This week’s episode of Young Rock centered around the 1982 setting as Dwayne Johnson’s father Rocky Johnson and grandmother Lia Maivia deal with a competing wrestling promoter who is trying to steal away Maivia’s best wrestlers. The episode also sees Adam Ray debut as a younger version of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. We see Ray at the beginning of the episode working at the commentary booth during one of Rocky’s matches (this was before he had taken over the World Wrestling Federation from his father Vince Sr.), then share a phone call with Maivia.
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McMahon offers Maivia some advice on how to deal with the competition but then shares the bad news that he needs all of his wrestlers back for the next Madison Square Garden show besides Rocky and the Wild Samoans. That decision combined with Andre The Giant being the only star to get an action figure starts to create a rift between Johnson and the other wrestlers. The episode ends with the rival promoter Greg Yao trying to recruit Rocky to join his promotion, promising he’d make “The Soulman” his top star.
@VinceMcMahon was one of my greatest business mentors and a father figure. Not always the relationship one would want with their boss but the convergence of our lives made it to be. We laugh when we get together because we always pick right back up where we left off. #YoungRock https://t.co/qqeJJ4JZDd
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) March 3, 2021
The Rock shared a few photos of Ray as McMahon prior to the show’s premiere, which means we’ll see plenty more of him throughout the first season.
What did you think of Ray’s portrayal as McMahon? Let us know in the comments below!
During a radio interview earlier this week, Triple H discussed McMahon’s upcoming Netflix docuseries and why the WWE Chairman was so hesitant to sign off on the idea.
“Yeah, well in-house, but I think more in a larger format is something we talked about a lot,” H said. “I think prior to now, Vince was always hesitant to do it. It’s a funny thing with Vince, he really doesn’t see himself…while Mr. McMahon is one of the most epic characters ever, he doesn’t see himself as part of the programming.
“When you ask him about those things, he goes, ‘Nobody is interested in me, they want to know about the stars and performers.’ But the truth is, they do,” he continued. “The most difficult thing with Vince’s life is making it succinct. Every chapter of his life is a whole other unbelievable story. His story is amazing, all the things he’s been through, the trials and tribulations of getting to where he is. No one looks to that, no one gives him the credit. They just see this billion-dollar global empire he’s created and see him as the evil tyrant businessman or whatever.”
