Young Rock returned to NBC on Friday night for its third season as its opening episode touched on all four of the show’s time periods. While the 2032 era focussed on the fallout of Dwayne Johnson’s failed presidential campaign, the 1985 era shows the months after the first WrestleMania and the late-80s era points toward Johnson leaving home for the University of Miami, the 1997 era recaps two of the most notable moments from Johnson’s early days in the WWF.
Videos by ComicBook.com
As Johnson recaps his career to Randall Park, he jumps to when Johnson won the Intercontinental Championship just three months after making his debut. But he’s also quick to point out that the fans were rejecting his “Rocky Maivia” gimmick for being inauthentic. Johnson successfully retained the title in his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania 13 (the show acknowledges the fans booing him then as well), but the episode then cuts to a backstage clip of Vince McMahon (Adam Ray) informing Pat Patterson (Kiff VandenHeuvel) that it was time to get the title off of him. Johnson then mentions in a voice-over that he dropped the title to a close friend, Owen Hart.
Johnson then reflects on consistently losing at untelevised house shows following his failed initial push, connecting it to how his father dealt with the same kind of booking after his tag team championship reign with Tony Atlas ended. The last flashback scene is set on June 1, 1997, when Johnson took on Mankind at a house show in Columbus, Ohio. He’s shown delivering a diving crossbody before immediately reacting to a legitimate knee injury. Said injury would keep him on the shelf until August. Upon his return, Johnson would turn heel and join the Nation of Domination, setting the stage for him to break out as The Rock.
Becky Lynch Debuts on Young Rock
Ahead of the season premiere, Johnson revealed that Becky Lynch had been cast as pop singer Cyndi Lauper. Lynch is shown in the first episode at a party hosted by Vince McMahon. She’s shown posing with Hulk Hogan before interacting with a young Johnson.
“Becky takes on the daunting and FUN task of playing the one and only – the icon Cyndi Lauper,” Johnson wrote on Thursday via Instagram. “I was right there for Becky’s audition and we were all very impressed at her high level commitment as an actor to become Cyndi Lauper. No easy task, but she worked her butt off and went all in – and crushed it. CAN’T WAIT for you guys to see Becky’s acting debut!!!”
