Young Rock 2x12

1. - Election Day 2032 has finally arrived,

2. and people are flocking to the polls

3. to cast their vote.

4. Who will win the battle for the White House

5. to become the 49th president of the United States?

6. I stood by Dwayne

7. after the "Tooth Fairy" six-episode event series.

8. I'm sticking with him now.

9. - Taft is it, from his policies to his nurse's shoes.

10. - I'm voting for the third party, the Chrome Party.

11. It's time we had a sentient AI computer in the White House.

12. - I was on the fence until Dwayne

13. and Dr. Julien sorted things out.

14. - Indeed, early exit polls show Candidate Johnson

15. experiencing a surge in popularity

16. after posting this photo

17. to his social media account last night.

18. I was actually there.

19. I'm not in the photo, but I was there.

20. By the looks of it, the sixth grade rivals

21. have put to rest the public feud

22. that had become a distraction

23. in the final days of the campaign,

24. with evil Candidate Taft using it to his advantage

25. to gain major ground

26. on the awesome Candidate Johnson.

27. - Um, I don't think you can say "evil."

28. - Can't say—can't say what? Evil?

29. - Good job, Randall. The camera loves you, man.

30. I don't know why you ever quit acting.

31. Maybe I should go back.

32. - You should definitely go back to acting, Randall.

33. - Yeah? - Mm-hmm, instead of this.

34. Yeah. Hey, how did you get Julien to come around?

35. - Well, Forest Whitaker eased our tension

36. with a bottle of amazing wine, and then he asked Julien

37. what could be done to end our beef.

38. - Forest Whitaker, the actor? - And humanitarian.

39. Yes, he is involved in all my major life decisions.

40. Anyways, come to find out that Julien has a son,

41. and I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

42. My son doesn't believe

43. that I was in the sixth grade with you.

44. I showed him our class photo, and he was like,

45. "How do we know that's the real Dwayne Johnson?"

46. - It made me crazy. - Mm.

47. - It's good to question authority.

48. - I appreciate you, Forest Whitaker.

49. - Well, I appreciate you more, Forest,

50. and I think you know that.

51. - It's the grapes. - Mm.

52. - Anyway, when you responded to my tweets,

53. well, he finally believed, but that made it worse,

54. 'cause he was like, "Cool, Dwayne Johnson hates my dad."

55. He's so hard to please, but I love him.

56. - So? - So...

57. - So he agreed to squash our beef

58. if I helped prove to his son that I didn't hate him.

59. Hence the photo.

60. - Win-win all around. - Mm-hmm.

61. - I am just glad that's behind us.

62. Our early exit polls are tracking well.

63. - Hey, that's great. - Yeah.

64. - I'm gonna go to the stables. - But it's Election Day.

65. - Yeah, the horses don't know that.

66. - Come on, Randall. - Oh.

67. Can I call one of them Cimarron?

68. - Oh, I love it. - Yes!

69. So you really are fine not tracking the results

70. - in real time today? - Oh, yeah.

71. I mean, I've done all I can.

72. At some point, you just gotta step back

73. and let the people decide, like back in Hawaii

74. when my parents were riding high

75. after my mom's successful wrestling event,

76. - the Backyard Brawl-B-Q. - Hmm.

77. - And my dad's match went over big.

78. Matter of fact, in his mind, the people had already decided

79. they wanted to see more Soulman Rocky Johnson

80. as a solo performer.

81. So then, through my Uncle Afa, he booked a couple of matches

82. in Saudi Arabia with a new, local promoter.

83. - And he also had an exclusive contract with the WWF.

84. - He did, which caused a little bit of a mess

85. when, a few days later,

86. Vince McMahon himself called with some pretty big news.

87. - Time to brush up on your Arabic

88. 'cause I'm sending you to Saudi Arabia

89. - to wrestle for the WWF! - What?

90. - That's why I didn't have you on the bill for WrestleMania.

91. I need you to help me open up the Middle East.

92. It's a huge, untapped market, Rocky.

93. Hey, that's great.

94. I mean, I didn't even know they liked wrestling out there.

95. I mean, do they even like wrestling out there?

96. They love it.

97. The Soul Patrol will be the kings of Riyadh.

98. - Are you in? - Wait.

99. So Vince was launching the WWF in Saudi Arabia

100. at the same time Rocky had already planned to go?

101. - Yes, it's a crazy coincidence,

102. but Vince had been wanting

103. to take wrestling global for some time.

104. How did Rocky get out of it?

105. - Vince, I don't know what to say...

106. except hell yeah!

107. - Fantastic! Well, have Pat get in touch,

108. and set it all up, give you all the details.

109. - Afa's promoters are already putting up billboards.

110. They're promoting the hell out of me.

111. - So you're just gonna double-book Saudi Arabia

112. behind Vince's back?

113. It's not a good idea to bite the hand that feeds you.

114. - I'll wrestle for Vince and the other promoter.

115. Saudi Arabia's a big country.

116. I don't think anyone will notice.

117. - A toast to the Brawl-B-Q,

118. the biggest event

119. in the Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling history

120. thanks to the work of my daughter, Ata.

121. Ata.

122. - When you're doing something you love, it's not work.

123. One of the puppeteers from "Alf" said that

124. in an interview with "TV Guide."

125. - Ata has helped me think about the business differently,

126. and I am going to make a big announcement

127. at the next meeting, something I think

128. you're going to be very happy about.

129. - But while my dad was double-booked,

130. I was taking things to whole other level.

131. - Okay. Hold on. So wait a minute.

132. How many girlfriends do you have?

133. - Four. I gave them each shirts from the Brawl-B-Q.

134. Went over huge.

135. - Wow. Hey, I'm proud of you, Dewey.

136. So how do you get them to share you?

137. - They don't know about each other.

138. - Ooh. - I ride the bus with Cam,

139. eat lunch with Bethany,

140. do morning recesses with Sarah,

141. and since it's the shortest amount of time,

142. I do afternoon recesses with Emily.

143. Emily's better in small amounts.

144. - All right, students, gather up.

145. Class photo.

146. - Bethany, I see you're wearing the shirt I bought you.

147. - Notice anything unusual, Dewey?

148. No.

149. - That we're all wearing the T-shirt you gave us.

150. - School Picture Day, a forever memory day.

151. - Did you think we wouldn't figure out

152. you've been dating all of us?

153. We're in the same class.

154. - You guys talk to each other when I'm not around?

155. - Who else did you give a shirt to?

156. I bought this myself.

157. - All right, everybody find a spot.

158. So I got what I deserved,

159. and my mom was hoping she'd get what she deserved too.

160. Maybe my mom's finally

161. banning Milk Duds from the locker room.

162. The guys keep slinging them at each other,

163. and they're staining the rug.

164. Or maybe she'll ask you

165. to officially join the business.

166. - That is what I'm secretly hoping.

167. - I know. I know you a little bit.

168. Okay, everyone.

169. Many of you know I consider myself a lone wolf,

170. whether it's playing tennis or running my business.

171. When I was in court fighting the FBI,

172. I learned the value of having a partner,

173. someone strong, reliable, trustworthy.

174. And that's why

175. I'm bringing in Lars Anderson as vice president of PPPW.

176. Uh, thanks, Lia.

177. You guys have done good so far,

178. but now you got a real professional here.

179. Welcome to the majors, folks.

180. - Hey, I'm Lars. Lars. - Nice to meet you.

181. - I'm Charlie. - Hi. I'm Lars.

182. Lars. Hi.

183. - What is happening? Who is that?

184. Lars Anderson.

185. He wrestled with Peter in the '70s.

186. - When you said you learned the value

187. of a strong, reliable partner,

188. I thought you were talking about me.

189. What? No.

190. I was talking about Herman, my white lawyer.

191. Sometimes you need a white face to get ahead.

192. Herman, he helped me beat the rap.

193. Lars is gonna help us take the PPPW to the next level.

194. - I guess packing Aloha Stadium with 60,000 fans

195. isn't "next level" enough.

196. - Babe, you proved you're the best promoter in Hawaii.

197. And when you're the best,

198. you can't be afraid to think big.

199. - Yes, we invite Lars to go fishing,

200. then push him off the boat.

201. - What I mean is you should start

202. thinking about stepping out on your own.

203. - Starting my own promotion? - Yes.

204. Baby, your mama don't decide if you're successful.

205. The people do.

206. You and I are about to step

207. into even bigger and better things.

208. So when I get back from Saudi Arabia,

209. we're gonna get to work

210. on starting your promotion business.

211. Okay.

212. - So while my dad got ready for Saudi Arabia...

213. - And this is our penthouse suite.

214. Vince had just arrived.

215. - Are there any good places to eat

216. near Prince Faisal Stadium?

217. I'm scouting it for a wrestling...

218. What the hell?

219. - So when Vince found out about Rocky double-booking

220. in Saudi Arabia, did he fire him?

221. - No, but things were never the same after that.

222. Vince was really upset that my dad made a decision

223. - that hurt the company. - Uh-huh.

224. - My dad went from Rocky Johnson,

225. Tag Team champions of the world,

226. to a guy who was losing to other wrestlers.

227. Vince gave my dad a slow death.

228. Dwayne.

229. We lost New York.

230. I don't understand.

231. I thought our exit polls showed us ahead of Taft.

232. - We didn't lose New York to Taft.

233. It's the third party candidate, the Chrome Party.

234. It's siphoning off just enough of your votes

235. that Taft carried the state.

236. - Their ads are all over my social media today.

237. Makes sense— a sentient AI

238. would know to weaponize the Internet.

239. - It's fine. It's just one state.

240. And there's plenty of time left.

241. - How can you be so calm right now?

242. - When I was a teenager in Nashville,

243. I learned that you don't always get

244. to sit in the driver's seat of your own life.

245. Sometimes other people get to decide.

246. It was 1987, and I was finally finding my groove.

247. - Hey, hey, just picked us up some hot chicken sandwiches,

248. and they are hot as—

249. uh, what's going on?

250. Did we get a new apartment?

251. Sure did.

252. In Pennsylvania.

253. Wait, what?

254. - Lawler took me off the roster.

255. - My run in Nashville's over. - Are you serious?

256. After the crowds you've been drawing?

257. That's what I said,

258. but Jerry said it wasn't personal, just business.

259. Didn't want things to get stale,

260. so he's bringing in new wrestlers.

261. - But your dad called Uncle Afa,

262. and apparently, there's lots of wresting work

263. in Bethlehem right now.

264. - So just like that, we're moving?

265. And I don't even get a say in it?

266. - It'll be great to be around family again.

267. Your uncle said he's doing so well

268. he bought a new washer and dryer.

269. We don't need that.

270. The one in the basement is totally fine.

271. And I finally started to like it here.

272. I just broke in my boots.

273. - I'm sorry, honey, but you know

274. this is how it works in our business.

275. Ugh!

276. - Isn't that where Jesus is from?

277. - No, that's Bethlehem, the Bible.

278. This is Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

279. Oh, that makes more sense.

280. - Bummer. - Hey, fellas.

281. Listen, the headliner's refusing to go on tonight,

282. something about, I don't know, a costume.

283. Do you mind helping me out on this one?

284. - Me? Can't you just handle it?

285. - I would, it's just—

286. you know how attracted I am to women who are mean to me.

287. Please? Come on.

288. - Uh, Miss Moolah?

289. - Next one won't miss, gingersnap.

290. You deaf or just stupid, honey?

291. - I grew up around tougher women than you,

292. so you don't scare me.

293. You Rocky Johnson's kid?

294. Yeah.

295. Then you ain't lying.

296. I know your grandmother well.

297. She fought the FBI and won, didn't she?

298. - She told them to kill themselves

299. on a local TV broadcast.

300. Good line.

301. - So what's the problem? Why are you upset?

302. It's my jacket.

303. My jacket is in a suitcase,

304. and my suitcase is on a flight to Tokyo right now

305. because of the knuckleheads at Myrtle Beach Airport,

306. so I ain't going on.

307. - So that's your problem? A jacket?

308. Not just a jacket, baby.

309. My jacket.

310. Without that jacket, the Fabulous Moolah

311. is just Moolah.

312. And I worked too hard at becoming fabulous

313. to start backsliding now.

314. - Okay. So it's not a real problem.

315. - Oh, you got real problems, do you?

316. I do, actually.

317. We're moving to Pennsylvania.

318. - Oh, you're moving? Boo-hoo.

319. - Not just moving, moving again.

320. I just started to like it here.

321. How am I supposed to figure out where I fit

322. if I keep moving every time I get comfortable?

323. - Baby, nobody knows what their life

324. is gonna look like when they're your age.

325. When I was young, I wanted to get married,

326. live in the suburbs, be the kind of woman

327. that bakes cookies for the mailman.

328. - And you know what happened? - What?

329. - I got that life, and it sucked,

330. so I grabbed my makeup bag, and I ran away.

331. And here I am, 50 years later,

332. talking to you in the ladies' locker room,

333. which is really a storage closet

334. that smells like dead squirrels,

335. and I don't regret a second of it.

336. I thought my journey was over,

337. but, baby, I was just getting started.

338. Don't just take my word for it. Ask anybody.

339. - I was gonna be Randy Poffo, yeah,

340. and I was gonna barrel it up in St. Louis for the Cardinals.

341. Ooh, yeah!

342. - Andre had planned to stay in his village in France

343. and become a farmer.

344. - Easy. Wrestling, since baby.

345. Then I blew out my shoulder.

346. Lost my spot on the team.

347. Farming is not for Andre.

348. Pick the carrot, pick the turnip.

349. Pick the carrot, pick the turnip. Non.

350. - 1971, AAU Greco-Roman wrestling champion.

351. That's it, papa.

352. Then I found wrestling,

353. and everything made sense, yeah.

354. - Andre make the decision to leave his maman,

355. come to America, become big champion.

356. What?

357. I always want to be wrestler, so I become wrestler.

358. - Busting my shoulder was the best thing

359. that ever happened to the Macho Man, baby.

360. Andre has no regrets.

361. - See? Proof. Camera man, zoom in.

362. - Life is a windy path, princess,

363. but if you trust in yourself and in your journey,

364. you'll get where you need to be.

365. Please welcome the Fabulous Moolah!

366. - You go home!

367. Oh, boo-hoo!

368. - Hey, Dwayne, ain't that your, uh...

369. Suits her better.

370. Whoo! Moolah!

371. On the way home, I thought a lot about Moolah's words...

372. So you think they got snow in Pennsylvania?

373. Could be cool.

374. And I decided to trust the journey.

375. They definitely have snow.

376. Uncle Afa says he keeps a hairdryer in his car

377. to keep his feet warm.

378. Dude's always sweating

379. but somehow still cold.

380. - Jeannie, we're ready to call the state of Ohio

381. for Candidate Johnson.

382. He's rebounding well after his surprise loss

383. in New York.

384. - Looks like it's gonna come down to the wire, boss.

385. - You're right, just gotta let the people decide.

386. You know, all we can do

387. is ask for our chance to succeed, Randall.

388. Reminds me of a similar situation

389. when I made my debut in the WWE.

390. - Was this after you wrestled in the dark match

391. in Corpus Crispy?

392. - Did you just say "Corpus Crispy"?

393. - No. - Well, okay, yes.

394. After my dark match, Vince McMahon had a vision

395. for me to make my televised debut

396. at one of the major pay-per-views

397. of the year; it was called "Survivor Series."

398. So Vince wanted me to lean in to my family legacy

399. with this new persona called "Rocky Maivia,"

400. and I obliged with, let's just say,

401. a very memorable wrestling costume.

402. I was gonna come in like a badass,

403. jump the top rope, and talk smack straight to the hard cam

404. so all the viewers at home could see me.

405. Wait, what's a hard cam?

406. - That's the main TV camera that overlooks the ring.

407. Wrestlers are supposed to play all their actions toward it

408. because it's the eye of the viewer at home.

409. Yeah, it's Rocky Maivia, baby! I'm here!

410. It's the Madison Square Garden...

411. Turns out the hard cam was behind me.

412. I was literally talking to nobody.

413. But I made up for that.

414. Two, three!

415. - Yeah, I'm Rocky Maivia, baby, let's—

416. - Dwayne, hey, nice work on the debut.

417. You missed the hard cam, but real good.

418. You know, we're planning a big push for you.

419. You're on your way to becoming the WWF's next baby-faced star.

420. - I'll do whatever you say to make that a reality.

421. - That's what I like to hear. - Vince.

422. Lia, how are you, beautiful?

423. - This was the first time my dad and Vince saw each other

424. since the double-booking incident in Saudi Arabia

425. that ended my dad's WWF career.

426. - Vince! - Rocky! There he is.

427. - That's how they greeted each other after everything?

428. - Warm like that? - That's wrestling.

429. - You know, your kid's really got something.

430. It makes sense.

431. Taught the boy everything he knows.

432. Lucky for us, he never listens to me.

433. - You made your family very proud tonight, Dewey.

434. Yesterday, you were just my baby,

435. and now you're my "Survivor Series" champion baby.

436. - Well, you missed the hard cam,

437. but pretty good, son.

438. You were like Superman,

439. except with a very, very different costume.

440. - You know, if Vince wants me to dress

441. like I just stepped out of "The Lion King,"

442. then that's what I'll do.

443. After that night, I hit the road hard

444. for the WWF.

445. Show after show. Town after town.

446. As part of Vince's big push,

447. I went up against Triple H

448. for the Intercontinental Title.

449. It was a match I'll never forget.

450. Your winner

451. and new Intercontinental Champion, Rocky Maivia!

452. - I was the champ, and it felt incredible.

453. Wait, why were they booing?

454. - Well, that was the beginning of the Attitude Era.

455. That was when fans really wanted more edge,

456. like the beer-swigging, trash-talking heel

457. known as Stone Cold Steve Austin.

458. And there I was on the other end of the spectrum.

459. I mean, I had a bad haircut and a big smile.

460. Plus it didn't help that Vince was force-feeding me

461. to the people as their new hero.

462. - The people were deciding. - They were.

463. Over and over again.

464. But despite the signs that things weren't working,

465. Vince kept believing in me and kept me on the bill

466. for the biggest pay-per-view of them all.

467. WrestleMania.

468. - The show your dad missed out on because of Saudi Arabia.

469. - That's right. - Come on, Dewey!

470. - Now, the Sultan was one of the biggest heels

471. in the company, and I was one of their biggest baby faces.

472. Ah!

473. Usually at this moment, the crowd rallies

474. behind the baby face before he makes his big comeback.

475. However...

476. Rocky sucks! Rocky sucks!

477. - Rocky sucks! Rocky sucks! - Boo!

478. Rocky sucks!

479. - The crowd did the exact opposite.

480. Rocky sucks!

481. - Was this your lowest moment in the ring?

482. - Nope, that was about to come.

483. - So you get to WrestleMania, all should be well,

484. but the crowd hates you.

485. Hates me so much.

486. - And that wasn't your low point?

487. - As I said, that was about to come.

488. Vince had another idea

489. about how to turn the crowd around for Rocky Maivia.

490. It all had to do with legacy.

491. Ah!

492. - Your dad jumped in to save you?

493. Yup.

494. - Did everybody lose their minds?

495. No.

496. Go, Rocky!

497. - Look at how heavy his breathing is.

498. - But two generations of wrestlers side by side.

499. How could they not be moved by that?

500. I know, and trust me,

501. you weren't the only one who was surprised.

502. Rocky sucks! Rocky sucks! Rocky sucks!

503. I went into the ring

504. thinking Vince's gimmick was gonna work,

505. and my future would be bright.

506. But instead I left wondering if I had

507. any future in wrestling at all.

508. The people had decided I wasn't their guy.

509. Rocky sucks! Rocky sucks!

510. - This isn't working. - No, it is not.

511. Did we make a mistake here?

512. You mean with the dad stunt?

513. No, about him.

514. Rocky sucks! Rocky sucks!

515. I never knew this.

516. I always just assumed that once you made it to the WWF,

517. you were instantly a star.

518. - You know, I think a lot of people assume

519. that once you hit a certain level in your career,

520. it's all easy sailing from there,

521. but they're wrong.

522. I mean, you could reach for the stars

523. and if you're lucky even get there,

524. but that doesn't mean that it won't disappear overnight.

525. Hmm. So what happened next?

526. How'd you turn it around?

527. - Oh, there was no saving that day.

528. So after that, I went ahead, and I—

529. Sir, they're calling Texas.

530. - We're calling Texas for Candidate Dwayne Johnson.

531. - A huge victory for Johnson... - Yes! Yes!

532. - In the south. - Yes! Yes! Yes!

533. Whoo!

534. But in a surprise turn,

535. it looks like Michigan has officially been called

536. - for Candidate Taft. - No!

537. You were just in the lead in Michigan.

538. It's the Chrome Party.

539. They're still siphoning votes away.

540. - It's okay, I got a lot of faith that the people

541. are gonna make the right decision.

542. - And in another shocker, Florida,

543. seemingly a Johnson lock according to exit polls,

544. has gone to Taft.

545. - And California is officially projected

546. - to go to Taft... - Which seals it.

547. In a result nobody could have seen coming,

548. the 49th president of the United States

549. is Senator Brayden Taft.

550. I lost.

551. But the journey is never over.