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The Rock Discusses Family's COVID-19 Diagnoses, 'Young Rock' Premiere, More
February 10, 2021
One week ahead of Young Rock debuting on NBC, The Rock sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Cigar Aficionado to discuss the series based on his life, his family's battle with COVID-19 last year and more.
The 48-year-old announced on Sept. 2 that he and members of his immediate family, including his wife and their two daughters, tested positive for the coronavirus.
Speaking to Marvin R. Shanken of Cigar Aficionado (h/t Ross Kelly of Wrestling Inc), Rock said the virus "spread so quickly" over the course of a single day:
“In a 24-hour period, it had spread so quickly to our nanny, our nanny's teenage kids, her husband. Myself and my two-year-old daughter, we were the last ones standing until the very end, but of course we both tested positive. We were on the fortunate end for something that has been so traumatic to the world. We got through it."
With The Rock and his family coming out of COVID-19 unscathed, the WWE legend is preparing to show off his life story to the world in the form of a 30-minute network television sitcom.
The Great One offered this synopsis for what fans can expect from the show:
“We go back and we illuminate timelines in my life, living a very on-the-go lifestyle. In the world of pro wrestling, there was such an intersection of worlds that I had, meeting professional athletes, from Muhammad Ali—my dad would spar with Ali, my dad was also a boxer, he would spar with George Foreman…You can imagine what my dinners were like, with Andre the Giant and these wrestling stars…It begins at about 10 years old, then 15 years old, and then 18 years old."
The show primarily focuses on different aspects of Rock's life as a teenager, but he will have an on-screen presence as himself in a framing device that takes place in the year 2032 when he is contemplating a run for president of the United States.
Rock also noted that one element the show will focus on is the racism he dealt with as a child of a Black man and a Samoan woman.
"When I was a kid, up until I was 10, 11 years old, we were in Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina," he said. "So, it was predominantly throughout the South, where racial prejudice was pretty prevalent, pretty strong."
Young Rock is scheduled to premiere Tuesday.
That may be the only time WWE fans will get to see the Brahma Bull on their television screens for the time being.
Even though it's always possible Rock could set up a surprise appearance on WWE television, especially with WrestleMania on the horizon, there doesn't appear to be anything in the works at this point.
In the world of professional wrestling, though, you never say never.