depression hit me I was at the University of Miami me I came in I was balling out I was going to be the only freshman to play and at that time we were national champions defending national champions I was playing behind Russell Maryland I was number two as a matter of fact I'll tell you this story um my defensive line coach coach Bob carmeloics I had two coaches Bob carmelowicz and Ed ogeron and from Louisiana right yeah by the way you know Patrick Riley yes Pat Riley went to my high school oh you did right Marrero yeah that was my boy wow um so he told me he goes Hey listen he brought me in his office he goes you're gonna be the only freshman to play this year buying Russell Maryland I was like wow we had some Ballers at that time on that team that was a crazy team and he goes I'll tell you what's going to happen I said what's that coach he goes you're gonna be the only freshman we play this year you're gonna give me two more years and then you're gonna [ __ ] me in a supplemental draft is what he said he said it jokingly he's like but I know what's going to happen man now I had played two years of organized football and I'm down in Miami best school in the country national champions and my coach is telling me that's a now automatically I'm thinking this is it this is my work in two years two and a half years you start doing the math I'm gonna buy my parents their first house I get injured I was in the middle drill with uh Mario crystal ball who's now the head coach down in Miami down into the ground my whole shoulder came out and I had to have a complete reconstruction done but that sent me in a tailspin and that hit me and so my first body Depression was down there in Miami you didn't want to go to school I was ready to leave I left school I didn't take any uh midterms and I just left but the interesting thing at that time is I just didn't know what it was I didn't know what mental health was I didn't know what Depression was I just knew I didn't want to be there it wasn't going to any of the team meetings wasn't uh you know participating in anything I wasn't working out and you know for us just as athletes just any kind of sweat and getting it in yeah will help get that [ __ ] out of you I couldn't do it because of my shoulder so at that time that was a tough one for me and again I didn't know what it was years later and went through it again when I got a divorce didn't know what it was yeah years later around 2017 or so went through a little bit really but knew what it was at that time and luckily at that time I had some friends so I could lean on say Hey you know I'm feeling a little wobbly now got a little struggle happening I'm seeing a little gray and not the blue um but to bring it all back around to your great question is yes the Saving Grace for me has really been my daughters the three of them and being a girl dad right that's been the Saving Grace because you look at them and you realize well I mean really this is what it's all about and you look at the alternative too well how how am I going to respond in this moment like what's the best way that I could respond in this moment that's going to show them not now they're too young but down the line how I can help them and this is how I responded to this moment and hopefully this will help you guys too as well so they've been in the Saving Grace you guys feel like that right oh yeah it is as well yes yeah my daughter my I was running fast running through Miami yeah my daughter slowed me down at 21. yeah she made me a man quick and quick and DJ I don't call your team calls you that's why I picked it up you brought up friends and you talking about your physical physique and you are a damn door but as your friend bro you got a decision to make coming up here soon tell me you can't keep that 50 year old face on that 25 year old body you either gotta upgrade the face or you got but at your age honestly 51 years old how in the hell do you keep a 25 year old body I'd love to train I've always been a weight room guy I've loved that but also it training for me it really truly is my anchor I love to get up early in the morning hopefully before the girls wake up before the babies get up before the sun comes up and it helps me level out my day I think about my day and then I go train get that sweat in no I train alone you know you listen to what you want to listen to as loud as you want to listen to it uh I could challenge myself because you know it's that old adage that we all know it's you versus you and so training for me is my anchor and I love training and also it's just become my way of challenging myself every day but also I'll take you back my old man we had my dad was my hero growing up and then as I got a little older and and I became a teenager we started to have a real complicated relationship because you start to feel yourself as a man and he feels himself as a man and a lot of testosterone and he grew up one way he would like you said Ryan he was kicked out at 13. quick story it was Christmas uh my dad's dad had died I think a year earlier and there was a new boyfriend in the mix he came over and they had their turkey and he peed on the turkey the boyfriend did he got drunk and peed on the turkey what wow my dad was 13 they got in a fight my dad took a toy gun and he drew a line in the dirt and said if you cross that I'm going to take the shovel and I'm going to kill you and he was drunk he crossed the line my dad at 13 grabbed the shovel laid him out cold as a block of ice cops came as he was out the cops looked at my grandmother and said when he gets up one or two things going to happen either he's going to kill him or he's going to kill him one of them got to go and my grandmother looked at my dad and said you're out at 13. so he's on his own so his capacity for love was what it was very limited so my point is is that was my dad as I started coming into my own as a teenager that capacity of love that limited capacity and so we were like this for a very long time but the thing that always kept us together was him saying come to the gym with me all right wow come to the gym with me now even this is a five six seven eight nine years old and he's like you can't work out sit your ass in the corner and just watch but come to the gym with me and so the gym was introduced in my life when I was a kid a boy and it always meant something to me so it's more inside of you than just getting big like being in the gym means something more to you yeah exactly and it's my anchor like I feel like I I need that in my life because my life is so crazy as you guys know life is loud and crazy it's all this [ __ ] going on that we gotta you know you're getting pulled in a million different directions we all wear a lot of hats but for me as wild as my life is as all our lives are loud and crazy uh getting away for that hour and a half two hours where I can unplug and no one else is around and I don't have to hear from anyone I don't have to answer my phone it's perfect I mean you're third generation wrestler yeah all right hi Chief Russell uh your father wrestler you got an opportunity to induct both of them into the WWE Hall of Fame yeah which you'll be in one day whenever you decide to officially say it's time for me to go in uh your daughter uh now fighting or wrestling under the name Ava rain yeah as well you are cut from Calgary you have the the doubts you have the the questions and you get into wrestling which was I mean now we can call it the family business how influential was that in helping you find your way in in a in a way sort of saving your life RC I loved wrestling and when I was growing up I loved wrestling too but wrestling it was the family business it's what we loved but it was a different time back then especially in the 80s as you're growing up it was almost like the movie The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke like that's the way those guys were that's the way so many guys like my dad and had it not been for the blessing of God that I was able to have to take care of them he would have been like that too where they live paycheck to paycheck they were stars in their own right so I there's this term in the wrestling business called work in the gimmick and what that means is it growing up and wrestling wasn't as Global as it is today the guys make millions of dollars the guys and the girls and it's great it's a great business to be in it's hard but it's great well back then wrestling was the guys all had to have a Cadillac or in Lincoln you have to have the gold the diamonds and then afterwards after the match you go back home to either trailer park or your apartment so we were always working the gimmick so as I was growing up I I loved wrestling but I wanted to make money and I wanted to make a lot of money to take care of my family like I didn't want we never lived in a house so my goal was I want to buy my parents their first house how can I do it I started playing football that's my ticket so wrestling was always there in my heart but I never looked at it like oh I could take care of my family for it because I and also too my dad would say you don't want to get in this business look at me I don't have anything yeah so once I got cut from football got sent back home to Tampa move back in with my parents uh had seven bucks in my pocket there was something in my gut and then there was a little voice that we always got to listen to and if we're lucky enough if we're smart enough to listen to it it could usually lead you down the right path of something good so my gut was saying business is calling wrestling is calling I shared with my dad and my mom hey this is this is what I want to do so here's what happened I get a call from Wally buono who at that time was the head coach of the Calgary Stampeders who has since gone on to become commissioner of the CFL and GM he's he's an OG up there he called to say hey even though we cut you DJ would like to bring you back next season and I think they just won the great cup so they were on top and I said I really appreciate now my dad doesn't know who I'm talking to but it's one of those old phones on the wall and I was like yeah thank you coach I appreciate it I said I got to be honest with you I'm gonna close this chapter in my life I can't thank you enough for everything you've been a wonderful Mentor I wish you the best of luck hang up the phone my dad was like on his Little Rock and he's looking at me he said who is that I said well that was Wally buono the coach from CFL goes what do you say told him he goes and you said I said I'm not doing it he goes he just offered you a chance a job to make money at something that you love and you're not going to do it I said I'm not going to do it he goes well what are you going to do by this time my mom's walking in she starts to feel the tension right she walks in and I was an only child so it's just the three of us in this house and this little apartment in Tampa she walks in my dad said what are you gonna do I said this is it I said I'm going to get in the business he said what business I said the family business the wrestling business we got into the biggest fight he hated the idea and ultimately he came back around and said you don't have anything though what do you think you have to offer I mean it got heated and we fought eventually we got out of that argument I convinced him I said listen I need you to train me um and if it's not you I'm gonna go to somebody else but I would love for you to train me so we got into this huge fight tears all that thing all that stuff and finally you trained me the very first day of training was called a lock up we lock up I was in love that was it so in a way wrestling did save my life and in a way thank you God in the universe um if you look back now in a way it helps shape and form and save my grandfather's life coming out of Samoa my Dad's life being a kicked out at 13. and then my life having seven bucks in my pocket we didn't have anything at that time and now years later I have the privilege and honor of watching my daughter Simone and I had her when I was young in my 20s and you know as dudes we're still trying to find ourselves in our 20s and our 30s if we're lucky we reach our fourth level and and we find ourselves a little bit we get a little bit more wiser so when I had Simone I was flying by the seat of my pants I was wrestling full time I started transitioning into movies full time I had so much [ __ ] going on so I like to say me and Simone grew up together so we had a relationship where I was always gone but we tried to keep it together now years later as she becomes a pro wrestler it's actually brought us closer together so in a way it's helped save that relationship too so in many ways pro wrestling has been my family's Savior and speaking of your father he's a Black Nova scotian correct and you identify as black I used to talk about it all the time and I used to Junior say God Rest the soul with a teammate of mine yeah yeah down in Miami yeah down in Miami and we used to mess around it's probably not appropriate but Junior was never appropriate so I would always be like bro yeah buddy I'd be like are you on are you on our side you're a black dude what are you and it was actually very smart his response he'd say that's that's what y'all do on the mainland he's like we're coconuts over there we're all coconuts y'all want to put titles on people here yeah I'm a coconut in his way that was I got what he was saying all the same but yeah I if if I if I didn't know I wouldn't think you were black just looking at you you're a Polynesian I would say yeah did you ever get discriminated against growing up well is there any discrimination there because you are a black man but I'm gonna say you could wiggle out of it if you want to you got some wiggle room I love you dude who would you guys have on the show and it was like it might have been a running back or somebody just had just just enormous legs yes you got some lag on you like kept going up man that [ __ ] was so funny you also told Mike Tyson you can see his little man that was that was the most moment Mike had on little shorts with no draws and the man got something I just said away [Music] kicked his leg out all of them all right um yes so discrimination yes growing up so I did a lot of my growing up was in the south Texas and Georgia and Tennessee and North Carolina and down in Florida um at that time and I was a 70s baby I was born in the 70s and then you know got a lot of my growing up and in the 80s but yeah so in those areas in the world of wrestling again it was different back then so you're wrestling in these small towns and I'm going to school in these small towns living in trailer parks in the Deep South and kids are looking at me like what are you are you you Mexican black something we look different you got an afro um they see my parents so yeah that happened yeah for sure Troy Polamalu is one of my best friends yeah and I know I know you probably won it the Playboy All-American team yeah right you know how to go take pictures with Brady James went to LSU ended up being a Dallas Cowboy and Troy used to always tell me the story is like man the first person I met from LSU was Brady James and he asked me what is you right because just because when you do grow up in Louisiana or you grow up down south there aren't a lot of Polynesians like they they're just white and black you see white and you see black and so I know a lot of times it wasn't so much even the Discrimination but actually the the Curiosity that leads to some unawareness of who people are and what people are and I can just imagine you yourself like you said people could see your parents yeah right in the down south in the trailer park you got an afro you know and just trying to understand how to even do I also get into those conversations and so it's about finding out who you are and how other people relate to you as well when I got down to Miami um and probably to your point is a lot of our players they all either came out of Texas they came out of the South um and there was a great curiosity then too like hey what are you and they didn't like are you black or white I said well I'm half black half Samoan and a few times it was we it are you black or are you like it well no I hear you what you're saying yeah let me I'm going to be clear I am this and I am that no no no no no no you either got to be you know so it was really interesting considering where everybody came from uh would always inform how they interpreted you know like how I looked so it was interesting I was curious uh when you were talking about the family business wrestling you talked about getting in there and you wanted to go and make some money your first paycheck versus Simone's first paycheck who made the most money I would say her my first paycheck well in wrestling my first paycheck was 40 bucks and that's what our guarantee wait wait wait wait wait forty dollars to do what yeah yeah to wrestle so this was before WWE so as you're starting out I I of course wasn't ready for WWE and so I started I made my bones down in down in Tennessee right there's a wrestling company down there it was called the uswa famous everybody came through there Jerry The King Lawler everybody who became Somebody went through there and that's where you uh you made your bones and you cut your teeth the guarantee every night was 40 bucks wherever doesn't matter where you're at on the card that was your guarantee how did you make additional money oh additional money we would we'd the word gimmick again you made additional money by when there was the um intermission we'd go to What's called the gimmick table and so we would have pick we'd have our polaroid so if we were wrestling on the card and say we already wrestled for the night you get 40 bucks that's guaranteed we can stay till intermission the four of us as wrestlers would go out to the gimmick table we'd have our Polaroids and anyone who wanted to take a Polaroid with you you'd sign it five bucks take it five bucks sign it ten bucks so that's how we made our additional money so on good night I could make maybe 80 bucks well you are Way Beyond making forty dollars a night to be anywhere you probably don't get to sleep in your bed for that amount of money but you know you now in your acting career we've seen you do everything right we've seen you be serious we've seen you be a father we've seen you obviously in in action movies but that was a lot like your wrestling career as well right you start as I think it was Rocky mavia and then you know Stone Cold Steve Austin is big time then and then you turn to the Rock and at some point you're like the face and then you're like the hill and you're in nation of domination and you got mankind it's Big Show John like you go through all of these different phases of being who you are that makes you into this Superstar and then you get an opportunity to host Saturday Night Live which kind of seemed like oh my God my goodness this dude can do all of these other things when you look at how your career started all the things that you had to go through and learn to get here could you ever have imagined being where you are today no no no never my goal my goal wasn't to be here in Hollywood making movies hopefully with a little bit of longevity that was never my goal and completely honest with you guys complete transparency my goal was just to not be broke and I used to tell myself this all the time excuse me for cussing but in the spirit of just being completely open I used to tell myself specifically I cannot be [ __ ] broke like that to me was and I think because I was struggled a lot growing up and I saw how hard my dad was working his ass off we traveled all around we were able to pay rent live a pretty good life but I saw what the end of the road was and that was being evicted and not having any money and him and my mom like scrapping in Tampa he opened up a cleaning company and they were just like cleaning houses cleaning anything they could and so for me it was I cannot be broke I don't want that for them and I don't want that for my family so and I think also not being drafted not being picked up never getting that call from the league put a chip on my shoulder player 54. like that's what it is you guys know a lot of 54s right so I was that dude so that the chip that that put on my shoulder and the drive and the I am going to scratch and Claw and kick and bite and fight my way to have more than seven bucks it was never I want to make millions it was I need more than seven bucks so I think in a way um the the the idea of being here um it's a it's a convergence of being of being grateful where I'm at and being aware of my position in this business but also as we talked about earlier keeping all that stuff in the Forefront of my mind and because to me I'm a couple of days of being away from being broke like it's that like we're gonna get kicked out you ate a couple days away come on now Rock not but it's that the drive it's it's that we I've never arrived yeah we've never arrived isn't one of your motivational sayings it was like something like hey we're getting evicted around the corner or something like that eviction is around the corner is around the corner and is that one of the ways how does that continue to keep in the Forefront of your mind like you keep mentioning gratitude as you continue to accomplish certain things it's also important to remember what it could be like and what it was like brother all the time so there's the the Gratitude then there's grit and then I think well what's the alternative so and the alternative is seven bucks the alternative is struggle the alternative is not having options not having a choice so I think about that all the time and it continues to driving by the way when I say I say that I'll say that in our meetings in the variety of the businesses I'll say evictions around the corner and I get a lot of and then for people who really know me who are comfortable go Hey listen we love you but it ain't around the corner I say I know but we need to say it Rodney can Google you make the Google Network it's easy Google search speaking of that taking the money out of it yeah what are you the best at because I'm better than you at football obviously you didn't go I went hey easy conclusion to draw yeah it ain't hard I made Millions on football but but you produce you act you you've been called the best wrestler of all time you made a lot of money acting but you've never been called the best actor of all time in your mind like what are you the best at horizontal hula [Laughter] bro you can get down look I like he knew exactly what I was talking about everybody it wasn't I do is more comfortable with you than Kevin was oh yeah Kevin didn't like this conversation no he don't like that he yeah he don't like talking about no no I tried to joke with him about that that's it you got like an approach you know so you got like a game plan going in because I know like my first position second position like I have like it's a movie script written now yeah you got a beginning a middle yeah and an end and a climax yeah the sequels are important but you you don't have to worry about the sequel if you pour up a nice little taramana Reposado and a zoa pineapple passion it all goes the energy drink like yes it's gonna be revved up you're gonna sweat a lot yeah that confidence you're gonna sweat but but yeah but really like I was I was interested in that because from your everybody loves you in every at every level like you are a known wrestler you're actor like what you do but in your mind I don't know if there was something that steps out where I excel at this I think I'm pretty good at a lot of things uh in terms of being the best at something besides egotistically horizontal hula um I'm pretty good at what I love to do and those things that I love to do I'm passionate about I like to say whatever that thing is I run towards it if I if I get up in the morning and I think about it and I go yes I'm going to run towards that thing then I there's a shot that I could be pretty good at it but in terms of the best and the best at this and the best of that I just think that you know everybody's good at football or this or wrestling and things like that so yeah I would say I'm pretty good at the stuff I love but the thing but DJ the thing is this though you're saying everybody is pretty good that's not the way it works right you whether you are pretty good whether you are lucky to reach the the magnitudes you've reached whether it was wrestling because it's a ton of people who have been great wrestlers who may have not been able to entertain the way you could to who who couldn't get Smackdown to become a household word and people forget where it came from right like you were able to do all of these different things move into into acting into being in action films be able to jump and be a leading man there are so many different things you could do and so that comes with the level of hard work and when you started talking about being the best I'm a huge Kobe fan yeah right and I just I love the way that he approached like you said the thing he loved that's right right he was going to run to it but he famously said he couldn't be a good friend right because they said he was so focused on being the greatest or being the best he could possibly be at what he loved that he didn't have time for those things when we saw Kevin hey man we're going to talk to we're going to talk to Dwayne like we're gonna sit down he's like ask him this but don't get him on this because if you get him on that then he's going to go corporate on you and you don't want him to go corporate but but it made me think though immediately when we said your name you can see him open up you could see him yeah you can see him have the type of feeling of like that's my dude for you how hard is it to maintain relationships and friendships and those things and also work to achieve everything that you're doing daily that's a great question so for years I was the shits of a friend and I didn't have a lot of friends I had boys that's my boys my boy and sure I'll be there for you like I think you'll be there for me but there was a real myopic focus and not in any way drawing a comparison to Kobe I love Kobe and what he stood for in his work ethic and I love sometimes as hard as Kobe worked as you guys know I love that when you when he spoke in this way that I always felt was so simplified yet powerful he would say something to the effect of it's you're a little better today than you were yesterday you wake up tomorrow let's be better tomorrow than you were today don't think about this as a loss you're going to learn and I and and then the that that level of hunger was just always inspiring when it comes to Kobe because there is a guy who reached the top but yet I don't know if there's anyone who's reached that that kind of hunger do you know what I mean so anyway um for many years I was running my style running my game and I was like this but years later like with Kevin and like some of my other guys who I've actually become friends with and become close with it's you you find that life is an endurance race as we're younger in our 20s you're rolling hard you think you got all the answers and everything is like this and then you start to realize well life is an endurance race it's an endurance test and maybe we don't know everything we think we know yeah uh and maybe you could be a little bit more open to the [ __ ] you don't know so I started to apply that in my life like hey it's okay not to know everything you don't have to be micromanaging everything and everybody I'll step back and you bring in people who are much smarter than I am much better at football right bring them in but then also you start to gravitate towards these people like a Kevin who he's been through the grind he understands what it's like to fail to learn and he's also ambitious and hungry and then you also start to realize um the that having friends is so vitally important as you just get a little older because you lean on each other you can open up it's like man you gotta if you're having a wobbly day call me I'm there like that kind of stuff I felt like in college in the 20s and when I was running in WWE we were there for each other but it's a different kind of I think love and security that you have as you get a little older you know and invite certain people in your life especially in your circle who uh who who share similar qualities you know who've kind of been up and down like you as well is there any particular actors or performers that have influenced you the most or taught you something during your uh since you started yeah I really when I first got into the business I always looked at Will Smith as the and at that time that was the early 2000s where he was the biggest star in the world and he was producing he was singing he was integrating his music into his movies so I always looked at will at that time it was like will at that time was the biggest star in the world Johnny Depp George Clooney guys like that and I remember thinking to myself wow I'd love to have Will's career and I remember having a meeting because we were at the same agency at that time and I brought in everybody who I could who wanted to you know participate in this meeting and again I was not at Will's level at that time I was just starting out Scorpion King tooth fairy movies like that the one you love yeah thank you my favorite role I appreciate it really you're too damn mean in Black Adam it was a lot of fun um thank you I appreciate that yes sir I got you yeah thank you it's a confident man that could say I love the Tooth Fairy exactly yeah he actually said this before you came too yeah so this is not a lot they don't know that feeling it's confidence we'll talk yeah swag yes yeah but the thing is we had the conversation before you got here DJ he got his teeth fixed right oh nice like yeah his his wife amazing his wife went out worked on her own to pay for his new teeth with the under the premise of his teeth were embarrassing the family right or wrong I don't know if my wife said that exactly I'm going to do something nice for you right and 20 not like you need it however no yes because right at the time at the time like let's say we were all going out right yeah and a girl was like RC who you bringing with you I'd be like well bring in Fred and DJ and Chan you know and you know they'll ask you they want to run because they got girls so they want to run down the list like what about Fred oh man good looking guy man real smooth kind of laid back if he's quiet around you don't really trip you know but yo your girls are gonna like him what about DJ all listen this mother effort like stay in the gym I mean just ripped up you know what I mean handsome guy great smile I was like super entrepreneur talented what about Chan he funny as hell and like that's where that's where it would have been bad like bad he was he was legitimately a five and a half and that's if you add in DJ you gotta add in personality to that though before he got his teeth yes since then he's been unbearable bro with the teeth so the teeth took it to uh he think he's a 10. he's a strong 7.5 without mindset we don't feel jealousy like they do yeah so it's just yeah something in jealous people but you recognize it yeah you recognize it it's cute you tickle that little chin and you let him go back you know confidence you know and speaking of that starting to XFL because I really wanted uh to get here and you keep saying you know player 54. yeah uh and having an opportunity to do that and give a lot of guys who have been in your position right which is why the XFL was very vital to them to continue to be able to live out their dreams what was it for you that made having that opportunity such a such a one that you've seen to take with such an appreciation of gratefulness and it's almost uh you giving back to those who have been in your shoes that's just it the XFL for us for me and I feel very confident I can speak for Danny who is my longtime business partner also co-owner of uh of the XFL and she was down with me in Miami too as well she was on the crew team down there that's how we met so she was living the football dream with me coming to every game like we were focused like that that was the goal was to make it in the NFL um so now years later life can come full circle I got the call from her in 2000 she said word on the street is the XFL is folding she goes I want to buy it and I'd love for you to partner with me on this I it was the fastest yes I had ever said uh and by the way I remember I was ready to I wanted to get in contact with you because I remember when we did buy it you were a little like I don't know if that was a good decision right yes because it's failed so many times like what made you think you could do it absolutely and I love that by the way and I didn't have a chance to get in contact with you then because I was that that's when I was like oh I think that's when I started watching the show um and rightfully so and I understand that concern it was an easy yes for me because it wasn't man this thing has failed twice already maybe it's got some stink on it maybe it's got some bad juju on it um maybe spring football just doesn't work but it was just the opportunity to create opportunities yeah for dudes like me who just didn't get drafted and I felt like and Danny felt like this too if we can take our time let's not try and put it on its feet too quick let's go to New York and sit with Roger Goodell Troy Vincent hat in hand respectfully here's what we'd like to do and we did that by the way so we flew up to New York after we made the acquisition sat with Roger and Troy and some of their other Executives and said here's what we'd like to do there is no competition with the NFL that's the gold standard I said but what we'd love to do is try and grow the game of football out of respect is there a way that we could find a partnership and Roger look right at me and said yes looked right at all of us and said yes so that's the first step and then the next part was well let's take our time let's do it right let's build the league we're storytellers ultimately and we love telling stories it's what we do at seven bucks so what so the challenge is no one knows these players they're not big time stars like you guys weren't making millions of dollars like you guys but they are living the dream right and you know we've known these are your boys too right like we have all known these players but they are living the dream they're trying to work hard they're trying to put food on their table take care of their families can we make it interesting can we apply Innovation what does innovative ruling look like what are our Partnerships look like so we took our time and this is why in 2020 we purchased it now we just came out this season so it just came down it was the easiest yes but also I wish I had the XFL coming out of Miami and you know that it didn't happen for me I had the CFL it was either and really as you guys know it's either the NFL CFL yeah but they're always going to take care of their Canadian players understandably so but it's really like the NFL or nothing right and so that's really what it came down to so now as I could sit here with you guys now thank God we had a great season uh ratings continue to climb it's it's building the league day by day you know by the time this comes out we'll probably have maybe 50 60 guys who are already going to camps which is really amazing so I got to tell you guys it's it even though it didn't happen for me um life worked out in the way that it was meant to work out and thankfully it did let me speak to that really quickly DJ um I I got first I had an experience with it you called it uh a post you posted the other day you called it the league of opportunity yeah and so many rights not just for the players but for the coaches as well former teammates Reggie Barlow who was just awarded the coach of the year for the SFL you know giving those guys an opportunity to live their dreams in coaching with the possibility of going to the what you've just called a gold standard the NFL and even my son Kelvin uh coming that came out of Florida drafted in 2016 six round by the Niners few years covet happened out of football but he was hungry dad I gotta get back I got to get back and uh XFL came I knew a few people and uh made a few phone calls there like we'll bring him into Camp give him a shot and work him out he made the Orlando team uh coach Buckley Buck yeah um but even other former players Heinz Uh Wood coach Wilson you know a coach uh Stoops you know a lot of people that we all have relationships with but just those opportunities to coach Phillips Wade Phillips exactly to fulfill those dreams and give those players themselves an opportunity so uh I'm always giving people their flowers on this show but no [ __ ] no sugar coating I thank you personally because I got tired of my son texting me bad what I'm gonna do but no thank you man for just for everybody and inspiring the notion that there is an opportunity outside of NFL but even to get back to that if it does happen so thank you for those words man I received them thank you so much for saying that I appreciate it you know this is one of those and Shannon and I were laughing about it when we saw care he was with Don Cheadle and we've been doing this what like a year and a half now and we've just been excited and so when you say like you're going to sit down with it starts off as The Rock then it's Dwayne Johnson and then after we talk about it for like a month it's DJ right and you did you get really excited let us call him DJ you know but but to get to a point to to sit across from you or sit with you and you will allow the world to see the man you know I always think those are the important moments that we share that we bleed we we cry we have to deal with adversity and we have to try to learn to love people the best we can so thank you so much for that we always ask about what's the biggest pivot and a lot of times the biggest pivot in people's lives helps so many other people outside of themselves once they are able to tell that story so for you and this is how we're in the show what has been your biggest pivot in life just that moment that you always point to whether at the time it was difficult to deal with or if it was one of those positive moments that the reason Dwayne Johnson can sit here today is who he is because of that time wow okay uh well first of all thank you guys very much for having me on this show I'm very happy for you guys I'm proud of you I love how to see the show grow and grow and grow and I'd love seeing all the guests and again y'all immediately you just make everybody comfortable because it's just you guys we're all just shooting [ __ ] here but you guys have been through it though that's the thing too right so you automatically put the athlete in a comfortable position a comfortable place or whoever you have on um so thank you for those words and thank you boys for having me I appreciate it um biggest pivot in life for me well there's two first would be when I got out of wrestling I transitioned into Hollywood and I wanted to have a career that was hopefully had some longevity to it and I want to be good um and I didn't want to be boxing into just action genre I want to do everything I was told at that time all right in order for this to happen here's the biggest stars in the world Will Smith uh George Clooney Johnny Depp you look nothing like them uh you got to stop talking about wrestling stop calling yourself The Rock you're too big go on a diet get out of the gym I mean all this [ __ ] that at that time if you don't know any better and you're and you're trying to stay focused on the North Star you buy into it because you're trusting the people who are around you and and it's not an indictment on them they were just giving me advice of what they thought the best thing to do is if you want to be a leading man you can't look like this you can't talk he's not the rockets and not wrestling you bought into it a little bit I bought into it a little bit for a few years until finally I said I can't do this anymore I gotta be me I love wrestling that's my life it's say wrestling was my family savior I want to talk about it and if I want to go back I'm going to go back I'm going to call myself The Rock I'm gonna call myself the [ __ ] rocket you know um and I love the gym I love training it's my anchor I love challenging myself so I got to be me fired everybody I hired a brand new team said here's what I believe is the North Star and here's how I believe it's going to get there um and if at least I've fail then I fail being myself and so I realized throughout the years that really the most important thing one of the most important things we could be in our lives is ourselves and that's a hard it's so easy to say just be you man be you but it's [ __ ] hard right because there's perception there's reality you want to look a certain way you want to you know show your teeth there's a lot of things facility so it was that and the other pivot I would say is I grew up an only child I was I always felt like I had a hunger I was never afraid to work because my old man taught me that right gotta work get your ass in the gym and work uh so in my teenage years 20s Miami wrestling Rocky my via National domination The Rock I was I'm gonna eat first I think Kobe might have even said that like I.E first and it was that was my mentality I'm gonna take care of my family but I'm getting mine and I'm going to go after mine and I'm not worried about anybody else years later through the grace of God a little bit more success I got out of wrestling stuff I got into Hollywood things started to expand a little bit and I was like ah you know what the most important thing now is not I gotta eat first I gotta get mine because I got mine the most important thing now is just to take care of people that's been the biggest pivot and I think that's really been the most impactful thing in my life is now XFL take care of people create these opportunities um grow these other businesses create these opportunities for people take care of people so that taking care of people from this only child you know to this idea of taking care of people that's been the biggest pivot well that's that's amazing and speaking of that we will be on site for the XFL Championship will bring our subscribers all the viewers all the fans of the XFL a show from Texas will have different people as coaches players and so thank you for providing that opportunity for those young players those young coaches and also giving us an opportunity to sit with you get to know you a little bit better and we're trying to do the exact same thing we're trying to allow people the space to be themselves to be accepted without critique without judgment and and learn that taking care of other people once yourself is in the place to be able to do it it's truly what benefits you more than the actual people you help man so we appreciate you yeah I appreciate you guys thank you very much can you see though he don't even thank you on his level of attraction he does I appreciate it I'll hit you on the thread yeah DJ this is what you gotta do though so we want to do something for social media at some point he has not worked out since he played 13 years why is your question yeah so you won't really a weight room guy to begin with then right that's what I did I just played ball got you yeah I know Nutrition By the way that was the same way same thing we just want one session you and Chan in the weight room 45 minutes get tired so you're not trained at all you're like nothing man do you want to do you want to be next to yeah [Laughter] he paid 20 000 for these bro [Laughter] I agree oh boy that's crazy there we go [Music] [Music] get me up

Channel: The Pivot Podcast

Views: 1,994,706

Keywords: the pivot, the pivot podcast, new podcast, football podcast, channing crowder, channing crowder podcast, fred taylor podcast, fred taylor, ryan clark, ryan clark podcast, nfl, football, super bowl, super bowl podcast, nfl 2023, nfl podcast, The Rock: Vulnerabilities, Being a Girl Dad, Future of XFL & How Wrestling Saved My Life | The Pivot, the rock, dwayne johnson, the rock podcast, the rock interview, https://www.youtube.com/@therock

Id: MVc0592Je_o

Length: 60min 15sec (3615 seconds)

Published: Tue May 09 2023