NBC's Young Rock Recasting Multiple Wrestlers for Season 3

By Liam Crowley

The chronicles of Dwayne Johnson's life are being retold on NBC's Young Rock. While the series began with an adolescent version of the future WWE Champion, Season 2 took things to the squared circle, bringing in the likes of Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Steve Austin, and Ric Flair to populate The Rock's wrestling locker room. Just as this version of The Rock, then known as Rocky Maivia, was years before he'd find his footing in the wrestling world, his peers were still on their early gimmicks. As production commences on Season 3, some of those famous members of the WWF locker room will have different actors lacing up their wrestling boots.

According to PWInsider, the likes of Roddy Piper, Mankind, The Undertaker, Fred Blassie, and Lou Albano will all be recast for Season 3. This is due to the show relocating production from Australia to the United States. Beyond the recasts, Young Rock is also eyeing someone to portray Liberace, as he appeared at WrestleMania I, as well as actor Jeff Cohen (best known for playing Chunk in The Gonnies) as he will be in a scene at an after-Mania party. PWInsider also reports that one episode from the upcoming season will revolve around WrestleMania 13, The Rock's first Mania, where he defeated The Sultan to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship.

Returning for Season 3 is Chavo Guerrero, who worked as the official wrestling coordinator on prior episodes. Guerrero's commitments to Young Rock are part of the reason why his run in AEW as Andrade El Idolo's manager was so short-lived.

Series co-creator Nahnatchka Khan has been largely tight-lipped on what Season 3 will pursue, but she teased that Rock's wrestling career throughout the 1990s will be a big piece of the narrative.

"Going to his life when he's trying to break into the WWF and it didn't go his way then either. There are so many twists and turns that Dwayne has told us about. Because everybody assumes, 'Oh, he got in, he became The Rock, and that's the end of the story,'" Khan said. "The path that it took him to get there is really fascinating, so we really want to explore that more and meet a lot of those guys that he encountered in the '90s era and then go back to his childhood — back to Hawaii — back to everything at the beginning, and kind of switch it up a bit in the middle too. We've been talking about different forms of storytelling that might be exciting for the new season."

Young Rock Season 3 is set to begin filming next month in Memphis, TN.

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