All Episodes
Nov. 15, 2023 - The Joe Rogan Experience
02:52:54
Joe Rogan Experience #2063 - The Rock
Participants
Main voices
d
dwayne johnson
01:03:30
j
joe rogan
01:45:12
Appearances
Clips
j
jamie vernon
00:02
| Copy link to current segment

Speaker Time Text
unidentified
Joe Rogan Podcast, check it out!
The Joe Rogan Experience.
Train by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day.
joe rogan
What's happening?
dwayne johnson
Oh man.
joe rogan
How fun was that?
dwayne johnson
Oh, that was a blast.
joe rogan
We had a good day.
dwayne johnson
Dude, that was three hours.
joe rogan
Yeah, we got Shane Gillis, Brian Simpson, Asan Ahmad, Tony Hinchcliffe, Duncan Trussell, you and me.
We had a fucking banging workout.
Then we did the sauna.
We did the cold plunge.
We did the whole experience.
dwayne johnson
We did the sauna again.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Cold plunge again.
I did it twice.
dwayne johnson
Cold plunge, man.
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
That was great.
And I love what you're doing down here, by the way, with the boys.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Getting down here, giving them this opportunity to get after it, not only in their craft, but also getting in shape.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Those guys are really getting in shape.
joe rogan
Two dudes with diabetes today.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
They just don't work out, you know?
But we're doing it now.
This is the third week.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And we've been talking about it forever.
But when Shane moved to town, he's like, dude, I gotta get in shape.
I gotta do something.
I go, listen, let's start on Monday nice and light.
And so we started nice and light.
Today was a pretty hard day for them.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
But generally, it's pretty easy.
I just have them do push-ups, bodyweight squats, and a series of very light kettlebell routines.
Just simple stuff.
dwayne johnson
Right.
Just get them used to it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And then I started adding the bag at the end.
The sprints on the bag.
dwayne johnson
The bag was great, by the way.
joe rogan
Yeah.
It's a great way to end it.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
Great way.
dwayne johnson
Great way.
But I like working out with those guys.
You feel it.
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
You feel their desire.
None of them quit.
joe rogan
None of them pushed out.
dwayne johnson
They were there.
joe rogan
They hung in there through the sauna, they hung in there through the cold plunge, everything.
They want to do it.
Sometimes people just need a little help.
They're not used to doing it.
They know they want to get in shape, but they don't know how.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
They don't know how to take that first step, and they just need a little bit of help.
It's different with you and luckily for me too.
We grew up in that environment where it pushes us and it's what we do and it's part of our DNA. And all those guys, it's really cool.
They look to you for the show me the way and they do it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, they realize once they've done it a few times, they walk out here, they feel so good.
I get text messages from each one of them.
They're like, God, I feel fucking great.
I feel great.
I'm like, good.
You don't want to walk out of a workout beat up.
You want to walk out just a little energized, feeling better, and then slowly ramp things up.
So this is week three.
Today was their hardest day.
But it was just, you know, you were here.
I was like, we gotta go hard.
The Rock's here.
unidentified
We gotta go hard.
dwayne johnson
We lit it up.
We lit it up.
joe rogan
Yeah, we lit it up.
But they hung in there.
And everybody walked out with a big smile on their face.
We all had a great time.
dwayne johnson
It was so good, man.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
It was so good.
And I told some of the boys this.
Like, I miss that kind of stuff because it's been a while, you know, since I worked out with the boys back when I was wrestling.
We'd all work together because we were traveling together every night and going to the same gym every day or different cities.
But I miss that, that camaraderie.
joe rogan
Yeah, the camaraderie is nice.
I kind of use my workout.
Most of the time I work out alone.
I used to work with a trainer, but after a while I realized I don't need to help push myself.
I just write a routine and there's a certain meditative aspect to being alone with your thoughts.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
And just, I like to put fights on so I can watch something in between sets.
But I just like to be, and I like to be accountable 100% for my work.
Like, I know what I have to do.
I know what I do it.
And it sets the tone for the day, which sets the tone for my life.
dwayne johnson
That's how I feel about it.
Same thing with me in training.
I love training alone.
And it's been a long time since I trained with the boys.
That's why it was a real treat.
unidentified
It was fun, man.
joe rogan
Today was fun.
unidentified
It was fun.
joe rogan
Those guys are all hilarious.
dwayne johnson
It's fucking hilarious, dude.
It's all just a lot of talking shit and laughing.
Talking shit and some jokes.
joe rogan
Talking so out of his mind.
He's just so great.
It was great.
It was amazing.
dwayne johnson
But the training alone, though, that is important for the mental.
I feel like, for me, it anchors my day.
But also, too, life is so busy and crazy from the moment you wake up and you walk outside.
Everybody's wanting something from you.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
So for many of us, by the way, whether it's celebrity or not.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
So it's nice to have that anchor in the morning.
Do you train in the mornings?
unidentified
Always.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Always in the morning.
But sometimes I do it in the afternoon if I have some sort of an appointment or something.
I just get it in.
I must get it in.
But I like to start the day with it.
That's what I like to do.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
Me too.
joe rogan
It's the best way.
It's like you get it out of the way.
And also I like to do it fasted.
So I wake up and have a cup of coffee, get some pre-workout in me and just fucking let's go.
dwayne johnson
That's it.
unidentified
Yeah, let's go.
joe rogan
And I go right into the cold plunge.
That's the first thing.
So the first thing is suffering.
Like right away suffer.
It's cold outside.
Who gives a fuck?
Get in there.
Suffer.
Suffer for three minutes and then warm yourself up to working out and then get into it.
dwayne johnson
But we did it reverse today.
How come we did it reverse today?
joe rogan
Well, those guys are not really ready to get in the cold plunge first.
That's next level.
I get them in the cold plunge after the sauna because it's easier.
Because your body temperature is already heated up and there's a certain amount of relief when you get into the cold water because you're in that 185 degrees for 20 minutes.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
When you get in that cold, then your body relaxes.
And I just did it.
I just want to get him accustomed to doing it.
Asan impressed the shit out of me.
Three minutes his first time.
You did too.
Three minutes your first time.
dwayne johnson
Thank you, man.
Yeah.
unidentified
It was awesome.
joe rogan
You just stayed calm as fuck in there.
dwayne johnson
I felt like that's the thing to do.
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
You get in and I heard you coaching the boys.
Breathe.
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
You're good.
joe rogan
Just accept it.
dwayne johnson
Just accept it.
joe rogan
Because your brain goes, we've got to get the fuck out of here.
I've got to get the fuck out of here.
I can't do this.
I can't do this.
And if you let that shit roll around in your head...
dwayne johnson
Then you're up.
joe rogan
But it's also good practice for not letting that shit roll around in your head in everyday life.
Because there's times in everyday life where you just can make a rash decision because your brain ramps up the wrong way.
And if you just stay calm...
You could see a rational solution or a rational way to handle something.
dwayne johnson
Any kind of shit that's going down.
joe rogan
Any kind of shit that's going down.
Yes.
The ability to keep your head together.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
When you're...
And that cold water is like...
You want to...
Get me the fuck out of here.
dwayne johnson
It goes against every fiber in your body.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
And as you know, today was my first cold plunge.
I ordered it.
It gets delivered next week.
But today was the first one.
joe rogan
Nice.
dwayne johnson
So that's why I had to get it.
joe rogan
Which one did you get?
dwayne johnson
I don't know which one I got.
joe rogan
There's a bunch of good ones out there.
dwayne johnson
I know I needed just a longer one.
joe rogan
Yeah, you need a bigger one.
You barely fit in ours.
You're fucking squished up in there.
It's hilarious.
dwayne johnson
It's great.
joe rogan
Yeah, that one is interesting because that's called a blue cube.
And the blue cube has a very cool option where you can crank up the water flow.
So you get it down...
dwayne johnson
So it spins.
joe rogan
Yeah, so it's 37 degrees, and then you hit this switch, and it's just like a raging river.
So you never get a thermal layer.
So the thing that happens in the cold plunge is like a minute in, your body develops sort of a thermal layer, and it actually is more tolerable after a minute than it is for the first minute, but not with that raging river.
When that shit's in there, like, it's never tolerable.
You just sit there the whole three minutes just white-knuckling it.
unidentified
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
So it's harder.
dwayne johnson
How often are you doing the Raging River part?
joe rogan
Do it without these guys.
I don't let these guys...
I'm trying not to get anybody to quit.
You know, today I was worried.
I was like, yeah, fucking kind of pushing them.
Because we added Renegade Rose today.
We added windmills.
I added a few things to the routine.
But the last two or three workouts, two workouts, I've been finishing them with the rounds on the bag.
So you do this Tabata sprint.
So it's 20 seconds of just going out and then 10 seconds rest.
20 seconds, 10 seconds rest.
It's an amazing protocol for developing cardio.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, yeah.
No, it was amazing.
I'd never done that before, and it was great.
You know what I also loved, I noticed about the guys, is after the workout was done, they're spent, they're feeling good, they're feeling great about themselves, and I think pretty much all of them said, hey, we're doing this tomorrow, right?
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
It was good.
Because you know, when that shit really kicks your ass, you don't ask that question.
joe rogan
Well, if they wake up sore, who knows?
Because there's a few things that we did that their legs are going to be sore for sure.
Between the leg stuff and the windmill stuff.
But we'll do something different tomorrow.
So tomorrow I'll get them in here.
We'll do something different.
Keep them going.
dwayne johnson
Are you banging them out, like, would you say five times a week?
joe rogan
Whenever they want to come.
So, like, right now it's been three days a week, but I'm like, if you guys want to go five days a week, we'll go five days a week.
You let me know what you want to do, and we'll do it.
And I try to give them some stuff.
Like, if you're on the road, just do the push-ups and the bodyweight routine.
You don't have to do 100. I do 100. I do sets of 20. Do sets of 10, 5, whatever.
Just do it.
And just make sure, so say if you do like 50 push-ups and 50 body weight squats one day, the next day try to make it 60. Try to get to 60. Try to eventually get to 100. And if you have to do 10 sets of 10, that's pretty easy to do.
10 is not hard.
You know, and then that last one, you're like, and eventually, You'll get to a point where you can do sets of 20. And it's just, it's easy.
It's not that hard to do.
Like, when I do 20, at the end of 20, I can do way more, but I just relax, and then I do the bodyweight squats.
And if you keep doing it, it just conditions your body to be able to do that all the time.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, absolutely.
joe rogan
And it's a great warm-up, 15 minutes, and you're sweating.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
Yeah, so we start off with that, and then you go right into all the other stuff.
So while your body's already heated up, you're ready to rock.
dwayne johnson
And ready to go.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
And also, too, I feel like, especially for guys like that who are just getting into it and dipping their toes into it, feeling good, they know they have to do it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
They're going to add some years to their life, right, and take care of their families.
But also, it was cool that you realized that as these guys are doing it, they're not, again, they're not giving up, but also, you could see it kind of computing in their head, like, okay, two steps forward, maybe one little step back.
You had the math, and you do that every day?
You're far down that road.
joe rogan
You're far down that road.
And that's what I keep telling them.
I said, this is just a thing where you gotta not slide off.
Because the slide off is the hardest part.
Discipline is very hard, but the slide off, it's so hard to avoid the slide off.
When you're used to eating bad food and fucking around and staying up late and drinking, like all these guys do.
It's really hard to be disciplined and just to say, no matter what, even if I travel on the road, I gotta get workouts in because I can't lose ground.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
Especially like wrestling.
I feel like comedy is a lot like wrestling just in terms of the schedule.
Because you guys are working at nights.
Sometimes twice a night.
You start at 7.30.
You're done by, I don't know, maybe midnight, maybe longer.
So it's that kind of lifestyle that we really got to be disciplined.
Were you always...
Disciplined even when you got in comedy full-time and you were on the road and doing all that?
joe rogan
I was more disciplined than other comics, but not that disciplined.
Not like I am now.
I think as I get older, I realize, like, you only have so much...
Like, your body only has so much energy.
And if you're not in shape, your body's gonna have less energy.
And as you get old, I have so many friends that are my age that look like they're dead.
And I'm like, Jesus Christ.
You know, I'm 56. At a certain point in time, you realize, like, okay.
This can't be, like, a thing you do three days a week.
This has got to be a thing you do every day.
My body has to, like, know for sure it's going to work.
And every day, work has got to get done.
And if it doesn't do that, I feel like it's going to slide off.
And when I've taken days off and then I get back to it, it's like...
I feel way more slide now than I did when I was 20 or 30. It's like the slide is steeper.
It lasts longer.
It's harder to get back up there again.
Okay, stay here.
Don't let it slide.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
Is your slide...
Is it usually come by way like if you catch a fucking cold or something like that?
joe rogan
Yeah, that could happen.
It's usually that, right?
Yeah, that could be it.
Or too many days of no sleep.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Too many days of no sleep will get me.
You know, if I'm just traveling a lot or doing something that's like very intensive and I have to get up in the morning or I have to handle family stuff or whatever if I have to get up early.
It's just that wrecks you.
That's the one that gets you.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And then you take a day or two off and then you're like, fuck.
And then you gotta travel again, and maybe you're going overseas, and then it's a long travel.
dwayne johnson
It's a whole thing.
You gotta plan out your workouts.
joe rogan
But you just have to do it.
If you just decide, oh, take a nap, then you won't do it, and then you're gonna...
Take the fucking nap later.
Let's go.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, let's go.
You gotta go.
joe rogan
Let's go.
dwayne johnson
When you land, this is what I like doing, when I travel out of the country, and I land, whatever time it is, Right to the gym.
Hit the gym.
joe rogan
Yep.
That's the only way I think to avoid significant jet lag.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
The other thing that they say is to fast.
They say even if you're on a 16-hour flight, don't eat on the flight.
They say don't eat on the flight.
dwayne johnson
I don't know why.
joe rogan
I don't know why, but everybody that I've talked to says to avoid jet lag.
One of the best ways is to not eat on the flight.
And to just sort of land, get a workout in, and let your body get back on its normal cycle.
And you won't have the same kind of jet lag.
dwayne johnson
And still not eat when you land.
Just land, train, and then eat at?
unidentified
I've never done it.
dwayne johnson
I can't do that.
joe rogan
I've never done it.
I'm on a plane.
I'm eating.
I'm going to eat three or four times.
I'm fucking eating all the time.
I don't like the idea of not eating when I'm on a plane.
I'm going to eat.
dwayne johnson
You've got to eat.
joe rogan
Yeah, I think there's 100% something to the workout, though.
That seems to reset me as good as anything.
I mean, maybe not eating and then a workout would be even better, but I've never tried it.
dwayne johnson
How do you do this?
Because I think about this, too, as well.
Like, the difference between...
When you're tired and you feel like, we've been here before, I know I'm fucking fatigued, but I'm still going to push through this, and like you said, I'm going to get it in, whether it's at midnight or 7. How do you know the difference between that and compared to...
joe rogan
Something's wrong.
dwayne johnson
Dude, I've got to listen to my body.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I think it's just an education.
dwayne johnson
Over time, right?
joe rogan
Yeah, you have those days where you do push it when you shouldn't and then you get sick.
And you go, okay, I see what I did.
Or you have those days where you push through and you feel way better.
I've had those too.
And you've got to kind of feel them out.
And the only way you know is if you know your body.
And the only way you know your body is if you push your body all the time.
dwayne johnson
And try it.
joe rogan
You have a fucking insane schedule.
I mean, I know a lot of people with insane schedules, but yours might be at the top of the list.
You're right up there with anybody.
I don't know how you maintain all of the things that you do and still have energy.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
What I try to do is try to schedule my day as best as I can.
And, you know, when you're busy, and all of us are busy in our own way, so I really try to make sure that I'm paying attention to the schedule.
I'm really looking at it.
And I'm going to take a fine tooth comb through it and go, not that.
Because it's easy just to say, yeah, I'll do it.
Oh, this thing is for 10 minutes, Joe.
Yeah, okay, I'll do it.
And before you know it, all that shit.
It's an hour.
And then it's two hours and all that.
So I really try to make sure that I'm looking at the schedule and try to be smart about the moves these days.
And I also learned...
Man, there's just power in saying no.
joe rogan
Yeah.
No, I'm not going to do it.
You've got to have you time.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
You time is important.
One of the things I always tell everybody, discipline is really important, but also enthusiasm is really important.
That's right.
I tell these guys with comedy, if you feel burnt out, take some days off.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
There's no harm in that.
You want enthusiasm.
There's something about being enthusiastic with comedy, and I think with a lot of things.
You don't want it to be a drudgery.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
You don't want it to be a colonoscopy.
You want to go in there.
joe rogan
Yeah, you want to have a good time.
And you want to appreciate it.
And sometimes when you overdo things, you just don't feel that enthusiastic about them.
So you've got to balance it out.
But again, it's an education.
So you've got to do it the wrong way.
And they go, okay, what did I fuck up?
dwayne johnson
And learn from it.
Dude, I always say with enthusiasm, you can really move mountains.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
You can really move mountains with enthusiasm.
Because it starts with that.
joe rogan
Mike Tyson had a great phrase.
He said, discipline is doing what you hate to do, but doing it like you love it.
That's real discipline.
That's what made Mike Tyson.
The proof is in the result.
But that's real.
If you could just force yourself into being enthusiastic about everything.
Even shit you don't want to do.
You've got to do hill sprints.
Fuck you with doing these fucking hill sprints.
dwayne johnson
Let's go!
joe rogan
And then you get excited and then it becomes something stimulating instead of a drudgery.
dwayne johnson
You know what it is, too?
It's that thing where I think you learn about, especially when it comes to training and that kind of thing, where it's either you look at it like, fuck, this is something I gotta do, or I get to do.
I get to do it, man.
What a privilege this is.
joe rogan
I mean, there's a lot of people out there that are, like, seriously ill and injured, and they can't do it.
God, they would wish they'd fucking give anything to be able to do it.
dwayne johnson
One more time.
joe rogan
That's right.
And we are lucky.
We're lucky as shit.
Anybody right now that's able-bodied and hears this is lucky as fuck.
dwayne johnson
Lucky, man.
joe rogan
Just lucky.
dwayne johnson
Lucky and privileged.
I would say that.
joe rogan
Yeah, super lucky.
dwayne johnson
For sure.
joe rogan
And if you can just keep that in your mind...
That's the problem.
People get just accustomed to whatever they have, and then they want more, they're not satisfied, but...
Gratitude is so important.
I know it's one of those hippy crystal fucking wooden beads things that annoys the shit.
You know, you hear it from the wrong people.
dwayne johnson
Attitude of gratitude.
joe rogan
Yeah, there's certain things that get co-opted by the...
Like the word God, I think, is the same way.
It's co-opted by some people.
And then people have this negative association with it.
But I think gratitude is one of those.
It is real.
And it's really important.
And if you could just appreciate your friends, And appreciate your life and appreciate people and appreciate what you get to do.
You can fucking change your whole tone of existence.
You change the frequency you exist on.
dwayne johnson
Where you vibrate.
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
You can change, man.
joe rogan
You change people around you, too, because they get excited by it.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, that's right.
It affects them.
joe rogan
That's what I love to do with these guys.
I get excited.
We're having fun.
We're exercising, but we're all laughing.
We're having a great time.
It was fun.
They were looking over at you.
They're like, are we fucking working out with The Rock?
Shane kept going.
He kept nudging me.
Dude, we're working out with The Rock.
unidentified
What the fuck?
joe rogan
What the fuck?
It was awesome.
dwayne johnson
It was awesome, man.
joe rogan
It was awesome, but enthusiasm and appreciation.
It's like there's a key concepts in life, and even if you're not where you want to be in life and you're grinding and you're on that hustle.
dwayne johnson
And there's a lot of people like that.
unidentified
I get it.
dwayne johnson
I get it.
joe rogan
Keep grinding, but also appreciate it.
Appreciate that hustle.
Appreciate this thing.
Appreciate this fucking beautiful, chaotic, unknown existence you're in.
dwayne johnson
The thing we call life.
joe rogan
Yeah, that you don't know what the fuck is going to happen.
It's open-ended.
dwayne johnson
Yes, man.
joe rogan
It's a complete open-loop experience.
You don't know what the fuck is coming next, and you're just trying to enjoy the ride.
dwayne johnson
You have no fucking idea.
joe rogan
No idea.
dwayne johnson
It's a thing, man, when you think about it.
It's like...
And I feel like I want to know about you two here.
I feel like it was a learned thing.
Of course the concept of, oh, gratitude, sure.
I felt like I'm a pretty grateful guy.
But once I started realizing that a lot of the shit that I was trying to get after, and there's the North Star, there's that thing, whatever it is, it's always there.
But really, the shit that matters most is the stuff that's right here.
joe rogan
Yes.
dwayne johnson
Like right in front of us.
joe rogan
Yes.
dwayne johnson
You know?
This thing.
Life.
Family.
Loved one.
Kid.
Whatever it is.
Job even, you know?
joe rogan
And sometimes if you concentrate on the North Star too much, you don't even enjoy it.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
You don't even enjoy the whole experience.
dwayne johnson
Of being present.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Of enjoying the ride.
Enjoying the fucking journey.
I mean, that's another thing.
You know, it's about the journey.
Ew.
unidentified
What?
joe rogan
People have fucked up that expression, but it's real.
It is really about the journey.
It's just hard when you're not where you want to be in life and if you're listening to this and you're just not satisfied with your position in life, it's hard to think that way.
All you want is that thing, but you gotta somewhere along the line figure out how to enjoy yourself.
Somewhere along the line figure out how to just go as hard as you can but also enjoy it try to enjoy it because That changes the whole tone of the experience and I think that makes you more successful I really do because I think you have more energy you have more focus and you collect better energy around you from other people and They feel your energy.
They're inspired by the way you live your life and how you treat people and what you do and how you do things.
And they want to do a similar thing.
They want to do something that makes them feel that way.
And they want other people to feel that way as well.
And it's got the butterfly effect.
It just goes through all the people that are around you.
dwayne johnson
Brother, it's like a track's like.
It's that thing.
It's that thing, man.
Especially if you're grinding.
And you're right.
There's a lot of people out there who are just fucking busting their ass and unhappy.
You and I were both in that place at one time.
We were like, fuck, I don't like the position I'm in.
joe rogan
I want more.
dwayne johnson
I want something more.
But this idea of, but I'm going to try and enjoy it.
But I got to tell you, it wasn't...
And I want to know about you too.
Like, earlier on in my career, I felt like it's the grind that we love and sink our teeth into and just fucking go and get after it.
But I wasn't having fun.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
But man, that time when it switched in my mind, like, oh wait, like exactly what you're saying.
Let me enjoy this now.
Because I've worked hard to get here, wherever this thing is, just like everybody else, with this idea, like, let's have fun while we're doing it along the way.
And you're right.
It has that butterfly effect.
It affects other people and it attracts other people.
Before you know it, everybody's vibrating at this great place with enthusiasm and excitement.
Fun.
joe rogan
I realized when I was young, I got a development deal for Disney when I was, I think I was 25, 26. And I got this development deal and all of a sudden they gave me like, I think it was like $100,000.
And I had money in the bank.
I was like, this is crazy.
dwayne johnson
Because I felt lighter.
joe rogan
I was like 26 I think.
It was a development deal for a television show and all of a sudden I had money.
Like my whole life I was poor.
And my whole life I was wondering when I was on my own.
And it was like how am I paying the bills?
How am I eating?
I remember taking a loose jar of change and counting it all out so I could go to Subway and get a sandwich.
That kind of shit.
dwayne johnson
You don't forget that kind of shit.
joe rogan
You don't forget that kind of shit.
But then the moment I got that check, I remember feeling light.
Like weight had been lifted off me.
Like now I didn't have to worry about my rent.
Now I didn't have to worry about food.
And I remember thinking immediately, oh, this is the key.
You just gotta not...
Get to a place where you're not worried about your bills.
If that means, like, spend less money, if that means, like, live a more prudent lifestyle, whatever you have to do.
But get to that place where you're not worried about bills, because that shit hanging over your head causes stress that fucking ruins lives.
It ruins people.
Yeah.
So then I was like, okay, now the most important thing is fucking keep going.
Make sure you don't lose any ground here and keep going.
Because now you know what it's like to be successful, continue that.
Do whatever the fuck you have to do, whatever work you have to put in, continue that.
And then when I got to a place where I felt like I have enough money that I feel really secure, then I started to learn how to be happy.
But in the beginning, it was just drive.
It was just all go.
And it was just very selfish thinking.
You know, I'm just thinking only on what I'm trying to do.
dwayne johnson
But that's all we know.
But especially if you grow up broke, and it's the thing that you make up your mind, I feel, and it's the same thing that happened to me.
I made up my mind like, I'm broke today, but one day I'm never going to be broke, and I will never fucking go back to being broke.
At least I'm going to do all I can not to be broke.
So when you have that mentality, you have the blinders on.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
This is the way you're thinking.
It wasn't until I think we get a little older and we achieve the success, we understand, then it starts to go like this a little bit.
I gotta ask you something.
I heard this, and I always wanted to confirm it with you.
You started early with martial arts, right?
And you said there was this great quote, and it was something like, it was martial arts, I think, that gave you the confidence To know that, oh wait, I'm not going to be broke one day, or something like that.
Yeah.
Is that right?
joe rogan
Yeah.
Martial arts was the first thing that I realized, like, oh, I'm not a loser.
Because I felt like a loser.
I moved a lot when I was a kid.
We moved from New Jersey to San Francisco when I was seven.
Lived in San Francisco until I was 11. Moved to Florida from 11 to 13. Boston from 13 to 24. So it was always moving.
dwayne johnson
Dude, I lived in 10 states by the time I was 13. Why were you guys moving around?
joe rogan
Well, my stepdad went to school in Florida.
Well, we moved to San Francisco just to, like, experience something different and just get away from New Jersey.
Moved there, and then my stepdad went to school in Florida.
And when we went to school in Florida, we had to go to the University of Florida at Gainesville, so we were there for three years.
And then when we moved to Boston, he was going to the Boston Architectural Center.
So we moved there so he could finish it and get his architectural degree.
So we were just always going where we had to go.
And when we did that, I would have to make a whole new set of friends.
And so it was this thing about being insecure and young and, you know, life is kind of fucked up and chaotic and you're, you know, you're meeting these new people and kids are fucking cruel.
And I, you know, I always was insecure because we were always moving around a lot and my life was kind of chaotic.
My family life was chaotic.
I just felt like a loser.
I always felt like I just had to hide from people, was like socially nervous around people, and I just felt like there were certain people that were winners in life, and I was not that.
I was a loser.
And then I started doing martial arts, and I got really good at it.
I was obsessed, and I got really good at it really quickly.
And I realized like, oh, I'm not a loser.
I just have to find a thing and fucking really get after it in a way that I know some people that have had an easy life, they're not going to pursue it like it's going to save them.
And I was pursuing it like this is going to save me.
Because I knew as I kept getting better, I started getting this feeling, oh, I'm good at something.
Like I'm good at something dangerous.
And then I got really good at it.
And then I started winning tournaments and competing and traveling all the road.
And so my whole life from 15 to 21 was just traveling around competing.
That's all I did.
I was kind of...
It's kind of like socially fucked up because I wasn't hanging out with many kids my age.
I wasn't really partying.
I wasn't doing...
dwayne johnson
You were training.
joe rogan
I was just training.
dwayne johnson
Competing.
joe rogan
Training, competing, and teaching.
I was teaching at Boston University when I was 19 years old.
dwayne johnson
Wow.
joe rogan
I was teaching an accredited course on Taekwondo.
It was like pass, fail, A, but it counted towards your GPA. So I tell all the students, I'd say, listen.
Show up, you get an A. That's all you have to do.
Show up and try, you get an A. You don't have to be awesome at it.
I just want you to just show up and do your best, and you get an A. It's that simple.
And so they knew that that counted towards their GPA, so I had this big fucking class.
And it was great.
I did that for a couple years.
And then when I started doing stand-up, first of all, I started kickboxing.
And when I started kickboxing, that's when I started getting brain damage.
And I was realizing I was getting brain damage.
We were sparring hard for a lot.
dwayne johnson
Oh, for sure.
Like, for real, you were.
joe rogan
Yeah, legit.
dwayne johnson
You were getting digged up.
joe rogan
I was, like, laying in bed with headaches after sparring.
And there was no money in it.
And I was like, what am I doing?
Like, I'm 21. What am I doing with my life?
Like, I can't keep doing this.
And I had already started doing open mics.
So I had already started doing stand-up comedy.
But I was kind of, like, just...
Dabbling in it I thought I could do that too, but I was still at these competition aspirations and then the brain damage thing was scary because I knew quite a few people around me that from the time I was 16 till the time I was 21 I saw them deteriorate like noticeably slurring their words Forgetful not knowing what you were talking about like moments ago, and I knew that's coming And I knew that was coming for me.
dwayne johnson
And CTE back then wasn't in the conversation.
Like that wasn't in the lexicon, right?
joe rogan
Brain damage was.
People would talk about people being punch drunk.
Right.
But I knew too many people that I saw it in them.
I saw a deterioration from young people.
I saw slurring in their words and they would have like one drink of alcohol and it would be like they were hammered.
Because something happens when people are punch drunk, when they drink.
They just fall apart.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And I saw that, too.
And I was like, okay, I gotta stop doing this.
Like, this is...
This is dangerous.
Because we weren't sparring smart.
We were going to war.
dwayne johnson
Like no headgear?
joe rogan
No.
No headgear.
Sometimes headgear, most of the time no headgear.
Most of the time it was just going to war.
And you weren't really sparring.
You were fighting.
We were fighting all the time.
And just getting guys getting dropped all the time.
And that was just the kind of gym that I was in.
It was a hard ass fucking kickboxing gym and beat the fuck out of each other.
And I was realizing like, okay, I gotta get out of this.
Like this is gonna ruin me.
And then If my mind gets ruined, my life is ruined.
Because then you can't think.
You can't do things.
You don't know what the fuck you're doing in life.
It's like literally everything is the quality of your ability to think.
And I knew that I was putting that in jeopardy.
So then I went all in in comedy.
But I realized from martial arts that if I go all in on something, I could be successful at it.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
Like that's the anchor.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's it.
dwayne johnson
That you learn.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
I thought that was cool, man, when I read that.
Yeah.
joe rogan
There's things in life that you...
I think every kid should do something difficult.
Whether it's playing chess or whether it's soccer or whether it's wrestling.
Something that really fucking tests you.
Because you learn that you can get better at stuff and you learn that you can overcome all those feelings of weakness that are inside of you.
dwayne johnson
And it acts as like a forcing mechanism for discipline and to work through that shit.
And also I feel like It's like with you in martial arts and then transitioning over to comedy.
I feel like it also...
For me, it forces also our kids to find their thing.
And even if you get a little older, you know, in your teens and in your early 20s, because, fuck, dude, in my early 20s, I was still trying to figure out who I was and what I was going to be, and even into my 30s.
But I feel like as you're searching for that thing, it's like with me and football.
Like, I thought football was my ticket.
That was the thing that's going to allow me to—I'm going to buy my parents their first house— Right.
Because I didn't live in a house until I was 27. I was WWE champion, was the first fucking house I lived in.
joe rogan
That's amazing.
dwayne johnson
It was amazing.
So I thought football was a ticket.
And then I realized down the road, like, I have to finish this chapter in my life because I don't have that skill set to go on.
I could continue to push it and push it and push it, but no.
But like I was saying, it forces kids too as well, and older kids as you get into adulthood, to find your thing.
Because a lot of times we're in the thing, we think it's the thing, and it's going to be our ticket out, but it's not.
joe rogan
And if you can find one thing, you can find many things.
unidentified
Yeah, right.
joe rogan
It's like the Miyamoto Musashi quote.
Once you know the way broadly, you can see it in all things.
There's some real wisdom in those words because there's something about...
Finding a pursuit or a passion or something you truly love that's engaging and challenging, that is exciting for you, and it advances you as a person.
And the lessons that you learn in pursuing that thing, you apply to everything in your life.
dwayne johnson
Everything in life, man.
Yeah.
Everything in life.
There's a great, you probably know it, Bruce Lee quote from Enter the Dragon.
Do you remember when it was one of his students and he told the kid, it's like a finger pointing away to the moon.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
And he slapped him in the head, don't concentrate on the finger, you're going to lose all that heavenly glory around you.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
So back to being present.
joe rogan
Yeah, Bruce Lee was a bad motherfucker.
dwayne johnson
Dude.
joe rogan
He was such a bad motherfucker.
People really don't appreciate what he did.
Because what he did was introduce martial arts in an exciting way to the whole world.
Everybody was wearing kung fu outfits and everybody was fucking taking martial arts classes.
Everybody wanted to be like Bruce Lee.
He was the fucking coolest guy that ever existed in movies.
All of a sudden you got this little ripped Chinese guy who's fucking everybody up.
dwayne johnson
And everyone thought they were Bruce Lee, by the way.
I remember getting my first pair of nunchucks.
But I fucked myself up with the real ones.
You hit yourself in the back of the head?
Enough times that I was like, oh, they make rubber ones that you're supposed to learn with.
Dude, I did that.
And what did he do?
I feel like he was groundbreaking in a way when he came over here.
There was something about what he was teaching.
Was it Jeet Kune Do?
joe rogan
Yes.
dwayne johnson
Right?
So was he the first or he was taking a version of it?
joe rogan
Well, he was the first to combine.
The thing was, there was a thing about loyalty in martial arts.
Like if you were a judo practitioner and you started training at a kickboxing gym, people would frown upon that.
Like, why are you training Muay Thai when you're a judo practitioner?
Judo is the way.
And the same thing was, I had a very open-minded taekwondo coach who actually encouraged me to start boxing and doing some other things.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
But most of the time, that's not the case.
A lot of, like, kung fu practitioners, they don't want you practicing karate.
They only want you going to a kung fu place.
What Bruce Lee said is use everything that's useful.
Everything that's useful.
And he put together a system of martial arts that incorporated Everything that he learned from grappling from Gene LaBelle and karate from Chuck Norris and Tang Soo Do and you know Kung Fu from Yip Man from Wing Chun.
He put it all together with Western boxing and wrestling.
He realized like there's so many different ways to fight and The style is having no style.
The way is no way like figuring out Yes, yes, yeah figuring out how to adapt and move to every situation to be like water That's right.
Yeah, be formless.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, that's right.
joe rogan
And he taught that philosophy, and that philosophy eventually became mixed martial arts.
Bruce Lee was the first true mixed martial artist, because he was the first true guru that was shouting it from the top of the hills.
To use everything that's useful.
Everything.
From all styles.
And put it together.
But back then, that was really frowned upon.
It was kind of dangerous.
People would go after you if you disrespected kung fu.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
To prove you...
So not only try to prove you wrong, but physically try and go after you.
Yeah.
joe rogan
You were disrespecting their art, which was literally like a religion.
To a lot of people, martial arts are very cult-like.
And...
When you get into a martial arts school, a lot of times the instructor is almost like a cult leader.
You think that person is invincible.
They can't be beaten by anyone.
You have these weird ideas about your master.
You even call them a master.
And so there's this very rigid thinking that used to exist before.
dwayne johnson
But not anymore.
joe rogan
No.
The UFC just fucking put that away.
There's still schools out there that run like that, but they're not legitimate, and they're not the good ones.
The really good schools, they're just teaching you something beautiful.
They're teaching you how to use your body in a way that is...
Is challenging and effective and it makes you so much more confident and it makes you, if a physical altercation happens, you have a massive advantage over almost anyone.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
Protect yourself.
joe rogan
Yeah.
It's literally like a superpower to have that and to walk around to know that most people have zero idea how to fight.
dwayne johnson
Right, right.
joe rogan
And so we've all seen these fucking Instagram videos.
The guys have no idea how to fight and they're fighting each other and they don't even know each other and they're swinging wild.
dwayne johnson
And just swinging for the fences.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Hoping something connects.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I mean, if you're a trained fighter, that looks hilarious.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
unidentified
It's like, oh, this is, what are you doing?
dwayne johnson
Stop, stop for a second.
unidentified
Hold on.
joe rogan
You're just moving around like, dude, you're going to get hurt here.
Like, stop.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
When was the last time you got into a fight fight?
joe rogan
I never really got in fights.
I mean, I got in like one or two in high school.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
But once I started training, I was just competing all the time.
I never got in like street fights.
dwayne johnson
Right.
joe rogan
They're stupid.
They're so stupid.
dwayne johnson
They're just fucking stupid.
joe rogan
It's just your ego that keeps you there.
It's one thing if you have to defend yourself.
Someone's attacking you.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Or someone's attacking someone you love.
But to just get into fights because you know how to fight is so crazy.
Because like you think, oh, if I could do what you do, I'd be beating the fuck out of people.
No, you wouldn't because they'll shoot you.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
They'll come back with a gun and fucking shoot you.
You think people just like getting head kicked?
No, they're gonna fuck you up, man.
What, are you gonna look over your shoulder the rest of your life?
dwayne johnson
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
No, you can't do that.
You can't do that.
dwayne johnson
It's so fucking silly.
joe rogan
It's so dumb.
It's so dumb.
But also, that's people that haven't trained.
They don't understand that, like...
Right.
But I tell people, like, the best way to stop bullying, it sounds so counterintuitive.
Teach people how to fight when they're young.
Teach bullies even how to fight.
They won't be doing that.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
Because they, in a way, inherently have a respect.
joe rogan
Yeah.
They're insecure.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
The reason why they're imposing their strength on other people and trying to make people feel bad is because they feel bad.
And they think somehow or another by being a piece of shit to someone who's smaller than them that somehow or another that boosts them up.
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
joe rogan
But it doesn't.
It just gives you like you have low self-esteem.
You can't think of yourself as like a hero if that's the kind of life you're living.
It's a terrible way to live.
dwayne johnson
It is.
Yeah.
joe rogan
And they don't – but people don't understand that the way to cure that is not to like just simply punish them.
The way to cure that is to teach everyone how to fight.
Like it should be a thing that men learn and I think some women too.
Yeah.
Not mandatory.
I'm not saying everyone should have to do this, but it should be an option available to you.
And if that option is available to you and you take it, I think it'll better your life.
And I think it'll stop a lot of this bullying.
I really do.
dwayne johnson
Absolutely.
And the spirit of learning how to protect yourself, right, in that anchor of learning how to protect yourself and then learning how to fight, learning how to throw a punch, learning how to do this, do this.
joe rogan
Yeah.
You also learn the value in difficult work and in getting better at things.
And some people never learn that.
They never learn that.
dwayne johnson
I mean, that's a whole idea about...
Training really fucking hard.
You know, the value of putting in that hard work.
unidentified
Early.
dwayne johnson
Early.
I always tell athletes, and I know you feel the same way, it's like the, whether you're on the football field, basketball court, in the cage, whatever it is that you do, whatever kind of athletics, it always, always starts in the gym.
And once you're done, your playing days are over, your fighting days are over, your wrestling days are over, You go back to the gym.
It all starts in the gym.
That hard work you put in.
joe rogan
You just have to keep your body healthy.
If you can't keep your body healthy, I understand.
But if you can, you've got to do it.
It's something everyone should do.
It makes your life better.
It just does.
And there's so many intelligent people that I know that ignore their body.
Because they're so concentrated on their mind.
They're so concentrated on intellectual pursuits that they let their body become just a wreck.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, a physical wreck.
And we only got one, man.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's frail.
dwayne johnson
Only got one body.
joe rogan
And your intellectual energy is dependent upon your physical energy.
If your body's tired, your brain's not going to function as well.
Even if you have an amazing brain.
dwayne johnson
Right.
joe rogan
You're not giving it what it needs.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
That's right.
I agree.
joe rogan
And it's also the best way to filter out the noise of life.
If you choose to do something that's much harder than anything else you're going to experience, and it's voluntary, the rest of life is easier.
It really is easier.
Stress and bullshit and criticism and fucking haggling and nonsense and chaos.
You can get through that.
dwayne johnson
Especially today.
There's so much fucking noise.
So much noise.
And bullshit.
joe rogan
So much bullshit.
dwayne johnson
And toxicity.
joe rogan
So much toxicity.
dwayne johnson
It's just out there all the time.
And you're right.
That kind of anchoring balance and training gives you the leg up to swat the bullshit away.
Swat the bullshit away.
joe rogan
The bullshit today is fascinating because it's social media bullshit.
It's a different bullshit than people have ever experienced in all of human history.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
These people that you don't know chiming in about everything.
The good part of that is there's a sharing of ideas and there's a way of communicating that never existed before and people are learning so much more about things than ever before.
Social media allows people to break news stories long before mainstream media.
It allows people to tell you about fascinating stories that maybe you would have never heard of and amazing archaeological discoveries and scientific advancements and it's incredible in that regard.
But it's also you're dealing with human beings in a weird form where they're not in front of you.
They're not talking to you eye to eye.
They can say the shittiest things and they don't feel anything.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
And they're trying to hurt people's feelings and they make it like an activity.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like their activity is not jujitsu.
Their activity is like shitting on people online, starting trouble.
dwayne johnson
That's the trend.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
That it's just to shit on everything.
But you're right.
I want to back up for a second because it's so important that people hear this too as well.
I think, especially coming from you and I, who are kind of in the public eye, and we deal with the shit and the noise and all that, but we also deal with the good stuff.
Yeah.
I am an optimist, I think, in my DNA, so I like to look and search for the good stuff that's out there, the stuff that's going to make me better, help me stretch out my aperture up here, looking at things like, oh, I never looked at it like that.
Thank you for bringing that up.
That's great.
I don't know if I agree, but let's talk a little bit more.
Compared to the ones who are the experts, toxicity.
And it's this interesting thing that some people have to, I'm going to go out of my way to try and make you feel bad.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
And make people feel bad.
Shit on this whole thing and really not offer anything, I think, constructive.
Right.
You know, that we can talk about and chop up.
joe rogan
Well, it's almost all damaged people.
And the problem is a good percentage of the people out there are damaged.
And there's a thing about the kind of fucking interaction that people have on social media that just makes their life worse, whether they realize it or not.
Just fills their life with anxiety and this weird need to constantly check.
See who responded to what you tweeted and what are the comments on your Facebook post and reading them all and you're not living your life.
You're just wrapped up in this weird battle of opinions with strangers.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
You know, and you see people defending themselves online, like, I have done this and I have done that.
What are you doing?
What the fuck are you doing?
You argue with some fucking 15-year-old troll who's in a basement who's hiding from his stepdad.
You're like, what are you doing?
dwayne johnson
And, you know, what I always love is the typing in all capital letters as if somebody's yelling and the how dare you and the this.
It's like, what the fuck are you doing?
joe rogan
Well, it's a sport.
It's a sport in trying to get the best response.
And there's skill to it, you know, the skill to shitting on people and learning how to, like, go after people.
Like, it is kind of a game.
You're trying to, like, zing them.
And then you look at the comments and everybody's agreeing with you.
Yeah, yeah, get them.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, and living in that, in just the clickbait culture, you know, and want to raise the profile.
So let me ask you this.
And this is something you and I were texting about last week, is...
How can you tell the difference between The bullshit noise and the toxicity that's always out there compared to, oh, that's an opinion that is worthy of my attention.
I just want to look at and look at this for a second.
How do you differentiate the two?
joe rogan
It's difficult, right?
You've got to try to be objective and you've got to try to be unemotional when you read something that someone's writing.
Like, say if someone, like Palestine and Israel is a great example because the tension is so heightened.
or the other people will attack you on.
And so this is one that's if you have an opinion, a political opinion, a cultural opinion about the conflict and you post it, boy, you are opening yourself up to a world of people agreeing and disagreeing and chaos and fighting.
And some of those people are going to have points that make sense.
Like say if you are 100% pro-Palestine and you read something about Hamas and you read something, you go, wow, that's fucking terrible.
You know, you have to be willing to say, oh, there's both things.
There's the, you know, the fact that they live in what's essentially an open-air prison is fucking terrible.
Also, The people that are ruling them are terrorists.
That's terrible too.
You can't ignore any aspect.
This is a complicated thing.
Some of the Israeli soldiers have done some evil things to Palestinians.
There's videos of them shooting people.
Also, what Hamas did is fucking insanely evil.
Like, what has to be done to fix that, I do not know.
But to pretend it's binary, and to pretend it's one side good, one side bad, that seems insane.
dwayne johnson
It's all bad.
joe rogan
It's all bad.
dwayne johnson
It's all fucking heartbreaking.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
It's all devastating.
And you're right.
What I've learned, I feel like we've all learned, or trying to learn at least, because it is so complicated.
And that is a part of the world and historically thousands of years that I find complicated and I try my best to understand.
I also try to go out with an open mind because it is all complicated.
Fucking crazy.
joe rogan
It's crazy.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It doesn't seem like there's a real solution either.
dwayne johnson
And there's the things that you said.
Yes.
And I want to get to that in a second because I was thinking about that today is the everything you said.
Absolutely.
This part of it is devastating.
This is devastating.
This side.
This side.
The 240 hostages that still haven't come home yet.
But also, where does it go?
joe rogan
Right.
Where does it go?
dwayne johnson
Where does it go?
That's the thing that I think really grabs my attention because usually I think in – I'm not saying a situation like this, but there's a lot of stuff that goes on where you feel like I think this is the path to finding a resolve or at least maybe the first steps of resolve.
joe rogan
But in this case – I don't see it.
dwayne johnson
Brother, I don't know.
joe rogan
No, I don't see it.
But speaking to what we were talking about earlier, you can learn from – that's where separating the noise from the intelligent perspectives.
I've read some very intelligent perspectives where people give you a detailed history in the conflict of the region.
And you realize this is incredibly complicated.
And to have a binary viewpoint or a very black or white viewpoint is dangerous.
And it's so easy for people to do.
People love to do that.
They love to other people.
It's a natural human trait.
It's a tribal trait that we have.
And that is what led to World War II and the fucking Holocaust, is that they othered these human beings because these human beings were Jewish.
And you're seeing people doing that now with Jewish people, and you're seeing people doing that now with Muslim people.
There's people that are angry at all Muslim people because of what Hamas did.
All of it's crazy.
And what we need to do is realize That othering human beings is insane.
And if you could look at Earth from space, this is one of the things that all the astronauts have said, all the people that have gone to the space station, there's a moment where you are up there when you look down on the Earth.
And you see this magical thing that's floating in the heavens and you realize how insane these conflicts we have over territory of lines in the dirt and fighting over resources and it's so ridiculous.
We are one life form.
We are one gigantic super-organism that needs each other.
Human beings need each other.
We do not survive alone.
The worst thing they can do to you in prison is put you in solitary confinement.
We need each other.
It's a part of what we are.
We're this one gigantic group of beings that are trying to live our lives All together on this fucking magical thing that's floating through space.
And we unfortunately come from tribal backgrounds.
All of us.
We evolved in these small groups of hunter-gatherers thousands and thousands of years ago, and we carry that DNA still.
We carry that fiercely loyal tribal DNA that allows us to look at people that aren't a part of us as something less than us.
And other them.
Yeah, and what I'm hoping is that as technology allows people to communicate far more freely and to translate languages more freely and or information is going to get exchanged more freely and it takes a long time for this to happen.
But we'll eventually understand each other to the point where that's way more difficult to happen.
Because it's so easy for it to happen if you don't speak their language, you don't follow their religion, they're bad, you're good.
And then you're othering people.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
And we've got to stop that.
That's a fucking insanely ridiculous thing that's being done by world leaders.
They gather people together against other people that you don't even fucking know.
You don't even know.
It's one thing if you have a conflict with an actual human being that's like doing something to you.
But this is like you don't even know these people.
And these world leaders have told you that somehow or another these people are bad and you're good and we've got to go over there and fuck them up.
We're still doing that?
That's insane.
It's insane that human beings are still doing that.
And I'm hoping that as we get to know each other more through technology and through what has become the most connecting Innovation, the most connecting technology ever, which is the Internet.
I'm hoping that's going to continue to evolve and connect people further and further.
The problem is, along the way, it can get co-opted by governments and it can get controlled and censored.
And that's the enemy.
That's the enemy of all truth.
dwayne johnson
That's what we can't have.
joe rogan
We can't have that.
We need to fucking ride this out and let this thing ride itself out and figure out the right way to live.
But it's definitely not through war.
dwayne johnson
Look, I feel like I agree with you on that.
And my hope was, in the spirit and vein of what you were saying, is that writing it out, getting more information...
Being open to difference of opinion.
Here's how I feel.
How do you feel?
But truly tell me a little bit more, just so I can understand it.
But even in the spirit of that, I feel like you get so much more out of that, so much benefit.
But I feel like, like you were saying, we have to...
Things got to get recalibrated, man.
And I don't know, especially over there, I don't know what the endgame is there.
I don't either.
But I agree with you.
joe rogan
It's terrifying.
It's terrifying because it can lead the whole world into nuclear conflict and then civilization's over.
And then we're back to caveman if we're lucky.
If we're lucky.
If there's anybody left.
I mean, there's a real possibility we can nuke the whole world and there's no one left.
Except maybe some people living on an island somewhere that got lucky.
dwayne johnson
Well, what's crazy is...
That is a possibility.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
And that's...
joe rogan
It's happened before.
dwayne johnson
Fucking wild.
joe rogan
Well, the thing is, it's happened before with natural disasters.
There was this...
What was that super volcano?
Was it Toba?
Was that what it was?
Yeah, the Toba super volcano 70,000 years ago that reduced the entire human population to a few thousand people.
dwayne johnson
Wow.
joe rogan
Yeah, we came that close from a super volcano 70,000 years ago to being down to like very few people.
They don't even know how many people it was, but the estimates are a few thousand, I think.
Is that what the estimates are?
I think that's what they think.
But that's crazy.
A few thousand people is nothing.
Like how?
dwayne johnson
Nothing, man.
joe rogan
That's nothing.
That's a concert.
That's like go to a concert, like a theater, not even a fucking big show.
dwayne johnson
It's my first wrestling match, yeah.
joe rogan
And then imagine, that's the whole human race on planet Earth.
And then you're dealing with, back then, of course, you're dealing with predators, you're dealing with natural disasters, and even normal shit, like freezing to death in the winter and starving.
And if you're dealing with a supervolcano, you also have a nuclear winter.
Supervolcano coats the Earth in ash, and it's one of the things that kills everybody, is the temperature drops, no sunlight gets through, plants don't grow, everything's fucked.
And then, you know, you're cannibalizing.
There's a lot of that.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
Yeah, I mean, there's a high possibility that our ancestors were cannibals and that the people that had to survive through a lot of these things, they probably ate people.
dwayne johnson
Did what they had to do.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
Did what they had to do.
joe rogan
Which is fucked.
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
I'd start with my quad.
joe rogan
There's a lot of meat on that thing.
dwayne johnson
Yours too.
joe rogan
I don't think I'd eat myself.
I'd probably jump off a cliff.
You know, the thing is like, you know, people, it's a scary thing what people resort to.
Like the Donner Party, right?
You know when those people got trapped trying to make the way across the mountains?
It's terrifying.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
When you're realizing you're starving, people are like trying to draw straws to see who's going to kill who to eat.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, you said, you talked about the...
Was it the astrophysicist you said?
joe rogan
Yeah, NASA, the scientists, when they look up, there's an overview effect.
dwayne johnson
You get up and then you look, and it has that emotional impact on them.
It really puts things into perspective on how we're just on this spinning thing.
We all do need each other.
I always like to say, too, because I feel like it connects to what you said, which is try to keep in mind history is always watching.
And when you think the decisions we make today, years from now, history is going to look back at this time.
And I think if you really think like that, it just helps another forcing mechanism to try and make the best decision possible.
At least I try to think that way.
History is always watching, man.
joe rogan
But we have the benefit of living a good life while this is happening.
Imagine being someone trapped in Palestine.
And imagine being someone trapped in Gaza while they're bombing.
And this idea that they're supposed to get rid of Hamas.
They have no food.
They have no money.
They have bad water.
Like, what are you talking about?
Like, what are they going to do?
They're occupied, too.
They're occupied by whoever's leading them.
When you're deeply impoverished and there's no way out and you're literally trapped in this one place and you can't even leave, what are your options?
Saying that they need to rise up and organize, they're going to get killed.
Do you understand how that works over there?
It's not that simple.
dwayne johnson
No, that's the thing.
That's why I go back to where's the wise brains here and open hands who is – What's the resolve?
joe rogan
I don't know.
dwayne johnson
What's the beginning of it, at least, you know?
joe rogan
I haven't heard anyone have, like, a solution that really makes sense that I think is workable that they could actually pull off.
I think before October 7th, you know, there probably would have...
You could have had options.
dwayne johnson
Right.
joe rogan
But after that, it's like, God, the Israelis are so bloodthirsty, and now the people that are, like, the Free Palestine people are bloodthirsty.
And you see anti-Semitism everywhere now.
A level that I never saw before.
Open anti-Semitism online.
Open anti-Semitism.
People chanting death to the Jews openly in public.
It's crazy to see.
It's crazy to see.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, never.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's so wild.
And you would imagine that in this day and age, in 2023, we would be moving away from all that.
dwayne johnson
Away from all that, yeah.
joe rogan
But to see it ramped up in our lifetime is so insane.
dwayne johnson
Well, that's why it concerns me, though, right?
And I know you, too, and a lot of people out there, like, where does that go?
joe rogan
Right.
dwayne johnson
Where does this escalate to?
joe rogan
Yeah, not a good place.
dwayne johnson
No.
And then where is that person, human, group, who's going to come in and say, let's – Right.
joe rogan
And how do we do that?
Does something tragic, really tragic, not that anything that's already happened has been horrifically tragic, but something horrific at a large scale has to happen that really wakes people up?
Like a nuclear bomb hitting a city.
And people go, Jesus Christ.
Like, we went from 1945 until today without doing that.
If we do that now, and then they retaliate, and then it's over.
Then we're fucked.
dwayne johnson
I hope that's not the case, brother.
joe rogan
I hope it's not the case, too.
But sometimes I think something has to happen to wake people up.
dwayne johnson
To shake and recalibrate everything.
joe rogan
9-11 did that.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
Like, you remember after 9-11, everybody had those American flags on their car?
Even in L.A., which is, you know, super liberal, and they never would put a fucking American flag on their car.
Everybody had them on.
dwayne johnson
It galvanized.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Brought us together.
dwayne johnson
Brought us together.
joe rogan
And it made people realize, like, hey, we are literally a country.
We're all in this together.
And without that conflict, I think people start looking for conflict amongst the people that are around them.
I think human beings, unfortunately, have a natural desire to seek out conflict or to embrace conflict or to be a part of conflict and to go after people whose opinions don't align with theirs.
And, you know, if there's no real problem in the world, you find problems.
It's like that expression, like, the worst thing that's ever happened to you is the worst thing that's ever happened to you.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
If it's daddy taking away your Rolls Royce because you drove drunk when you're 16, that's still the worst thing that's ever happened to you.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
But if your life has been this fucking chaotic system of foster homes and drug-addicted family members and crime and then you get free, something that would drive someone up a wall won't affect you at all.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
Because you've been through so much.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
And I think, unfortunately, there's a lot of people in this life, in this world that we live in, especially in America, that live soft-ass lives.
dwayne johnson
Oh yeah.
joe rogan
And they don't encounter real hardship.
They encounter like kind of like minor league hardship that they have blown up to be the end of the world.
dwayne johnson
It's not the hardcore shit that really shapes you.
Yes.
That a lot of people need.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
I agree.
joe rogan
It's just we're going through a very strange adolescence as a species and we're going through this like teenage process of like fucking up and figuring out who you are with nuclear weapons.
If you looked at the actual civilization on Earth itself, the human civilization, it's going through this chaotic period of trying to grow and get better while also engaging in ridiculous conflict, and it's all happening In the blink of an eye.
It's happening so rapidly.
Things have changed so quickly from the time you and I were kids.
I mean, when you and I were kids, it was Russia.
Everybody was worried about going to war with Russia.
And then when the fall of the Soviet Union, there was just like, ah, this calm that went through the whole country.
And I thought we were done.
I thought, oh, we're done with all this.
This is great.
We figured this out.
But no.
dwayne johnson
Well, that's why I wonder, where are the call for leaders?
I mean, it's a big question.
joe rogan
Well, nobody really wants to be president.
It's fucking the crawl up your ass with a microscope.
It's not fun.
They've talked about you being president.
dwayne johnson
Dude, I know.
joe rogan
I remember at one point in time, it was like they were saying, we should be The Rock and Oprah.
They should be president and vice president.
dwayne johnson
Dude, so one of the parties came to visit me.
joe rogan
Oh, no.
dwayne johnson
at the end of last year, asking for me to run.
Oh, Jesus Christ.
For president?
For president.
Wow.
First of all, incredibly fucking surreal.
joe rogan
Right.
dwayne johnson
Because I was the guy who was wrestling in flea markets years ago.
Looking for free corn dogs and hot dogs and shit.
Selling my headshots for five bucks trying to make money.
And then all of a sudden I'm having that conversation.
But it was just incredibly surreal and so wild.
But also so incredible that they had all this data.
That they had said, if this happens, here's the result.
It was really fucking deep.
And then I started to think, again, surreal.
Because that's never been my goal.
I appreciate it, and I'm fucking honored.
Because I'm like you, in here, in our core.
But it made me think, it's either this is an incredible thing, And I got some pretty decent leadership skills.
Or things are so fucked up.
joe rogan
They're turning to the pro-wrestling movie star.
They try to run the world.
dwayne johnson
Man.
But who are those leaders, whether president or not?
But I just wait for, as it relates to the conflict, who's not necessarily step up, but just information.
As you were talking about, we live in this time with incredible technology and communicate so fast.
And you can be as open as your aperture stretches out to be and you can get as much information as you can.
So where are those people who are going to...
joe rogan
They don't want to be president.
They're running their own lives and they're looking on the sideline and wishing that someone with real leadership skills and real wisdom and real empathy and a real moral compass who's not governed entirely by money.
dwayne johnson
Well, you just said it.
I mean, those things, empathy.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
You know, those kind of qualities, integrity.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Especially the empathy part.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
And looking at everything as open.
joe rogan
Yeah.
But if you're a person that has empathy, how do you conduct a drone strike where you know that a certain amount of civilians 100% are going to die, but you know that a terrorist might be in this apartment building?
unidentified
Hmm.
joe rogan
How do you greenlight that?
Because you kind of have to if you want to get rid of this terrorist.
But we know the consequences of drone strikes.
There's some insane number of people that are innocent civilians that get killed.
It's been explained to me by my friends in the military that it's very difficult to know the truth because...
dwayne johnson
In truth in terms of what, brother?
joe rogan
You get lies from either side.
Look, for sure.
Oh, I see.
100% for sure.
dwayne johnson
Truth in terms of the reasons for the orders that they can have.
joe rogan
Not just the reason for the orders, but the amount of people that died that were innocent.
But for sure, innocent people die.
The question is how many of them?
You know, when they say someone, they bombed a wedding party, that's real.
That's happened.
Like thousands of people have died that way all over the world.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Whether it's in Yemen or wherever they're conducting bombing raids, there have been many people that have not been a target that were killed.
But what are those numbers?
And what's the reality of it?
Because if you're on that side that get bombed, you might put out a press information, you might put out something that says a thousand innocent civilians and they bombed a children's hospital.
But the reality might be it was actually 20 insurgents and 50 civilians.
We don't really know what the real numbers are unless you're on the ground doing a census.
I don't know if we get accurate information from either side.
But if you're a president, you have to deal with that horrible reality that if you do an action, if there's some sort of a military action that has to be taking place, particularly like a drone bombing in a civilian area, You're going to kill some innocent people.
That is a crazy thing to have on your conscience if you have a moral compass.
It's crazy.
And what are the options?
To risk our service members and have them go in there and get gunned down and blown up and lose 50% of them because you didn't want to kill the same number of innocent civilians?
And then you get into that conversation.
It's like...
What's the solution there?
Other than we shouldn't be at war with anybody and we should figure out a way to stop this.
dwayne johnson
Before that happens.
joe rogan
Before that happens.
All over the world.
dwayne johnson
Right.
Because usually you could kind of see it coming down the road.
You can see the scenario happening coming down the road.
So maybe the ability to strategically get in, have the conversations you have to have before it actually gets to that point.
joe rogan
Before it escalates to the point of extreme violence.
But some people want extreme violence.
And that's the Eisenhower speech when he left office, that there's a military-industrial complex that wants us to go to war.
They profit off war.
And they can, you know, if they're the people that are funding political campaigns and they have massive amounts of money that they're using as influence, they can make certain politicians make decisions that are not in the best interests of the United States or the people that are the citizens.
They can do things entirely to make money.
You know, like you see it and you see like the amount of money that's involved in something like Ukraine, whether or not you're pro us helping Ukraine or not.
Where did we come up with all that money and why don't we have that money to fix America?
There was one point in time we talked about this where there was six billion dollars they accidentally paid to Ukraine.
They overpaid them six billion dollars.
That's the exact amount of money it would take to rebuild every single house in Maui.
dwayne johnson
Exactly.
joe rogan
Yeah.
And no discussion about that at all.
Instead, the Maui people get $700, a one-time payment, which is insane.
What are we?
Are we a community?
Or are we not?
If we have the money to donate to some guy who was a fucking, literally used to be a stand-up comedian who used to play piano with his dick, that's Zelensky.
He did a thing.
There's a video of him playing piano with his dick.
It was like one of his routines.
dwayne johnson
Wow.
joe rogan
He was a comedian and he played a character on a television show.
dwayne johnson
Zelensky was a comedian?
joe rogan
Yes!
Zelensky was a comedian.
And he played a character of a regular guy who becomes the president.
I forget what his job was in real life.
But he becomes the president and then ran for president in real life and became president.
And we're just sending this guy billions and billions and billions of dollars.
And some of it is just like, where is it all going?
Do we have an accurate account?
Is anybody siphoning this?
We know that there's massive amounts of corruption all over the world when it comes to this kind of stuff.
Where's that money going?
This is nuts.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Why don't we have that money to fix inner cities?
Why don't we have that money for infrastructure?
Why don't we have that money for the school system?
dwayne johnson
Inner cities.
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Homeless.
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
Schools.
joe rogan
Did you see what's going on in San Francisco?
unidentified
Whatever.
joe rogan
San Francisco, Xi Jinping is going to visit and a bunch of Chinese, a bunch of world leaders, but Xi Jinping particularly.
And so they cleaned up all the homelessness.
They took all the tents out and they put fences up everywhere so the people can't camp out anymore.
We don't even know what they did with them.
dwayne johnson
I was just going to ask, what did they do with them?
joe rogan
See if you can find a video of it.
It's crazy.
And then you got Gavin Newsom on TV who's making excuses for it.
He's like, yeah, we did.
Well, when people come over to visit, you know, you clean your house up.
Like, how about you fucking clean your house up all the time?
If you can do this now, you can do this always.
I'm assuming you did something ethically responsible with those people and housed them and put them up somewhere.
I'm hoping that's what you did.
You didn't just move their tent to the fucking middle of the desert or something.
What have you done?
unidentified
Before and after pictures.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Insane.
Well, this is just a couple of pictures, but the really wild ones are the fences.
They put fences up everywhere so the people can't camp there anymore.
unidentified
They put troughs up right there.
joe rogan
What are the troughs for?
unidentified
I don't know.
joe rogan
That's weird.
dwayne johnson
What are those for?
joe rogan
Troughs are weird.
But they hose down all the streets.
Like, hey guys, why don't you fucking do this all the time?
Like, why isn't this always like this?
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
This is what San Francisco used to be like.
You ruined it.
Now we know that you could fix it and fix it quick.
Now we should be really upset.
As upset as people were before about the homeless problem in San Francisco, they should be fucking furious about it now because they always had the ability to fix it quickly.
And they brought San Francisco back quickly.
To safe and clean and no homeless people in the street.
Now, is this temporary?
Are you going to go right back to tents when Xi Jinping leaves?
That's crazy.
dwayne johnson
Where'd they go?
Do we know?
I don't know.
joe rogan
What's the explanation?
It's wild.
It's like, oh, you could have always done this?
Why didn't you do this from the beginning?
Nordstrom's wouldn't have had to close.
Walgreens.
Everything's closed in San Francisco.
They're all leaving the city.
It's like the city's a fucking zombie wasteland.
And you could have cleaned it up at any time.
Wild!
dwayne johnson
Especially with that money.
You said they overpaid?
joe rogan
Overpaid $6 billion to Ukraine.
Yeah.
Whoops, sorry.
No worries.
We're gonna pay him more money in the future.
That was the idea.
Like, we'll just add it on to the money that we're gonna give him in the future.
But no discussion at all.
People have completely forgotten about Maui.
No one discusses Maui.
It never comes up.
dwayne johnson
Well, brother, you know, those are my people, right?
Polynesian people.
My grandparents are buried over there in the islands, my family.
So we started that fund, the People's Fund of Maui, and now we've helped over 8,000 people, $1,200 per person who has verified over 8,000, which is really amazing.
But one of the biggest things, which, first of all, the whole fucking thing was so heartbreaking.
But then also, don't forget about Maui.
And it's crazy because the work, now that me and the team have been putting it, like, it doesn't end.
It's a continuous...
Calling these corporations.
Hey, remember, these are our American people.
They're not just out there on the island.
These are our American people.
We can't forget about them.
So it's a wild thing.
joe rogan
It's wild that that's not done by the government.
Why wouldn't they do that?
It's the biggest wildfire, the worst disaster in a hundred years.
We don't even know how many people are dead because so many people are unaccounted for and they can't find their body.
There's nothing left.
They're incinerated.
So how do you find who's missing and who's gone?
You don't know.
It's going to take a long time to sort it out.
dwayne johnson
And the bill back to stand everybody back up on their feet and the families, it's going to take a long, long time.
joe rogan
Long time.
dwayne johnson
But if you think about it, we stood this fund up on its feet, brother, within six weeks, just like that.
They're still waiting for the governmental money.
joe rogan
It's insane.
dwayne johnson
It's insane.
joe rogan
It's insane when you think about how much money we donate to other countries.
dwayne johnson
And we flew in after that, after the wildfires, man.
And it's like...
It's like something you've never seen before.
And you feel the weight and the heaviness of the area.
You know, when devastation like that happens in that way, you land.
And you know, you've been to Hawaii a whole bunch of times.
I feel like when you land, you feel that aloha spirit.
It feels good.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's amazing.
dwayne johnson
It's amazing, right?
And it's...
But you land there and you feel the...
joe rogan
The heaviness.
dwayne johnson
Fucking heavy.
unidentified
Heavy.
dwayne johnson
It's heartbreaking.
joe rogan
Heartbreaking.
And it will be for a long time.
Yes.
dwayne johnson
But I'm proud of them.
I'm so proud of our people, you know, because it's like it's what you do in times like this.
You fucking come together.
joe rogan
Well, the people that did survive and do come together, they will never forget.
And it'll be a part of them.
And it'll probably bring those people closer together.
unidentified
For sure.
joe rogan
Especially the people that helped everybody.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
But it's just insane that the government doesn't do anything about it.
And they still could.
They still could.
They're writing these billion-dollar checks to Israel and billion-dollar checks to this and billion dollars.
Come on.
Fucking step up.
Everybody would approve it.
No one would say, what are you doing?
Why are you spending all that money on Maui?
dwayne johnson
For our own.
joe rogan
For our own.
For our own people.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
Which is crazy that Hawaii is America anyway.
I mean, it's great that it's protected by America, but isn't it crazy you have to fly five hours over the ocean and you're still in America?
You literally land on a beautiful volcano in the middle of the ocean that's created islands.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And that's America.
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
50th state.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's fucking wild.
But if that is America, we should treat it like it's America.
And we should protect it like it's America.
And we should help them like it's America.
dwayne johnson
Protect it to the core.
joe rogan
And 700 bucks per person is not doing that at all.
A one-time payment.
It's so insulting and so insane in the light of all this public knowledge of the amount of money that we're sending to other countries.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
We know what we did on this fund, just so you know.
It's $1,200 per month.
joe rogan
Oh, that's great.
dwayne johnson
It's great for months.
And anyone who's verified and, you know, with Polynesian culture, there's a lot of people in the house at times, like aunties and uncles and grandparents.
So there's some houses that are getting four, five, six thousand dollars.
joe rogan
That's great.
dwayne johnson
That's really great.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's something.
And again, it should be coming from the government.
And it could be done.
It's not something that couldn't be done.
I mean, it's something that everybody would support.
dwayne johnson
Take care of our own.
joe rogan
Take care of our own.
dwayne johnson
First.
joe rogan
Yeah, I mean, what are we if we're not a country?
dwayne johnson
It's the same thing with family.
Like, you would take care of your family first.
I'd take care of my family first.
Take care of our American people first.
joe rogan
It's a community.
We should be a community.
And we're so divided and polarized right now.
And I think a lot of that is accentuated by social media.
And also accentuated by the mental illness of being obsessed by social media.
Because I think it is a mental illness.
I think it's a mental illness just like gambling addiction is a mental illness.
I think it's just that people are goddamn addicted to apps and their phone and just reading stuff and attacking each other.
And it's caused this divide to be...
dwayne johnson
Reading stuff and believing.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, when I was a kid...
You can have a Republican friend.
It was no big deal.
It was no big deal.
Like, oh, Bobby likes George Bush.
dwayne johnson
Who cares?
joe rogan
Who gives a fuck?
You were a supporter of Bill Clinton.
He liked George Bush.
Nobody cared.
Nobody like, fuck you.
It wasn't like, you're a Nazi.
I'm a Nazi.
I just want lower taxes.
dwayne johnson
What the fuck are you saying?
joe rogan
How did I become a Nazi?
dwayne johnson
It's the craziest thing.
I have friends who support Trump.
I have friends who support Biden.
joe rogan
Do you really have friends who support Biden?
dwayne johnson
No, no, no, no.
Here's what I do.
I have friends...
Thank you.
That's a good check.
Because that's important.
This is important context.
joe rogan
They support the Democratic Party.
dwayne johnson
I have friends who are loyal to the party.
joe rogan
Yes.
And they're progressive.
Right.
dwayne johnson
Loyal to the party.
Support Trump.
I have friends who are like, fuck it.
I'm not voting for either one.
Last election, this election.
But it's that kind of thing that...
I would love to see us get to that place where it's okay.
joe rogan
Yeah, it should be.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
You vote for that person, no problem.
joe rogan
People should be able to have discussions about the differing opinions and not turn it into just some crazy insult fest, which is what you see online.
And you see it all the time.
You see it online even with political commentators.
They get in these interview sessions and they fucking start yelling and screaming at each other.
unidentified
It's like...
dwayne johnson
It's fucking stupid.
joe rogan
It's bad for you, too.
It's bad for the people that are engaging in it.
It's bad for everybody who's listening.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, and it's unhealthy.
Not only unhealthy for yourself, but also just in terms of humanity, man.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's bad for humanity.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, absolutely.
Let me ask you this.
You talked about, even for our guys, our military boys and girls who are on the ground, to get information that they feel is really accurate.
Like, what have your guys said?
Like, for example, Marcus Utrell, who's our friend, and Tim Kennedy, and I have two Navy SEALs in my family, two cousins.
Like, what are your guys saying?
How do they combat the idea of not getting the correct information?
joe rogan
Well, they do their very best and especially like special operators, SEALs, Rangers, I mean they get pretty solid information for what their objective is.
But obviously their objective is very narrow.
They deal with whatever the situation is, they have to go and take care of it.
They need to know how many enemy combatants, they need to know who's in the house, what's there, how to get in.
You know, it's a very specific skill set that these gentlemen have.
They have to rely on accurate information and for the most part they're the very best at getting their accurate information to those special operators.
But when it deals like with a worldwide scale, like trying to figure out what's real and what's not and who's telling the truth and who's not.
Fuck.
Good luck because there's so much Russian disinformation and Chinese disinformation and American disinformation.
I mean there's just entire groups of people dedicated to these troll farms that just go online and make things up and attack people and try to organize these campaigns against a certain idea or a certain political candidate and it's just organized and it's You know, it's funded.
And it's hard if you're a person and you have a family and a job and interests and you check the news every, you know, once a day, twice a day.
Try figuring out what the fuck is actually going on.
dwayne johnson
It is true.
Yes.
So I always tell people, especially younger people, like, hey, be careful.
You could read it, but be careful about really what you believe.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
And what's funny is, and I'm sure you notice this too, and for a lot of people listening, is When you see the trolls and these campaigns that are funded, right, and they look like they're legit and they got all their shit together, is what I always find interesting is the loudest shit talkers on there who are saying really, like, enough where it really stops you in your tracks.
Like, wow, you really took the time to type that.
They have zero posts on their account.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Very few posts, very few followers.
dwayne johnson
And the only thing they want to do is that.
joe rogan
And that's probably a funded person.
There's a lot of them.
A lot of them.
But of course there are.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
It's an effective technique to get people- Is this mine?
Yeah, yeah.
Kill Cliff.
This is my own flavor.
dwayne johnson
What is it?
joe rogan
Spicy pineapple.
dwayne johnson
That was my nickname in college.
joe rogan
Ooh.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, there's a report they did on Facebook.
The top 20 Christian sites, 19 of them, were run by Russian troll farms.
19 of them.
We're like stirring people up and the resurrection is coming and you know.
dwayne johnson
Jesus.
How do we navigate and combat that?
joe rogan
Mind reading.
Yeah, we have to get to a point where technology allows us to legitimately read people's thoughts, and I think that's coming quicker than we realize.
I think that's around the corner.
I think that's 10 years from now.
If we don't blow ourselves up within 10 years, we're going to be able to read intentions.
We're going to be able to know thoughts.
We're going to be able to know things about— That's interesting.
dwayne johnson
How do you think?
joe rogan
Technology.
Probably some sort of a wearable device initially.
And then for probably higher bandwidth applications, and especially for people that have neurological conditions and spinal cord injuries, they're going to start implanting Neuralink.
And one of Neuralink's first goals is to try to bring people that have spinal cord breaks and people that have lost control of their muscles and to bring them back to mobility.
And they think that that's possible.
Which is amazing.
What they're going to be able to do is bypass, I'm crudely phrasing this, if you're a scientist, I'm sorry, but they're going to be able to bypass the human neurological system in terms of how you move your arms and body and muscles and do it electronically.
And they think they can do that.
And they think that's going to be one of the first medical applications for this kind of a thing.
But the other thing that Elon said to me, he said, you're going to be able to talk without words.
Now, when most people say you're going to be able to talk without words, I'm like, yeah, man, that'd be wild.
But when Elon says it, you're like, for real?
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
You really think we're going to be able to talk without words?
He's like, 100%.
dwayne johnson
Trevor Burrus What's the B-side to that?
Like what is that exactly?
joe rogan
It's going to be something – this technology will be some sort of an implanted device that allows you to have constant access probably to something akin to chat GPT and AI or the next level of it along with – Some interconnectivity with other people that are wearing the same device.
And it'll probably initially be something that translates languages instantaneously.
And then as it advances, it will be able to read thoughts.
And you'll be able to transfer images, things you see.
I will be able to have this thing in my mind and Show my friend Greg that I'm sitting here with the rock having a conversation and he could see that through my eyes it will we will have Universal connectivity with all minds all minds that have that thing the real problem is The haves and the have-nots.
Because just like if you go back and watch Wall Street, like Michael Douglas had that fucking big-ass brick telephone.
He was walking on the beach like, look at this guy.
He's got a phone.
He's walking on the beach.
What a baller.
Now anyone...
You know, you can go to fucking T-Mobile and get a flip phone for like 50 bucks.
You get a cheap cell phone where you could talk to a person.
It's a tiny thing.
It sits in your pocket.
It's so much better than what Michael Douglas had.
And everybody can get it.
But back then, it was super expensive.
Nobody had it.
And the haves, like Michael Douglas in that movie, Greed is Good...
They use that thing to advance their career.
Multiply that times a million and you have the advantage of the initial adopters of whatever this thing is.
Because if they integrate with artificial intelligence initially and they integrate with some sort of a universal Internet system – They're going to be able to accomplish things in business and in terms of like manipulation of financial markets and in terms of acquiring resources.
They're going to be able to do things that the people without those things are not going to be able to do.
And they will have massive amounts of wealth and power almost instantly within years.
It will be a change, a giant shift that will go over to the people that have these devices.
And that's the most insane have and have nots because you essentially have super humans.
You essentially have something that's almost like an alien that exists with these advanced primates, which is what we are.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
Does Elon feel like that will happen within a decade?
joe rogan
He thinks it's going to happen pretty quick.
Yeah, it probably will be within a decade.
Yeah, he thinks that once they start implementing it, they've already started trials with human beings.
And I think the first trials they're doing are with people with neurological either conditions or injuries.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And, you know, I've also heard it talked about vision.
They're going to be able to restore people's vision.
They're going to be able to do some wild shit.
dwayne johnson
By the way, brother, I mean, 10 years is right around the corner.
joe rogan
So quick.
10 years ago was 2013, which is nuts.
That seems like if you have a 2013 car, that's a fucking pretty new car.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
unidentified
Right, man.
joe rogan
How was that 10 years ago?
That's crazy.
I always tell people this.
When I was in high school, in 1981, a 1970 car was a classic.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
I was only 11 years old.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
But if you had like a 1970 Barracuda, like, wow, look at that fucking thing.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
It was a classic already.
But time seemed to move different then.
Like 10 years back then seemed like a long fucking time.
And as society and technology and innovation just spins at this insane, ever-rapid pace, 10 years feels like nothing.
dwayne johnson
Dude, it's the acceleration that we live in today.
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, absolutely.
joe rogan
Yeah, there's so much going on.
And I think when that does happen, there's two battles.
dwayne johnson
What was your first car?
joe rogan
My first car was a 1973 Chevelle.
dwayne johnson
How old were you?
joe rogan
I was 16?
Yeah, I was 16. Yeah.
Yeah, it was a hunk of shit.
I think I bought it for 350 bucks.
I'm positive I bought it for 350 bucks.
It was worth 300 bucks.
It died the next day.
dwayne johnson
It died the next day.
joe rogan
Yeah, but the dude took it back.
There was something wrong with the engine.
I'm like, dude, the fucking engine seized up.
dwayne johnson
Was that like your boy from your hometown?
joe rogan
That was a guy I knew.
A guy I knew.
But he took it back.
dwayne johnson
It died the next day?
joe rogan
Yeah, it died the next day.
I was always into muscle cars.
I had a bunch of muscle cars.
That was always what I was into.
dwayne johnson
How old were you when you got your first one?
16. Okay, so I'm 15. I'm in a bar in Nashville.
I had no business being in a bar.
It was downtown Nashville.
On Lower Broad.
Because at that time I had this fantasy in my head that I was going to be a country music singer.
joe rogan
Really?
dwayne johnson
Dude.
Well, you know, I love country.
I think everybody talked about that.
joe rogan
But I know you wanted to be a country music singer.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
Until I was like, oh, I sing in fucking keys that don't exist.
It's going to be a short-lived dream.
joe rogan
That's hilarious.
dwayne johnson
Dude, so I would go down to these honky-tonks.
So I was down there with a buddy of mine named Downtown Bruno, who's still one of my best friends today.
And a drunk walks in.
He says, hey, who wants to buy a car?
And I had no car at that time, no money.
We just got evicted out of Hawaii.
And I said, I'll buy it.
And I had no money.
I said, how much?
He goes, 75, 80 bucks.
I said, cool.
I tell Bruno, how much money you got?
He goes, I only got 40. I said, give me 40. So I give it to the drunk, who's probably high too as well.
And I said, here, I'll come back and give you the other 40. So speaking of cool cars, it was a 77 Thunderbird, right?
Blue.
There you go.
That was it.
Only cleaner.
unidentified
That's it.
dwayne johnson
Look at that.
So dude, check this out.
So it was a hunk of shit.
This is a beautiful one here on the screen, but mine was a hunk of shit.
Give the drunk 40 bucks.
I said, hey, I'll come back and give you the rest tonight.
I get in the vehicle.
I start driving down the road.
Downtown Bruno's following me in his car.
I'm like, fuck, I got my first car.
You know how it is when you're a kid, right?
You're like, this is it, brother.
This is it.
I'm driving down the road on I-65 down to Nashville, and I hear a lot of noise, some rustling.
You know, in those big bodies, they have the back seat and the floor is really wide.
There was another fucking drunk on the floor.
Oh, no.
I was like, what the fuck?
joe rogan
He's in the car.
dwayne johnson
He's in the car.
So I pull over, and he's just high as fuck.
He's probably a crackhead.
And I was like, dude, I bought the car.
You gotta get out.
joe rogan
This is my house!
It's my house!
dwayne johnson
He gets out.
And then the next day, I go to put gas in the car.
By the way, I'm 15. No fucking papers.
The car's probably stolen.
joe rogan
Probably.
dwayne johnson
I try to put gas in it, and the guy, the drunk, the crackhead, didn't give me the gas key.
Remember those old school cars that had the gas key?
So I ditched it at a fucking Burger King.
That was my first car.
You get the Chevelle that broke down the next day.
joe rogan
You just left it there?
dwayne johnson
I had no choice.
joe rogan
Why didn't you use Jimmy the thing open?
dwayne johnson
Because even at that time, and I appreciate me as a 15-year-old, I'm like, you know what?
I don't think the universe really wants me to have this fucking car.
By the way, my mom's going to come.
She goes, what the fuck is this?
Where'd you get this car?
joe rogan
Right.
No insurance.
dwayne johnson
Nothing.
joe rogan
No inspection.
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Nothing.
Dude.
joe rogan
Yeah.
The first car, the first time that you could just go wherever you wanted to go.
To me, that was magic.
I could just go wherever I wanted to go.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I just remember just getting in the car and just driving for the sake of driving.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Which I rarely do anymore, but every time I do, I enjoy it.
Sometimes I like to just get in a car and just drive.
dwayne johnson
Just go somewhere.
unidentified
Is that the best?
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
When you can't...
I remember I had my car repossessed when I was 21, when I first started doing comedy.
I just went broke.
dwayne johnson
Full-on, they came and they took it away.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah, they took it right in front of my house.
They fucking towed it, and I knew.
I was behind on payments.
And now I didn't have a car.
And I remember that feeling of having to take the bus and having to take the train.
It was such a fucking drag.
dwayne johnson
Oh, man.
joe rogan
And then when I earned enough money to get another car after that, It was like this giant weight got lifted off to me.
Now I can just drive around.
It's like the freedom of being able to go places.
When you're a young kid, that's an amazing freedom.
Just to be able to just go.
I need to go to work.
I need to go this place.
I want to go to my friend's house.
You can just go.
dwayne johnson
Just go.
joe rogan
It's incredible.
dwayne johnson
It's the best.
It's a great feeling.
Where was that at?
joe rogan
Boston.
dwayne johnson
In Boston.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
And then what kind of car do you drive today?
What's your go-to?
joe rogan
Well, I have a lot of cars.
I collect cars.
I have too many cars.
I drive my Tesla a lot.
I love it.
I love that fucking thing.
dwayne johnson
Everybody who I talk to as a Tesla loves a Tesla.
joe rogan
They're fucking great.
Jamie's got one.
He's got the one I have, the Plaid.
They're the shit.
They're so fast.
It's a time machine.
dwayne johnson
How about...
That's what I hear.
Is there an SUV available?
joe rogan
Yeah, they have an SUV and they have the Cybertruck that's coming out.
dwayne johnson
How about a pickup truck?
joe rogan
That's the Cybertruck.
dwayne johnson
Oh, nice.
joe rogan
Have you seen it?
dwayne johnson
No.
joe rogan
You haven't seen the Cybertruck?
dwayne johnson
All I drive is pickup trucks.
joe rogan
Oh, Elon brought one here the other day.
It's fucking insane.
It's insane.
It's insane.
It's a spaceship.
It looks like something...
Seeing it in real life is so fucking cool.
There's something about...
Photos are kind of...
You're not in context.
You're not physically there where you get to look at it.
But when you're physically there and you look at it, you're like, oh my god, this thing is so fucking cool.
Because it doesn't look anything like any other car.
That's it.
It's bulletproof, by the way.
It's also arrowproof.
I shot an arrow at it the other day.
He told me it was arrow proof.
Yeah, I pulled a fucking arrow back and I launched into his door.
It bounced right off.
Barely scratched it.
You could see a very slight mark where it hit it.
But he said it'll stop a.45 slug.
dwayne johnson
Wow.
joe rogan
Why?
I go, why?
He goes, because it's cool.
dwayne johnson
I was just going to ask why.
joe rogan
Because it's cool.
Like that's literally what he did.
I mean the whole thing is made out of steel.
The whole thing is made out of steel.
dwayne johnson
Is it heavy as fuck?
joe rogan
Heavy as fuck.
That's me shooting the arrow at it.
Wow.
So you see that's like right when the arrow releases and hits it.
It's fucking sparking up.
dwayne johnson
Look at that.
joe rogan
Yeah, it was, I mean, fucking just ate it like it was nothing.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's just cool.
I mean, he just decided to make it like it's, you know, just make the fucking coolest cyber vehicle that he can.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
He just likes, look, he's the best kind of billionaire to me because he does wild shit.
I mean, he made the fucking tip of the SpaceX rocket pointy because he wanted it to look more like the one on Spaceballs.
Literally.
I mean, that's literally what he did.
He's just a wild fella.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And he just decided...
dwayne johnson
So idea, make it happen.
joe rogan
It's hard.
I mean, he detailed the process of going from an initial concept, making a demonstration vehicle, and then production.
How difficult it is and how many things have to line up.
dwayne johnson
Right.
joe rogan
Especially when you've got something that's incredibly innovative and complicated.
dwayne johnson
I was going to say, so the innovation, the complication, the production cost on that and how heavy it is, what do you think that's going for?
joe rogan
I think there's going to be three different tiers, he said.
There's going to be a beast mode, which is like the most insane, you know, 1,100 horsepower, three electric engines, zero to 60 in under three seconds, which is insane for like a 7,000 plus pound vehicle.
dwayne johnson
Three seconds?
joe rogan
Three seconds.
dwayne johnson
Wow.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Okay.
joe rogan
And then there's gonna be a lower tier model.
But even like if you get a Model 3, which is like their entry-level Tesla, it's fast as fuck!
It's so fast!
It's so competent, and it's a joy to drive.
And if you've never driven an electric car, you gotta get past the fact that it doesn't make any noise, because a lot of people love the rumble of the V8 and all that jazz.
But if you can get past that, just the sheer ability that they have to just go, just take off.
Mine goes zero to 60 in 1.9 seconds.
dwayne johnson
Do you miss the rumbling of the muscle cars?
joe rogan
I just drive a muscle car when I miss the rumbling.
Those feel different, though, to me.
When I drive those, that's like I'm on a ride.
That's like I'm on a Disneyland ride for adults.
It's like, woo!
I don't even have to go fast.
Just a rumble and a shift in the gears.
It's glorious.
I love them.
Those things are...
They're in my DNA, you know, because when I was a boy, those were the coolest cars.
Those were the cars that everybody, all my friends, we all wanted.
We all wanted muscle cars.
Everybody wanted a 1970 Challenger or a 69 Camaro.
That's what everybody wanted.
So those are the cars that I really love.
dwayne johnson
What's your baby?
That's a muscle car.
joe rogan
I gotta have a bunch of them.
I like them all.
You know?
I have a 1970 Barracuda that's fucking insane.
The Roadster shop built.
Silver.
And it's got a 900 horsepower Mercury engine in it.
Yeah, it's a racing engine that goes to like 9,000 RPMs.
That's my car.
Wow!
dwayne johnson
Have you opened it up?
joe rogan
Oh yeah.
dwayne johnson
Yeah?
joe rogan
Yeah, that thing's a beast.
dwayne johnson
Look at that.
joe rogan
That thing is really fun.
That's really fun.
But that was the car my mom had.
My mom had a 71 when I was a kid.
dwayne johnson
Oh, wow.
So there's an emotional thing there.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
To me, that was always the car.
Barracudas, they only made them cool for like three years.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
But in those three years, that body shape is just so badass.
This is what John Wick had in John Wick 4. Yeah, dude.
You know, that 71 Barracuda.
dwayne johnson
You know what's crazy when you tell me that?
Because it informs a lot in my head.
Like, oh, hey, my mom had that car.
So just emotionally, there's a real emotional connection there.
So growing up, I never had muscle cars in my life, and even my dad, so what's crazy is wrestlers, and I know you've had some few wrestlers on, especially my dad's era in the 80s, those guys, it was always important that the wrestlers We either had a Cadillac or a Lincoln.
So they're always flossing, always looking amazing, pulling up to the arena in a caddy.
That was a prerequisite.
And then we'd drive home to our fucking trailer park.
But it was crazy.
So growing up for me, it was less muscle cars, even though I appreciated them in movies.
It was more, dude, I can't wait to get a caddy.
joe rogan
Yeah, caddies are great.
dwayne johnson
That's the thing, you know what I mean?
joe rogan
It's like just you're floating.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Just floating down the road.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
Yeah, those were the shit.
dwayne johnson
They're still amazing.
But there's also that thing, too, about just the emotional connection.
And then I realized when I got my first caddy, I was like, Well, hold on a second.
It actually represents what we call in the wrestling business, working the gimmick.
Meaning, oh, the guy's working the gimmick.
And I thought, I don't want the caddy if it makes me feel like I'm working the gimmick.
joe rogan
Right, right, right.
You're flossing, almost stereotypically flossing.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, correct.
joe rogan
Everybody does.
dwayne johnson
Correct.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's why I went to pick up trucks.
joe rogan
Christian Bale drives around in a 2003 Toyota Tacoma.
dwayne johnson
And so that's like before...
joe rogan
Christian Bale's worth like $150 million.
dwayne johnson
Before he became...
joe rogan
No, no, no.
Right now.
That's what he drives around in.
2003 Toyota Tacoma.
unidentified
That's what he drives.
dwayne johnson
What's the emotional thing about it?
Do you think there's a connection there with Christian?
joe rogan
He says it's good.
It's a good car.
It never breaks.
He's like, if someone needs me to carry something, I can put it in the back.
He's just fucking, he's an artist.
He's just pragmatic.
dwayne johnson
Just doesn't give a shit.
joe rogan
He doesn't give a shit.
He's not interested in material possessions.
dwayne johnson
Of the bullshit.
joe rogan
Yeah, for him, I drive a 2003 Toyota Tacoma.
It's a fucking bulletproof car.
They never break.
dwayne johnson
That's awesome, man.
joe rogan
You get a Toyota, those motherfuckers go forever.
I have a Toyota Land Cruiser.
I have a 1995 that I drove here tonight.
I love it.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Mine's all redone.
It's got a supercharged Corvette engine in it.
dwayne johnson
Oh, shit.
joe rogan
It's all been redone.
What year?
dwayne johnson
1995. So, 1995 was finally when I came out of Miami, University of Miami, and started wrestling.
Oh no, in 96. And that was my first car, after the crackhead car, that I had to leave it.
What'd you get?
Land Cruiser.
joe rogan
Oh, those are great.
dwayne johnson
Used Land Cruiser.
joe rogan
They're great.
They will go hundreds of thousands of miles and not fuck up.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, those cars, they just over-engineered them.
The Japanese, they know how to over-engineer a car to make it incredibly durable and reliable.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And that was great, too, because that put a lot of pressure on American automobiles, because there was a lot of people that didn't want to buy American cars for a while in the 80s because they fucking broke all the time.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
But those Toyotas, they fucking never break.
Lexuses, I've had three of those Lexus big trucks.
They go forever.
They never fuck up.
dwayne johnson
Those Lexuses, yes.
joe rogan
Those SUVs.
There's never a problem.
Electronics work flawlessly.
Everything's flawless.
You never have an issue.
dwayne johnson
Never.
joe rogan
They're just over-engineered, and that's...
You know, it's like it's developed a loyal fan base, but, you know, you can have a 2003 and be Christian Bale and it's not going to break.
dwayne johnson
You're set, man.
joe rogan
You know, there used to be a thing where they would sort of like build in the fact that you're going to have to buy a new one soon.
Yeah.
They wanted things to break down so that you would have an incentive to get a new one.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, that's right.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
There's this great Merle Haggard quote from one of his songs.
I wish a Ford and a Chevy would still last 10 years like they should.
It's really cool.
unidentified
Isn't that crazy?
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
They do now.
Now that was back then.
I was going to say, they do now.
unidentified
They do now.
dwayne johnson
And I drive Fords all the time.
joe rogan
Yeah, they're great.
Now, like, if you go on a ranch, almost everybody has an F-150.
dwayne johnson
Oh, that's my jam.
joe rogan
Because those fucking things are bulletproof.
dwayne johnson
F-150, 350, the Raptor.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
dwayne johnson
I love them.
joe rogan
I have a TRX. That thing's the shit.
dwayne johnson
It's a badass, isn't it?
joe rogan
That thing's the shit.
Mine is a Hennessy, so it's 1,000 horsepower.
It's a thousand horsepower because the 700 is not enough.
dwayne johnson
It's not enough.
What kind of wheels and tires do you put on?
joe rogan
Oh, Hennessey puts them on.
He does a whole suspension change and upgrades the brakes.
That's what mine looks like.
dwayne johnson
Fuck.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's not mine.
Mine's black, but it looks exactly like that.
dwayne johnson
Were you opening that up?
joe rogan
Not really.
I don't really open it up.
I just like that it can do it.
It's just fun that it can do it.
dwayne johnson
It can do it.
joe rogan
It sounds glorious.
It sounds like America.
unidentified
You turn that thing on, it's boom.
joe rogan
It just sounds perfect.
dwayne johnson
It's the best part, man.
Yeah.
joe rogan
And if you're in Texas, I think you have to have a pickup truck.
I think it's a law.
If you're a man and you're in Texas, you probably want to pick up Trent.
dwayne johnson
Dude, I used to live here in Texas.
Where'd you live?
Dallas.
I love Dallas.
My old man was wrestling for a very famous family, the Von Erich family.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
unidentified
Oh, wow.
dwayne johnson
And they got a big movie coming out, by the way.
joe rogan
On the Von Erichs?
dwayne johnson
Yeah, called Iron Claw.
joe rogan
Oh, that's not the...
Who's starring in that?
unidentified
Zac Efron.
joe rogan
Zac Efron.
Yeah, that is a Zac Efron movie.
That's great.
dwayne johnson
Some other actors too, I think, right?
Who's in it.
But yeah, that's a...
joe rogan
That's it.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, there they are.
joe rogan
Official trailer.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
All right.
dwayne johnson
Anyway.
joe rogan
That's a wild family.
dwayne johnson
A wild family and just tragedy.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
But my old man wrestled for their dad, which is the guy on the left.
joe rogan
That guy looks like the dad of a bunch of pro wrestlers.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, it is.
joe rogan
Look at him.
Look at the hard ass with his fucking tape on his knuckles.
dwayne johnson
Fritz Von Erich.
joe rogan
Look at his knuckles.
The guy's covered in sweat and he's wearing a fucking, like a regular work t-shirt.
dwayne johnson
It looks like blood on it too as well.
The guy in the middle, Kevin Von Erich, is the only one of the brothers that's still alive.
unidentified
Wow.
dwayne johnson
The guy all the way on the right, Kerry, was my hero, man.
And what's crazy is when my dad wrestled for Fritz Von Erich, we lived in Dallas, and every week at this famous arena called the Sportatorium, this tiny little arena, the size of like a little flea market, those guys, I used to wrestle with them in the afternoons and just roll around the ring.
unidentified
Wow.
dwayne johnson
It was wild.
joe rogan
That's wild.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
Anyway.
joe rogan
How old were you when you had your first pro wrestling match?
dwayne johnson
I was 24. Wow.
24 years old.
So, how about this?
Again, like we were saying earlier, football for me was a ticket.
Like, that was the thing, that I was really going to make it, and then I didn't.
And I thought, I'm going to shift my focus onto something I think I'm going to love.
I think it's in here, passion.
It's pro wrestling.
And so I'll tell you a quick story.
So my coach from Calgary, I played up in the CFL. I got cut from the CFL. He got cut in October of 95. He calls me in December of 95 and says, hey, I want you to know, even though we cut you, I want to bring you back next season.
I think you've got some real potential.
I want to have you back.
Dude, so I'm on the phone.
It's one of those old-ass phones that are on the wall.
unidentified
I'm on the phone.
dwayne johnson
I see my dad over there in the chair.
My dad's just an old-time grizzly wrestler.
We're living in his little apartment in Tampa.
My mom's over there on the couch.
And I tell the coach quietly, Wally Buono's his name.
Great guy.
I said, hey, thank you for the opportunity.
I really appreciate it.
But I'm going to have to close this chapter in my life.
And he's like, I hear him kind of softly talk.
Okay, yeah.
And I said, so thank you very much.
I appreciate it.
Hung up the phone.
My dad said, who was that?
I said, oh, it was a coach from Calgary.
He said, what do you want?
Oh, he wanted to offer me another contract for next year.
By the way, the contract was, I was making 300 bucks a week, Canadian.
joe rogan
Wow.
dwayne johnson
So there was no money up there, at least not for me.
And he goes, so when are you going to go?
My old man said this.
I said, I'm not.
He said, what do you mean you're not?
I said, I think I'm done.
I'm done with football and the pursuit of it.
It's just not in my cards.
He said, what are you going to do?
I said, I'm going to get in the business.
He went, what business?
I said, the wrestling business.
Dude, we got in the biggest fucking fight.
joe rogan
Really?
unidentified
Really?
dwayne johnson
The biggest...
joe rogan
He didn't want you to do it?
dwayne johnson
He didn't want me to do it.
But my old man was a groundbreaker.
First black tag team champions in WWE. He was jacked.
Pull up my dad if you can.
Rocky Johnson, I want to show you.
joe rogan
Oh, I know your dad.
dwayne johnson
Jacked, man.
joe rogan
He was jacked.
dwayne johnson
He was part of that group in the early 80s, right?
Who were, like, bodybuilding.
There he is.
joe rogan
Look at that shot.
Dang it.
That's their genetics, son.
dwayne johnson
That's it, brother.
joe rogan
That's where those rock genetics come.
dwayne johnson
That's it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Oh, my God.
He was jacked.
dwayne johnson
So, yeah, and we bonded.
He used to get me up and take me to the gym when I was five, sit in the corner, and that's how I got to really bond with my dad.
He didn't want me to do it, and we got into the biggest fucking fight.
My mom's crying.
I'm crying.
And he said, what do you think you have to offer?
I said, I don't know.
Maybe I'm going to fucking suck, but I got to give this a shot.
And ultimately, it got to a place where I said, either you're going to help train me, I'm asking you to help train me, or I'll go to somebody else.
And at that time, Bret Hart and that whole family had his dungeon up in Calgary.
I said, maybe I'll go to Calgary.
He agreed to train me.
But I realized he didn't want to see that happen because he felt like, hey, look around.
And I was one of the successful ones in wrestling, but I got a little fucking apartment that I can't even afford to pay 500 bucks a month.
I don't want this for you.
So we got into a huge fight.
He eventually trained me.
I call a guy after three months of training.
I call a guy named Pat Patterson.
Who was Vince McMahon's right hand man, very brilliant mind in the world of pro wrestling, first openly gay wrestler, tough motherfucker.
I call him up because my parents knew him and I said, hey Pat, this is Dwayne Johnson.
Who?
Dwayne Johnson, Rocky Johnson's son.
Oh yeah, what do you want?
I'm training to get in the business.
What fucking business?
It's a recurring theme.
Everybody's like, what fucking business?
The wrestling business.
Why the fuck do you want to do that?
You're just feeling like you're just getting bombed left and right by these OGs.
So I said, I'd love for you to come down and just watch me train.
And if I got anything to offer, just let me know.
And if I don't, just let me know.
That's all I want.
He agreed.
He came down.
Watch me train.
He said to me as we're training, he goes, can you work as a heel?
Which is, as you know, bad guy in wrestling parlance.
I said, sure, I'd love to.
We start the match, I work as a heel, more aggressive, dirty, cheating stuff, right?
He goes, okay, done, done.
And I had trained in a boxing ring, and as you know, boxing rings are fucking hard.
It's like this, right?
So getting suplexed on the fucking table, so it really hurt.
That's how I came up in wrestling.
He's smoking a cigarette.
I said, what do you think?
Do I have anything?
He goes, yeah, you just keep working.
Take care of yourself and leave.
And I was like, did I just fuck?
Because he had a lot of power.
He was like the vice president of WWE. I said, okay, thank you so much for coming out.
And I said, just keep working.
He goes, just keep working.
Kind of blew me off.
Kept smoking a cigarette and walked off.
And I was like, man, I think I really fucked things up.
Or maybe I'll take his word for face value, take it for gospel.
I'll just keep working.
Little I knew, he went home and he called Vince McMahon.
He said, you got to see this fucking kid.
And Vince said, who?
Rocky Johnson, son.
He goes, alright, let me see him.
Bring him out this Monday on Raw.
I'll throw him out in a match before the show starts.
Corpus Christi, 15,000 people.
unidentified
Whoa!
dwayne johnson
Dude.
joe rogan
This is your first match?
dwayne johnson
First match!
joe rogan
Oh my god.
dwayne johnson
So Vince says to Pat, okay great, how long has he been working?
He goes, he hasn't worked.
He goes, what do you mean?
He's never had a match.
He's like, he's never had a fucking match?
I'm not bringing him out if he's never had a match.
He's gonna stink up the ring.
Pat said, just trust me.
So they fly me out, Corpus Christi, 14,000 people I got and I had my first match and I'm 24 years old.
unidentified
Wow.
dwayne johnson
I had my first match.
Because usually when you break in, you know, you're wrestling at a farm or there's a barn.
Ten people.
14,000 people.
I wrestled the Brooklyn Brawler, who's famous in the world of wrestling.
And I get backstage.
Everyone's, hey, great job.
Great job.
Keep working.
I see Vince McMahon.
He says, you did a good job.
But be prepared.
I'm going to give you a little bit more tomorrow.
I went, great.
Okay.
I see Pat Patterson smoking a cigarette.
Come here for a second.
I said, yeah.
He goes, your punches.
I went, yeah?
They fucking suck.
Just riding me, riding me, riding me.
So that was my first match, first experience, man.
unidentified
Wow.
dwayne johnson
And then he, by the way, he said, if you have a shred of opportunity to make it in this business, you're going to have to learn a lot of shit, but learn how to throw a great punch.
joe rogan
What was wrong with the way you were throwing a punch?
dwayne johnson
It just didn't look real.
And the best of punches, like, you got to be snug.
You lay them in a little bit.
joe rogan
But you pull it back a little.
dwayne johnson
Well, you can pull it back a little, but I found the best punches is you follow through, but learn how to just tap a little bit.
And then, you know, that's where you learn that kind of timing.
You know how some guys, they hit a rope or a piece of string or something like that?
joe rogan
Right.
dwayne johnson
So, yeah.
So I worked on the punches, too, as well.
joe rogan
Wow.
dwayne johnson
That was crazy.
That was my first match.
joe rogan
That's insane.
When was the next match?
dwayne johnson
Next match was the following night.
joe rogan
Whoa!
So you were right into it.
dwayne johnson
Right into it.
joe rogan
What's the second match like versus the first?
You've already done it.
You've already been in front of 15,000 people.
dwayne johnson
I'm feeling pretty good because, as you know, and people out there know, if you prepare, then, all right, I'm as prepared as I possibly can be.
joe rogan
Right.
dwayne johnson
So we'll just see how it goes.
So the second night, I had a little bit of confidence, but the guy they put me in there with was a guy named Chris Candido, incredible wrestler.
Does a lot of acrobatic stuff, flying stuff.
He called the match, had me flying all around and doing all the stuff.
But it was a great experience.
After that, I met with Vince.
He said, you're not ready for WWE. You're not ready for the big time.
I'm going to send you down to Tennessee, and that's where you're going to learn how to work.
And it was just a smaller company, minor leagues.
He said, but you're going to go down there.
You learn how to cut your teeth down there.
Learn how to work.
Learn the business.
And when you're ready, if you're ready, I'll bring you up.
I was like, thank you very much.
I appreciate it.
And I went to work.
So, dude, as I'm leaving Vince McMahon's office, he says, hey, by the way.
I turn around, he goes...
Don't go down there and cut your forehead up with razor blades.
I went, okay, got it.
Because in wrestling, there was a time where that's how you bled with razor blades.
And he goes, I want to protect this.
I said, good, I do too.
Then years later, I'm fucking doing this up in WWE. That ought to be a good feeling, though, that you had some real hope in you.
That is my second match.
joe rogan
This is insane.
dwayne johnson
Right there, look at that.
joe rogan
This is insane.
Wow.
Does it seem surreal watching this?
dwayne johnson
This is so surreal, man.
Look at this.
By the way, you see people still coming in, right?
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Empty seats.
Wow.
That was it, man.
First match.
joe rogan
Memories.
dwayne johnson
First match.
joe rogan
Wow.
That's crazy.
dwayne johnson
That's incredible.
joe rogan
And then to go from there to where you became had to be surreal.
dwayne johnson
It was the most surreal thing because finally when they called me up to WWE, it was November.
Vince brings me in and I go to a big pay-per-view called Survivor Series.
All the wrestling fans out know what this pay-per-view is.
It's November 1996. There it is.
There it is.
Dude, look at that fucking haircut.
joe rogan
Look at you.
dwayne johnson
Ray Charles cut my hair back then.
I was like...
joe rogan
Wow.
dwayne johnson
So this is Madison Square Garden.
22,000 people.
There's Jerry the King Lawler.
The guy's a legend.
There's a little bit of...
Watch this.
There we go.
There's a double leapfrog here.
joe rogan
Wow.
dwayne johnson
Dropkick is coming up.
A little punch.
So even if you see that punch, it was a little shitty punch anyway.
So that was Madison Square Garden.
Sold out.
Vince McMahon tells me an hour before I go out.
You're going to win the whole thing tonight.
joe rogan
Whoa.
dwayne johnson
I went, what do you mean?
He goes, you're going to win the whole thing.
I'm throwing you right into the fire.
I'll never forget this.
He said, you're either going to fucking sink or you're going to swim.
It's New York City.
It's up to you.
And I went, okay, great.
I talked to all the guys.
And by the way, in order to make someone like that, you need the other guys, right, to say...
Because I always like to say...
You never beat anybody in wrestling.
Truly beat you.
The guy allows you to beat them.
So all those guys in that ring right there, I'll forever be grateful for them because they allowed that to happen.
So I win the match.
New star is born in the world of pro wrestling.
This rookie kid, Rocky Maivia, this is the one, two, three here.
That wrestler is Goldust.
Comes from a very famous family.
joe rogan
That guy was amazing.
dwayne johnson
You remember him?
He was amazing, man.
joe rogan
The whole Goldust thing was crazy.
dwayne johnson
So can you pause that for a second?
Go back to my hair.
So I didn't know.
Look at this.
Pause.
I didn't know that I went to the hair person who was backstage.
I said, can you give me something that's going to make my hair nice and go down?
And she gave me a thing that made it frizzy.
And then that's what you get, by the way.
Just a fucked up haircut on your debut.
Luckily, the people of New York was like, we kind of like this kid.
His haircut is really fucked up.
joe rogan
You look like a kid in play.
dwayne johnson
You look like the bigger version of Kid and Play.
Look at this.
joe rogan
Look at that thing.
unidentified
Fuck.
That's a solid foot above your head.
That's awful.
dwayne johnson
Right this time, the referee's like, hey, get the fuck out of the ring.
Come on, we got a show.
joe rogan
So you...
dwayne johnson
Well, so...
Go ahead.
joe rogan
No, no, go ahead.
dwayne johnson
Well, I was going to say, so we win this match, and things are ascending.
The dream is coming true.
Like, this is it, man.
I finally feel like...
This is what I was born to do.
And man, it's feeling so fucking good.
Guys in the locker room, everybody take me under their wing.
There's some political bullshit that you always want to stay away from.
I've always stayed away from that.
But for the most part, everybody's supportive.
Because even though it's a cutthroat business backstage, you still need some guys who are going to show you the way.
So I wound up becoming the youngest Intercontinental Champion.
Beating Triple H. Or he let me beat him.
Everything was doing this.
So at that time, this interesting thing was happening in the world of pro wrestling where it was fans were cheering the heels.
And anti-authority, fuck the boss, led by Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Giving everybody the bird.
Fuck Vince McMahon.
Fans were loving that, gravitating towards this.
That guy drives a pickup truck, drinks a beer, tells everybody to go fuck themselves.
Now, in wrestling world, that's supposed to be a bad guy, but now he's becoming a hero.
Then you have this kid who's 25 who's coming out.
Here we go!
You know, the fucking old school.
And Vince and the company always told me, hey, you can't smile enough.
I was like, what do you mean?
You go out, you smile.
I want to make sure everybody knows you're grateful, gratitude of attitude.
And I said, no, okay.
And it started not to feel good to me because I said, well, you know, these nights I'm getting beat.
But I still want you to smile anyway.
So you have this thing happening over here, the rise of the attitude era.
And then you have this kid who's just smiling away.
Everything is good, even when he fucking loses.
And it never felt right to me here.
And then fans started to turn, booing every night.
Got to a point, dude, going into my first WrestleMania, Chicago, I'll never forget it.
Every night they were chanting Rocky sucks.
And I had to smile through it.
The bosses were telling me, no, you got to smile.
Don't keep smiling.
Ignore it.
Ignore it.
Just ignore it.
If you're paying your hard-earned money as a fan, even though this world is fiction and it's not real, the best of the wrestlers always came from a real place.
So I was smiling away.
I get to WrestleMania, Chicago.
Sold out.
Stone Cold Steve Austin's on top in the main event.
I'm defending my title.
WrestleMania.
20,000 people start chanting, Rocky sucks.
So imagine that.
You're a kid, 25 years old.
You got the belt on you, pressure.
You're in there.
And the guy who I was wrestling, the Sultan, who was actually my cousin, Rikishi, from my Samoan side, he had me in a rear chin lock.
Whole arena's chanting Rocky Sox.
He's whispering to me, don't listen to him.
Don't listen to him.
Now I'm like, fuck, this is my life now.
unidentified
Right.
dwayne johnson
We get out of the match.
I go backstage.
Vince looks at me and Pat and just says, I don't know what we did wrong, but we have to make a change.
I know what that means.
Two days later, I drop the belt to somebody else.
Now I'm getting beat every night, getting beat every night, and then I get hurt.
I tear my PCL, a wrestling guy named Mick Foley.
Now, by this time, it's May.
Vince says, take time off.
Heal your knee.
I don't know what we did wrong or where we went wrong, but we've got to really figure things out with you.
I don't know if this is going to work out.
Yeah, man.
And this is 1997, summer of 97. Now, you'll appreciate this part.
In 97, during that time, while I was still going out to L.A. and working out, We were crossing all the MMA guys.
Pride just opened up in Japan.
So I was seeing all these MMA guys going over to Pride.
You remember that time, right?
I think you might have been with UFC at that time, right?
And at that time I was making $150,000 wrestling 235 days a year.
So do the math of that and how much you're making per match.
We start hearing, hey, these guys over in Pride are making $250, $350, $500.
And I thought then, well, fuck.
I don't think I'm going to make it in WWE. People are booing me out of the arenas.
I can't be myself.
They're telling me to fucking smile.
I don't want to fucking smile.
It's not who I am.
I start talking to Ken Shamrock at that time who was wrestling with us.
I run into Mark Kerr.
I start talking to him.
Hey, tell me a little bit about Pride.
And I have this idea in my head.
Well, maybe I should train to MMA. And go to Pride.
And make money.
Real money.
And then I don't have to smile.
I'm sure I'm going to get fucked up over there and knock one of my lungs loose.
But maybe I could do something like that.
Find the right coach and train.
So I had this whole thing in my head.
I was talking to my wife at that time.
I said, I think that's the way to go.
Because those guys are paying real money.
And these fans are booing me over here for $150,000.
I get a call from Vince, and he says, how's your knee?
I said, it's healing up.
I don't tell him about this idea after I've talked to Shamrock and Kerr and all these guys.
He goes, I want to try and bring you back one time, see how it works out.
I want to turn you heel, and we have a faction called the Nation of Domination, who DC loves, by the way.
That was his famous, his favorite, Daniel.
The black militant group.
He goes, I want to have you join them and we'll see how it works out.
I come in.
I said, okay.
But I still got this MMA thought in my head.
Again, I just want to make money, and I want to be myself.
When I get to the arena that night, I'm going to join the nation.
I went to Vince, and at that time, there was only just two hours of live show, Monday Night Raw.
Now there's six hours of show on two different programs.
So I said to Vince, hey, tonight when I go out there, could I just have two minutes on the microphone?
And he's like, I don't know.
He goes, it's live.
You know, all our time's accounted for.
Allocated.
I said, I just need two minutes.
He goes, why?
I said, I just want to be real and just tell the fans how I feel.
And I feel like I need to recalibrate things here.
He said, fine.
A minute you got.
Great.
Get on the microphone.
Now I'm walking out.
They're booing me.
Rocky sucks.
But now I'm a heel with this heel group.
I grab the microphone and I say something like, listen, I'm a lot of things, but sucks isn't one of them.
And joining the nation isn't a white thing.
It's not a black thing.
It's a me kicking your ass thing.
And I'm going to earn this respect one way or the other.
Dude, that was the most freeing thing.
For me in my career, it was like, you know how you have these defining moments?
Even in that one little moment, I was just fucking ripping all this open.
Saying, here I am.
Now you can fucking boo me, but now watch how I respond.
I'm going to be real.
joe rogan
Not enough to smile anymore.
dwayne johnson
I don't fuck the smiling.
I'll smile when I want to smile.
joe rogan
Right, right, right.
dwayne johnson
But now watch how I can respond.
Watch my words now.
Watch my actions.
Dude, the fans felt something that night within...
A month, I became the hottest heel in WWE. Wow.
Oh, yeah.
unidentified
That's the gratitude I get from you pieces of crap for all my blood, my sweat, and my tears.
joe rogan
Look at that baby face.
dwayne johnson
Look at that, dude.
unidentified
This isn't about the color of my skin.
This is about respect.
I became the youngest Intercontinental Champion in WWF history.
And what did it get me?
In arenas across the country, I heard chants of Rocky Sucks.
Well, Rocky might be as a lot of things, but Sucks isn't one of them.
You know, hey, that's not a black thing.
That's not a white thing.
And hey, let's talk about a racist faction.
You want to talk about a group that's prejudiced?
Let's talk about the DOA. The DOA epitomizes racism.
But hey, you know what the hell with the DOA? I want to make one point to all you jackass fans out there.
Rocky Maivia and the new nation of domination lives, breathes, and dies respect.
And we will earn respect by any means necessary.
dwayne johnson
That was it, brother.
unidentified
And that's it.
joe rogan
That started it off.
The heel journey.
dwayne johnson
That started it off, man.
And then that was it.
But you know what it is?
I look back on that and I feel like it's just a life lesson for all of us, which is the most powerful thing you could be is yourself.
And even in that crazy world of fucking fictionalized pro wrestling that some people love, some people don't, that idea of Yeah, ripping it out, being who you are.
Here I am, man.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Vince is just so interesting.
He's such an interesting guy.
The fact that he's driven for so long, for so long, this guy's been just fucking getting after it for so long.
And just lives and breathes this idea of crafting narratives and figuring out who's the good guy and who's the bad guy and how to set up a storyline.
dwayne johnson
And paying attention to what's happening politically, what's happening, tapping into that, trying to always have his finger on the pulse of what's happening.
joe rogan
I can see how he tried the thing about you smiling all the time.
You got a great smile.
Friendly, good-looking guy.
Why not?
Have a smile.
See if people like it.
dwayne johnson
And you know what he said?
He goes, I'm going to give you a push.
But I want to make sure if you smile, then people will know you're grateful.
And I was like, okay, I get the conceit of that, but there's other ways I think I can be grateful because otherwise I'm coming across as being a phony and that's just not who I am.
So, by the way, years later, or even months later, I mean, he admitted, he said, I totally get it, now I understand.
joe rogan
Did Japanese pro wrestling come out of American pro wrestling, or was it a separate thing that evolved on its own?
dwayne johnson
I think it was a separate thing that evolved on its own.
Well, I think everything evolved out of American wrestling.
That started off, originally, started off in the carnivals, started off in...
And catch wrestling and things like that, which eventually evolved to one of MMA techniques, right?
joe rogan
So the carnivals, for people who don't know, literally they'd have traveling carnivals where someone would take on anyone in the crowd.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
And these were real wrestlers, real catch wrestlers who knew submissions and they would pin guys and get them in ankle cranks and...
dwayne johnson
Oh, yeah.
And so the thing that started going sideways, which required a Vince McMahon type, wait a second, we're not doing this right.
Because these guys who were just these fucking badasses, you know, they go to the carnival, you know, ten bucks, five bucks, you come in, try your luck, if you can beat the champion.
The champion beat the shit out of all of these guys.
But every once in a while, you got a guy who came in, out of the blue, off the street, Who knew how to protect himself and hold his own, might have known a hold or two, and wind up beating the champion.
And this started to happen, and before you know it, a promoter or promoters, or whether it's the fighters, whoever it was, the wrestlers possibly, but someone was like, hold on a second.
We need to work this, because otherwise we're running a risk at us getting fucked up.
Like, what if we took the show on the road?
So that's how this idea of pro wrestling out of the carnival started to happen.
joe rogan
It's really interesting because wrestling itself is one of the most dynamic and difficult amateur sports.
But they never really figured out a way to take actual competitive wrestling and make it a legitimate professional sport that's watched by people, which is really insane because it's so exciting.
So many people don't play tennis, but they still enjoy watching tennis.
How is it that wrestling never got to that place?
And I think it's probably...
Because of the carnival wrestling, pro wrestling became a thing that everybody kind of knew was entertainment.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
And it became all these characters and Killer Kowalski and all these guys that were like, you know, I'm gonna rip his throat out of And to try to have just actual like freestyle wrestling become a sport where you're you know you're competing for cash prizes like you would do with tennis or something else I never made it there, which doesn't make any sense to me because so many people wrestle.
So many people appreciate wrestling.
Wrestling is the cornerstone of MMA. It's one of the most important...
I think the most important...
Because if a guy is a kickboxer and he doesn't know how to wrestle, wrestlers are just going to take him down and beat the fuck out of him every single fight.
Wrestlers can decide whether the fight stands or goes to the ground because once they grip you, you ain't doing shit.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
You're going to get ragdolled.
That's just a fact.
And for whatever reason...
Boxing has a legitimate professional application.
There's even professional karate.
There's all these different things.
But wrestling as a competition, an actual athletic competition, never took traction professionally.
dwayne johnson
No, it didn't.
And as you were saying, I think the cachet in the entertainment value just started to become more appealing, I think, to people.
And if you think about it, back in the early 1920s and 30s and at that time where fucking times were tough...
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
And people were trying to stretch the dollar.
What do I want to go see?
I want to go see this wrestling event, it feels like.
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Plus, those matches, they would work those matches with a fucking hour, hour and a half.
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
dwayne johnson
Like, long matches, too, as well.
joe rogan
Crazy.
dwayne johnson
But I will say, one of the most important elements, which I know you'll appreciate, and a lot of MMA fighters appreciate, is the, as you say, wrestling's a cornerstone of MMA, but also, for decades and decades and decades, and even still today, Having a great base of wrestling is important, even though there's antics and showmanship and this guy's jumping off this thing and going to the building and bringing the car in and doing all this shit.
There's still the basics of wrestling is always very important because, as you know, with catch wrestling, like it taught a lot of And myself included, because I came up old school, to have real respect for the holds.
And to be able to get out of holds, put people in holds, know how to work them, or know how to apply them where you fuck someone up if you had to.
So I always appreciate that, about the basics of pro wrestling.
joe rogan
Did you ever amateur wrestle?
dwayne johnson
Yes.
Especially in Pennsylvania.
I got there in Allentown.
The whole area in Pennsylvania.
There are great wrestlers coming out of Pennsylvania and Ohio.
But I love pro wrestling.
So I was 15 years old.
Wrestling coach, who was also the football coach, was like, hey, why'd you come out for wrestling?
You come from a wrestling family.
I'm like, yeah, great.
And I had this thought in my head, I'm going to fucking kill this.
I've already got my...
Because my dad was working my ass out on the mats when I was five.
And the Von Eriks were working me out when I was five.
So I had this base.
Holds, lockups, everything.
And my first wrestling practice, I was like, fuck, this is the most boring shit I've ever felt.
And I told my guys who I was, I was like, guys, I don't...
Because I was just so now conditioned.
Now, of course, it's the hardest fucking sport out there.
joe rogan
It's the hardest sport.
dwayne johnson
Hardest fucking sport.
I have so much respect for it.
But you know what it was?
It was just me at 15. Dude, I love the pile drivers.
joe rogan
I love the bag drivers.
I want to be a pro wrestler.
I get it.
It would have been an interesting turn of events if you wound up going to Pride.
Did you have an idea where you were going to train?
dwayne johnson
I had no idea.
I felt like I'm spinning here.
joe rogan
Did you have any experience in striking?
dwayne johnson
A little bit.
Very little.
My dad was a great amateur boxer.
He'd sparred with Foreman a few times.
Sparred with Ali.
That was a little bit more of a show.
Great amateur.
Golden gloves in Canada.
He was a badass.
So he was teaching me how to hit at a young age.
Heavy bag, speed bag, things like that.
I had a little bit.
And I felt like I've always been...
I've always been very coachable in whatever it is that I did, whether it's football, wrestling, track, whatever it is.
So I felt like, hey, I'm going to go into this, if there's a shot at this, and I could go to Pride and make money.
By the way, I had this thought of Pride because it felt like, oh, those guys there, they're making money, they're putting on these big shows.
There's 20,000, 30,000 people in these shows.
This looks incredible.
And not only that, but then I think when you're talking to guys, and they're in it, and they're saying, yeah, you could do it.
You could do it.
Shamrock was very smart, by the way, which I really appreciate about him.
And at that time, we were wrestling each other every night, so I got a chance to get to know him very well and work out with him.
And he was just like...
Just stick with this first.
Like, there's a real shot here.
Like, you got something here.
Stick with this.
And if you remember, he started in pro wrestling.
joe rogan
Yep.
dwayne johnson
And then went over when you were there, right, in the early days of the UFC. Yeah, he was dominant in MMA in the early days.
joe rogan
He was one of the first guys to figure out conditioning.
His gym, the Lion's Den, was notorious for being absolutely brutal with their strength and conditioning routines.
They would put people through a fucking gauntlet to join that team.
And it was one of the most difficult teams to join.
There were like legendary sessions that they would put you through.
They would try to break you.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
And he would just try to let you know, like, the worst thing you want to be in a fight is tired.
And you are going to get tired as fuck training with us.
So that the fight's gonna be easy.
dwayne johnson
Easy.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Wow.
joe rogan
And they developed some amazing fighters.
So many, the early days of MMA, his brother Frank, he's one of the very best, he was one of the very best complete MMA fighters.
In my opinion, the first truly complete MMA fighter we saw.
And a guy with insane cardio.
dwayne johnson
Insane.
joe rogan
And that was one of the things about Frank, is that he could just fucking go forever.
When he beat Tito Ortiz, he beat Tito was much bigger than him, stronger than him, and he just overwhelmed him with volume and cardio and eventually beat his ass.
dwayne johnson
I remember that, yeah.
joe rogan
And that taught Tito a giant lesson, too.
dwayne johnson
And he was in crazy shape, too.
joe rogan
Crazy shape.
dwayne johnson
Both of them.
Jacked.
joe rogan
Jacked.
dwayne johnson
Frank and Ken.
joe rogan
Yeah, and Frank was fighting.
I mean, he had been training for like a year and a half, and he was fighting in Japan.
I mean, just insane.
Insane.
But he was just a quick learner and just fully committed.
And by the time he became UFC champion, I mean, he just had an arsenal of skills.
He was the first truly complete MMA fighter.
And people, for whatever reason, they forgot how good he was.
But he was, in my opinion, the first real, complete...
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
Like, fully well-rounded submission artist.
He could knock you out.
He was a dog in a fight.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Just incredible conditioning.
Built like a god.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
He was the first.
dwayne johnson
He was the first.
Let me ask you this about these guys.
Say, for example, to take Frank Shamrock, Ken Shamrock.
I love that guy.
Mark Kerr, who I've gotten to know very well.
Do you think these guys...
I don't want to say, were they ahead of their time?
Because they were all...
Founding fathers.
joe rogan
Yeah, they're pioneers.
dwayne johnson
Pioneers, man.
How do you think those guys would fare today, even with the insane mindset that those guys had?
I feel like with the different kind of coaching, how they were coached back then, I feel like they would still...
Dominate.
joe rogan
I feel like all champions have a quality that in any era, depended upon the skill level of that era, they would rise to whatever that skill level is.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
What's going on today is you've got guys with one, two fights in the UFC that are elite fighters.
They might have 30 amateur fights, 11. Yeah, you're getting these guys that are competing now that are first fight in the UFC. They're world class.
You see how smooth and technical they are.
You're like, Jesus Christ, these guys are so good.
Back then, that wasn't the case.
So you could get away with a lot more, and you didn't have as high a bar to aspire to.
But champions rise to the level of competition that's around them.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
And I think guys like Frank Shamrock or Ken Shamrock or Hoist Gracie, they would rise today.
They would all rise today.
Because they're champions.
There's a mindset.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
They would just have to do things differently.
And they would have to check leg kicks.
dwayne johnson
In what way?
joe rogan
They would have to know...
Every aspect of it like hoist in the beginning very little striking He would just kind of throw kicks just to try to get a clinch and get a hold of you and his jiu-jitsu is so superior to Everybody's that once he got you to the ground you were fucked.
Yeah, but that's not good enough today Yeah, like now everyone's a black belt in jiu-jitsu now everyone knows how to move on the ground now Everyone knows how to defend and everyone has nasty stand-up and you have to have everything today and But Hoist would have developed that.
He's a champion.
There's a mindset of someone who can win one of those gigantic tournaments that he won, like in the early days.
He's fighting guys 270 pounds.
When he fought Dan Severn, Dan Severn was giant.
dwayne johnson
He catches him in a triangle.
And multiple fights at night.
joe rogan
Multiple fights at night.
Champions are champions.
And the thing is, the level of competition today is so high that it's like there's more required of everyone.
But I feel like champions are a very unique breed of individual.
And champions would rise in any era.
Because they would figure out what they need to do in accordance to what's the competition and who's around them.
And they would rise to that occasion.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
That's what I think.
dwayne johnson
It's the capacity that they have.
joe rogan
Yeah, they have.
And back then, nobody knew.
I mean, Marco Huas was the first guy to show us leg kicks.
We were like, Jesus Christ, look at this guy.
He's just chopping at Paul Varlin's legs.
You know, Marco's like 220 pounds, and Paul Varlin's the polar bear.
dwayne johnson
He was huge.
joe rogan
He was fucking huge.
He was like 300 plus.
And Marco's just kicking his legs, kicking his legs, and eventually the guy collapses, and we're like, oh my God, you can kick the legs.
And then it became a thing.
Everybody started kicking legs, and then Pedro Hizzo comes around, and he's the most devastating leg kicker, and there was these guys that learned from what they're seeing around them.
And you see that now, we were talking about the calf kick.
Relatively new thing in MMA, but it's devastating, and everyone does it now.
And if you don't know it, and you don't know how to check it, you're fucked.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
One or two kicks to the calf and your leg's useless.
dwayne johnson
And done, right?
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Foot goes numb.
joe rogan
Yeah, your leg doesn't move.
You can't stand on it right.
So you're compromised and so all your balance is on your left leg now because your right leg's fucked.
So you switch stances and you put your left leg forward.
Now that gets kicked.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
And you're trying not to show your shit.
joe rogan
Exactly.
You're trying to keep a poker face.
dwayne johnson
Let me ask you this.
Do you think it ever goes back to at any point where it's different weight classes against each other?
joe rogan
It could.
Some wild organization in Russia, I'm sure, is doing that right now.
There's always someone who's trying.
Japan did a lot of that.
They did some crazy freak shows.
That was the thing about Japan.
They love to put, like, Bob Sapp, 350 pounds of solid muscle, and they put him against Minotauro, who's the champion, who was, like, 220 pounds.
Natural.
But Minotaro won.
It was one of those cases where jujitsu prevailed over a larger, scarier opponent.
But there's a moment in that fight where Bob Sapp, at the beginning of the fight, pile drives Minotaro.
dwayne johnson
I remember that.
joe rogan
And he fucked his neck up for years.
His neck was probably never the same again after that fight.
unidentified
Wow.
dwayne johnson
Bob Sapp was huge.
I played against Bob Sapp.
joe rogan
In football?
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
He was giant.
Fucking giant.
joe rogan
Giant.
Like a cartoon.
He didn't even look like a real person.
dwayne johnson
And the body.
Yeah.
Abs.
unidentified
Insane.
Abs.
joe rogan
370 with abs.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
Yeah.
You would see him and you would go, what?
Yeah.
Like when he was across the ring in Pride, that's what they loved.
They loved that freak show aspect of it.
That Bob Sapp standing over there just not even looking like a human being, looking like a character in an Avengers movie.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Look at the size of him.
This is the round one.
So this is Bob Sapp.
So Minotauro shoots for a shot.
Bob Sapp picks him up.
Dumps him on his head, bro.
On his fucking head.
dwayne johnson
God.
joe rogan
I mean, insane.
And Minotauro's got to be in agony.
dwayne johnson
He's going again.
joe rogan
Yeah, but he got a hold of the leg this time to stop that.
But I mean, it went back and forth, and then Minotauro, he hits the switch, and eventually gets on top of Bob Sapp at the end of the fight and gets him in an armbar.
But it was a grueling encounter.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
Spent a lot of time on his back, getting beaten up by this enormous, super powerful dude.
dwayne johnson
Incredible.
And then did Bob gass out?
joe rogan
Yeah, Bob gassed out.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
I mean, Bob was so big.
I mean, the cardiovascular requirements of someone was that big.
dwayne johnson
I mean, Jesus Christ.
joe rogan
But also Minotauro's jiu-jitsu was next level.
Just super next level.
He was really one of the first Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts to have an elite guard.
So, like, when you were on...
If you were on top and he was on his back, you were in still dangerous waters.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
Because this guy was just an elite black belt in jiu-jitsu.
And for jiu-jitsu, when he caught him in this arm bar, it was the biggest win ever.
I remember me and my friends were watching this.
dwayne johnson
After coming back from that.
Yeah, look at this.
joe rogan
Me and my friends were watching this, and when he catches him in this arm bar and he eventually gets it, we fucking jumped up and cheered.
He's like, fucking jiu-jitsu!
Yeah, look at he's tapping!
dwayne johnson
Oh, right away, yes.
joe rogan
And we were like, no way.
He did it.
He fucking did it.
He was our hero.
He was the jiu-jitsu hero.
dwayne johnson
Really?
joe rogan
Yeah, Minotauro Nogueira was the hero.
For sure.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
Because he represented jujitsu against the worst case scenario.
A fucking super athlete.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
A person that didn't even look like a person.
dwayne johnson
Just dumped you on your fucking head, by the way.
joe rogan
A massive guy who was battering him, was beating him up and slamming him on the ground.
And he prevailed with skill.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like Minotauro.
That guy would be a champion today.
He'd be a champion in any era.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
Just champions.
Fedor would be a champion in any era.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
There's guys like that that are just special.
They're special people.
dwayne johnson
Did you wish that he had his run in UFC? 100%.
joe rogan
Yeah, 100%.
dwayne johnson
What happened there?
joe rogan
I don't know.
There's a lot of different versions of the story.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
There's a lot of...
Characters in Russia that were connected to Fedor.
They had some heavy requirements of what they wanted from the UFC and the UFC wasn't willing to give it to them.
It got pretty testy.
It got dangerous.
There's some real people over there.
Some real dudes.
dwayne johnson
I feel like that's the fight business.
joe rogan
That's really the fight business for Russia, too.
I mean, these are hard men.
And Fedor was the hardest.
That motherfucker never changed his expression.
He was beating people into a bloody pulp and he looked like he was sipping tea.
He was a special guy.
dwayne johnson
That mentality, man.
joe rogan
Oh my god, he was a special guy.
He fought Kevin Randleman, and Kevin Randleman suplexed him on his neck.
Just threw him through the air and slammed him on his neck.
And within moments afterwards, Fedor had him in an arm bar.
Moments afterwards.
dwayne johnson
Just a machine.
He was a machine.
joe rogan
Stoic.
dwayne johnson
Stoic and deceiving.
Deceptively, right?
Because even Kevin Randleman, just the body.
You know, these guys who look like a gazillion dollars.
joe rogan
A god.
A god.
dwayne johnson
And you have Fedor.
joe rogan
Just had like a fucking sloppy body.
Looked like he just ate a bunch of potatoes and drank beer.
Big old roll of fat and just fucked everybody up.
So here's the fight.
If you look at Fedor, that does not look like the best fighter in the world when you look at his body.
Unbelievable.
His movements were fucking perfect.
He had such good striking, too, and he was so elite on the ground.
dwayne johnson
And precise, yeah.
joe rogan
And he was one of the first guys who could do everything.
Ground and pound, stand up, blast you standing up.
Here's the slam.
This is just the beginning.
This is the beginning of the fight, but at one point in time, Fedor figures out a way to get up and then Randleman suplexes him.
And when he suplexed him, right here, right on his neck.
Boom!
I mean, but look, Fedor just immediately rolls.
dwayne johnson
Yep.
Ate it.
He's good.
joe rogan
And so they get into this scramble.
And this is back when you could throw knees to the head on the ground, too.
Prided.
But look, you reversed him.
Show how you reversed him, because it was fucking beautiful.
Watch this.
So Randleman, who is an elite wrestler, you gotta imagine what kind of skill it takes to be able to reverse a guy like that.
You know, a real elite college wrestler.
You see that fucked up leg?
See the veins in his legs?
That's from a fight with Pedro Hizzo.
Pedro Hizzo would kick your legs so hard that all your arteries would burst.
dwayne johnson
And that's what happened.
joe rogan
And guys would get compartment syndrome in their leg, where their leg would fill up with blood, and it would take them like six months to recover from a Pedro Hizzo fight.
dwayne johnson
Wow.
joe rogan
Yeah, Pedro Hizzo was the scariest fucking leg kicker that ever fought in the sport.
And look at this, immediately locks up a Kimura, and that's it.
That's a wrap.
That was Fedor.
And look, never change his expression.
Look at that, even when he wins.
dwayne johnson
Nothing.
joe rogan
Nothing.
No yee-haw, no fuck yeah.
unidentified
Look at this.
joe rogan
Look at, as he's getting slammed.
I mean, right on his fucking neck, man.
And then catches him in the Kimura.
I mean, that was Fedor.
He figured out a way to win against anybody.
And for a period of time, he was the greatest ever.
I don't know.
You've got to look at guys when they're at their best.
And Fedor, in pride, was one of the greatest of all time, if not the greatest heavyweight ever.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
He was a monster.
dwayne johnson
I always wish he had that run.
joe rogan
I do too.
Him versus Brock Lesnar would have been fucking insane.
It would have been fucking insane.
Him versus Cain Velasquez would have been fucking insane.
When Cain was at the top, Cain's another one.
There's an argument when Cain was at his very best, like when he beat Brock, when Cain was just destroying everybody, there's an argument that he's the greatest.
But his run was less because he was so tough that he broke his body.
He was just so mentally tough.
He just fucking pushed so hard.
dwayne johnson
In terms of training?
joe rogan
Yeah, tore his knees, his shoulders, his back, everything.
Everything just started giving out.
And then it got to a certain point in his life where he just, like, his body just didn't perform anymore.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And that was it.
I mean, he had multiple surgeries.
He had a bunch of things wrong with him.
And he just couldn't train like he used to be able to train anymore.
And that was it.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, yeah.
I remember that.
With a guy like that, how much of that is coach compared to him?
Ultimately, he'll make the decision to train, I believe, and push himself.
But at what point do you think coaches step in and say, what's going on?
joe rogan
It's hard to say because Kane is another one that was so stoic and he would never complain.
And also the training sessions.
dwayne johnson
You wouldn't know that he's hurt.
joe rogan
Yeah, and the training session, I mean, him and DC were just going to war all the time.
And AKA was just this talent-filled shark tank of a bunch of assassins just beating the fuck out of each other and just all iron sharpens iron.
And you're going to get banged up.
You're going to get banged up in training.
You're going to get banged up in these fights against guys like, you know, these fucking huge super athlete fighters.
You're going to get banged up.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
But in that time, when he beat Minotauro, Jesus Christ, this is like when you could see the levels of competition as they pull up Cain Velasquez versus Minotauro.
Because this, in my opinion, this is prime Cain Velasquez when he just seemed unstoppable.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Because he was a heavyweight, but he had the cardio of a welterweight.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And he had speed and precision, and he never was out of position.
Everything he threw, he just threw precise and perfect and technical, and he was so fucking game.
And when you watch, look at these leg kicks.
I mean, he was so fucking smooth.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Everything he did was precise.
Like the way he's throwing these combinations and head kicks and his defense is on point.
Kane was a monster in his time.
And like in this time, like this Kane Velasquez, I put this Kane Velasquez against anybody that's ever lived.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And I would love to see it.
He was so fucking good.
He was so good.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And then he lost to Junior Dos Santos.
But what a lot of people don't know is that was like the first fight on Fox.
It was like this big, big fight.
dwayne johnson
I remember that.
joe rogan
And Kane tore his knee before that fight.
His knee was fucked up.
Look at this.
Look at that combination.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
That's Kane.
That was Kane at his best.
That's the fucking, that's Elite Kane.
He was a monster.
dwayne johnson
Monster, man.
joe rogan
Everybody's terrified of that guy.
He never got tired.
They called him Cardio Kane.
Never got tired.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Never got tired.
And he could just go and go.
dwayne johnson
I remember that.
Arizona, I want to say.
unidentified
Yep.
dwayne johnson
Arizona State, or he came out of.
joe rogan
Yep.
Arizona State, then went to AKA to begin his MMA career, and just was a monster.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
It was like nothing anybody had ever seen.
The guys would get this thousand yard stare in their eyes when they'd be in the second round with him.
They couldn't believe.
They had four more rounds to go?
This is fucking insane.
dwayne johnson
And he's not breathing heavy?
joe rogan
No, just fucking marching you down, beating your ass.
dwayne johnson
Who's next big heavyweight star?
joe rogan
Tom Aspinall, the guy who just won the interim title.
He's phenomenal.
And he is, again, the next advancement of the evolution of the sport.
dwayne johnson
How so?
joe rogan
Well, because he can do everything.
That guy's got elite jujitsu.
He's got elite takedowns.
His striking is outstanding.
I mean, he knocked out Sergei, who's the scariest fucking striker in all of MMA, and he knocked him out in the first round.
And the way he did it was just picture perfect.
And he did it with a fucked up back.
He fucked his back up and wasn't able to train for like...
He fucked his back up in one of the sessions because he only got the fight call two weeks before the event.
dwayne johnson
I was just going to say, right?
He took it early.
joe rogan
He didn't even train.
He couldn't train.
dwayne johnson
His back was fucked.
joe rogan
He couldn't train.
So he just went out there and fought.
He just said, let my back heal up.
I'm fit enough.
I'm in shape enough.
I'll do whatever I can do in training.
But he couldn't wrestle.
He couldn't do much sparring.
His back was fucked up.
So he had to kind of let it heal as much as it could in like 10 days.
And then go out and fight the fucking scariest guy in the sport.
dwayne johnson
That's fucking crazy.
Did you call that?
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
I know you called it, but did you call?
joe rogan
Oh, no, I had no idea.
I had no idea.
Both of those main events, I had no idea.
It was like, you couldn't...
Sergey could connect on anybody and put them to sleep.
He just knocked out Derek Lewis in one round.
I know.
He knocked out Taito Ivasa in one round.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
He was a monster.
And so you watch Sergei and you go, I don't know.
You watch Aspinall.
Like, I knew Aspinall was going to have a speed advantage because he's faster than any heavyweight.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And that's something that his coach drilled into him when he was young.
dwayne johnson
Speed.
joe rogan
Like, be fast.
Like, you've got to be fast.
That's what's going to separate you from everybody else.
dwayne johnson
Speed kills.
unidentified
Speed.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And he's a giant dude, 260-plus pounds, but he moves like a fast, young guy.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like a light guy.
And he's also just so well-rounded.
And he's just beginning.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I mean, that was really the first big test of his career.
He had fought some good guys up until that fight, but that is the first guy where you were like, boy.
Every fight before that, Aspinall was a heavy favorite, in my eyes.
And then that fight, I was like, whew, I don't fucking know.
I don't know what's gonna happen here.
So for him to do that, what he did, and to perform that way under those situations, in that circumstance where your back is fucked and you can't really train.
Incredibly impressive.
dwayne johnson
That's incredible, man.
joe rogan
But I want Ngannou back.
That's what I want.
That's the champion.
dwayne johnson
I mean, dude.
joe rogan
That's the champion.
unidentified
Fuck.
joe rogan
And that guy, he relinquished his crown.
And what he did with Tyson Fury is probably one of the greatest performances in combat sports history.
dwayne johnson
Ever.
joe rogan
Ever.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
To have that guy go over there, no one gave him any chance.
Terence Crawford was sitting across where you are right now, and he's like, zero chance.
He's going to get knocked out.
Zero chance.
And then when he dropped Tyson Fury in the third round, and then was battering him in the eighth, and then at the tenth round, at the end of the fight, you're like, I don't know who won.
dwayne johnson
I don't know what's going to fucking happen here.
joe rogan
I don't know who won.
And one judge saw it for him, and the other two judges saw it for him.
For Fury.
But it was that close.
It was that close where you...
And a lot of people are saying that this puts Tyson Fury's argument of being one of the greatest of all time in jeopardy.
Because now people are saying, well, hey, man, you got dropped and brought to a questionable decision by a guy with zero boxing matches.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Which is crazy.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
But that's the kind of freak that Francis is.
dwayne johnson
Francis is, man.
joe rogan
He's a freak.
He's the freak of all freaks.
dwayne johnson
If you're, and you've seen Francis up close, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, that's the thing.
So you know the kind of freak he is.
If you're him and if you're his people, what's his next move?
joe rogan
Get as much money as you can.
Of course.
This is what I think they should do.
Put him in with a heavyweight boxer that he can beat that has a good record.
Like someone who's in the argument of like a top ten.
And if Francis knocks that guy out...
Then if they can try to coax Tyson Fury into a rematch, that would be fucking bananas.
And I think Saudi Arabia has enough money to actually pull that off.
dwayne johnson
I think so too.
joe rogan
I think so too.
They might be able to fucking bait Tyson in with some just fucking life-changing generational money.
dwayne johnson
So here's the thing about Tyson, who I love and respect.
unidentified
I love that guy.
dwayne johnson
I love that guy too.
There's two train of thoughts here.
It's either...
Well, I don't actually need to fight him again.
There's that train of thought.
But then I wonder if it goes back to the champion mentality that you talked about is, as a champion, I need to fight that guy.
joe rogan
It may be that.
dwayne johnson
Do you know what I mean?
joe rogan
He is certainly a champion.
And he's certainly one of the greatest of all time.
And I think he certainly underestimated Francis.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
And I don't know how he trained for Francis.
He said he trained as hard as any fight ever.
Which is possible, because he always looks that way.
He always, like Fedor, he has this very disarming body.
And he jokes around about it.
Look at this fucking belly!
And he's a character.
I love the guy to death.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
I think if he knows now what he's up against and he just boxes, just boxes with a real understanding of the consequences of making a mistake, I think it's probably a different fight.
If he doesn't engage and just uses that beautiful jab and movement and stays away from him and just does what he does when he's at his very best.
And one of the things you see from Tyson Fury is when he does have a rematch, he performs so much better.
Like the Deontay Wilder fight is a perfect example.
First fight, down to the wire, gets dropped in the last round.
It's a draw.
Second fight, dominates.
Third fight, dominates.
And was put through adversity.
Dropped.
I think it got dropped four times over the course of their three fights.
Yes, by the hardest fucking one-punch knockout artist ever man.
Yeah, he's got lightning in his hands.
He just Electrocute people is a bad auntie.
He's the greatest knockout artist ever and If you look at his career, it's like mostly knockouts.
dwayne johnson
That's it, right?
And also, too, I feel like tall...
So as you're tall, your muscles get elongated, as you know, and then it becomes deceptive.
joe rogan
What's a leverage thing, too?
Because he's got broad shoulders and insane speed.
So when he drops that hand on you, it's just...
unidentified
Bam!
joe rogan
When he turns it over at the end with all that length and torque and leverage.
dwayne johnson
Yes, yes.
joe rogan
He's like nobody.
Like nobody.
He just starches people.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
I always go to the Luis Ortiz fight.
When he cracked him in the head and Ortiz gets up and he's like, what the fuck?
He hit him on the forehead.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Hit him on the forehead and just shut the lights out.
dwayne johnson
It's unbelievable.
joe rogan
Yeah, Deontay, what Teddy Atlas calls it, the eraser.
He's like, any mistakes that he has, he just erases them with one shot.
And it's true.
You can win every round with Deontay, and you just zig when you should have zagged and blap!
And he almost did it to Tyson Fury.
dwayne johnson
I was going to say, he did.
joe rogan
He almost did it to any other man.
It might have been the end, but Tyson is just so game.
He's just such a fucking warrior.
He figured out a way to get up, and he got dropped again, he got back up again, and then wound up stopping him after that.
dwayne johnson
That's right.
joe rogan
Yeah, and an amazing, glorious finish to the fight that cemented him as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
dwayne johnson
Of all time.
joe rogan
I think, really, to get it back, to really get that reputation back, he should fight Francis.
I really think he should.
But he probably wants to fight Usyk first, unify the title, and then if they come to him with just gigantic banana money, just cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, like, what?
How much?
$200 million?
dwayne johnson
Back what truck up?
joe rogan
Something fucking crazy like that?
He might just go, all right.
dwayne johnson
Would you know the resources are there for that?
Oh yeah, they can do whatever the fuck they want.
unidentified
They got fuck you, fuck you, fuck you money.
dwayne johnson
All of you money.
joe rogan
Fuck everyone money.
They got fuck the planet money.
And I like that they put together that fight, and I like that they're putting together a bunch of other fights.
They're trying to do a lot of crazy shit over there.
I love it.
Good.
Throw that money out there.
dwayne johnson
Absolutely, man.
joe rogan
And I love it for the athletes, because they're going to get paid.
dwayne johnson
Love it for the athletes to get paid.
And that's why I think with Tyson, it just feels like just in here, you know, it's a fight that I need just in terms of...
As champion, but mentality, the champion that's in here, the mana, I need to do that again.
joe rogan
Well, right now, it's got to be in his head.
I mean, he's a sensitive guy.
I'm sure he's responded to all the criticisms, probably eating him up, probably drives him nuts.
And I bet you'll see an entirely different Tyson Fury in this next fight.
In this next fight, you will see a focused fucking assassin.
But he's fighting the craftiest heavyweight maybe of all time.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Usyk is so slick.
He's the guy who's trained by the same guy that Lomachenko was trained by.
So he's got just unbelievable movement.
His angles, the way he boxes, his fucking feints and movement, total next level.
But he's quite a bit smaller.
I mean, he really was a cruiserweight and then went up to heavyweight.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
So there's money in that fight, and I would hope that the winner of that fight then fights Francis.
Whether Usyk would want to fight Francis, who knows.
But if Usyk wins, if he beats Tyson Fury, that's pretty incredible.
Just announce the date for that fight.
February 17th in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia going crazy.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, there you go.
joe rogan
That's a very, very interesting fight.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
And although Usyk is smaller, man, that fucking guy is so skilled.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
Those Anthony Joshua fights were insane.
Insane.
dwayne johnson
By the way, Tyson is like 6'9".
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
And Usyk is not that much.
joe rogan
Well, Usyk is wearing shoes in there, and Tyson is not.
unidentified
Oh, okay.
joe rogan
Tyson is right after the fight, and they're standing there staring at each other.
dwayne johnson
Ah, okay, okay.
joe rogan
So Tyson's quite a few, but it's also his arms are longer.
Just the reach and distance is such an advantage because you could hit a guy where he can't hit you.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
But we were talking about Mike Tyson earlier, that Mike Tyson made his height an advantage because he would come in and bob and weave and you'd be like, oh, geez, where's this coming from?
This fucking tornado coming at you with punches that just moved way faster than any heavyweight.
dwayne johnson
Any other heavyweight with that kind of speed?
Quickness?
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
Sure.
I don't know.
I'm asking.
Nobody, right?
unidentified
Nobody.
joe rogan
He's the fastest of all time.
dwayne johnson
I feel like he's the fastest of all time.
unidentified
The fastest of all time.
joe rogan
You can go to Ali with his hands.
Ali had hand speed.
See, Ali, there's Ali before they forced him into retirement because he wouldn't fight in Vietnam.
That Ali, if you go to, like, the Ali that fought Cleveland Big Cat Williams, That Ali's one of the greatest of all time.
I mean the greatest fucking heavyweight in terms of movement and he could move like Sugar Ray Robinson but he was a heavyweight.
Tall and switching stances and popping you with a jab and you couldn't touch him and he's standing right in front of you with his hands down.
That Ali was a different Ali but then when they made him take three years off Ali really didn't train for those three years.
He didn't do anything.
So when he came back against Jerry Quarry, all those years later, he was physically, he was soft.
He didn't look the same.
Pull up Ali versus Cleveland Big Cat Williams.
So this is Ali Ali.
And this is Ali when there was never a heavyweight like him before.
There was no one like him.
And no one knew what to do.
And Cleveland Big Cat Williams was a fucking killer.
He was a bad motherfucker.
Look how powerful he was.
Serious knockout artist.
And Ali would just stand right in front of him and just start tuning him up.
And he just starts popping him with the jab, hooks, and Cleveland was just trying his best to close the distance.
What's happening?
Is it freezing?
jamie vernon
Oh, it's a video breaking down the whole fight.
joe rogan
Oh, I see.
unidentified
Look at that.
It's not just the fight.
So it's doing stop motion while someone's explaining stuff.
joe rogan
Look at that hook.
Jab to the body and then the hook and he's nowhere to be found.
Catches him in the hook coming in and then immediately off the ropes and out into the center.
dwayne johnson
Yeah, right out.
joe rogan
You just couldn't catch him.
dwayne johnson
Incredible, man.
joe rogan
He was something special, man.
And then eventually he starts tuning Cleveland up and drops him a couple of times.
dwayne johnson
He knew.
joe rogan
There it is.
This is the end.
And then he stands over and with his hands up.
Look at this.
Bang!
dwayne johnson
Bang!
joe rogan
And then the right hand, bam!
I mean, come on, man.
Nobody moved like him.
dwayne johnson
No one, dude.
joe rogan
But Tyson was different.
dwayne johnson
Could you pull up a picture of Dwayne Johnson, Muhammad Ali?
I've got to show you this picture, dude.
unidentified
Oh.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
When did you meet Muhammad Ali?
dwayne johnson
When I was a kid in New Zealand.
I told you my dad was sparring with him.
So here's a picture of me sitting on his lap.
joe rogan
Do you remember what year this is?
dwayne johnson
Would have been 77?
Look at that.
unidentified
Wow.
dwayne johnson
Isn't that cool, man?
Ali and some little girl, but that's me.
So, dude, how about this?
So, when I started the nation...
Turn, the heel, rock, right, that you saw earlier.
Not a white thing, not a black thing, you know, it's me, it's a respect thing.
I started calling myself the people's champion just to piss people off.
Like, I'm your champion, I'm the people's champion, and the rock is the people's champion!
And we were wrestling down in Louisville, Kentucky.
And Ali's family came to watch.
And his wife was there.
Family was a big group.
Afterwards, they were waiting to say hello.
Now, again, I'm going out there.
I'm grabbing the microphone.
And the people's champ says, I'm just laying it all in.
So when I come back, I say hello to the family, his wife.
And I say, hey, I just want you to know, if you could let Muhammad know, I call myself the people's champion.
In a way to pay homage to him, out of respect.
But I'm going around the country saying it and people are shitting on me because that's what you want as a heel.
And I said, I told his wife, so if you could please tell him, if he doesn't want me to use this because I know what this meant to him, being the people's champion, I won't.
And dude, she said, he told me to tell you it's yours.
That was one message he told me to tell you tonight.
I was like, when I got emotional, it was just incredible.
joe rogan
He was such an important cultural figure.
Oh my God.
Because he was the first boxer, the first like...
Professional athlete of the highest regard who stood up and said the Vietnam War is wrong.
I'm not gonna go fight some Viet Cong.
No Viet Cong ever did anything to me.
dwayne johnson
Didn't call me any names.
joe rogan
I'm not going over there.
I'm not doing it.
And they took away his livelihood and they did it for three years.
And when he came back, he was a fucking hero.
A cultural hero.
My parents...
Who were hippies.
Made me, well it didn't make me, but we all watched his rematch with Leon Spinks.
Because it was on TV. And it's like that's how much he transcended the world of sports.
He was an important figure for like the beautiful qualities of human beings.
That this guy had character and stood up for something that was more important than sports and told the world.
He used his platform to tell the world, I'm not going to participate in this.
This is wrong.
And they took away his livelihood.
And when he came back, he was a hero in a completely different way.
And when he fought Leon Spinks and he beat Leon Spinks, everybody was like, oh my God.
Everyone was so happy.
It was like, because when Leon beat him, it was like, no, no way.
And then he had the rematch and he beat Leon and it was like, oh my God, he won.
Like the world was better.
dwayne johnson
You felt it.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
You felt it.
And there's a guy, as you said, who stood up and also, it's one thing if you stand up, but it's another thing.
I stand up and the willingness to know I'm going to lose it all.
I can lose it all.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
And he did.
For that moment.
You know, they tried to take it all away.
joe rogan
Also, what I thought about a lot when I was worried about brain damage.
I thought about him a lot when I was having headaches from these sparring sessions because he was already deteriorating by then.
You know, this was, you know, after he fought Larry Holmes, which was a horrible fight to watch, where Larry was just teeing off on him.
And you knew that it was...
The end was there, and he fought Trevor Burbick, and it's like, God, oh, these are horrible fights to watch.
This guy who just needs a payday and can't let it go, and he was our hero, and now you're watching the worst cliched ending to a great career, which is a great boxer just getting beat up by the up-and-coming guys.
It was sad.
It really ruined Larry Holmes' career, because people hated Larry after that, and Larry was one of the greatest of all time.
dwayne johnson
Greatest of all time, man.
Out of Easton, Pennsylvania.
joe rogan
Easton Assassin.
dwayne johnson
Easton Assassin, yeah.
joe rogan
One of the best jabs of all time.
dwayne johnson
And just doing his job.
joe rogan
One of the best jabs of all time.
dwayne johnson
So not only were people hating him back then, but...
Tyson was watching that fight.
Remember that?
Tyson watched that and he knocked out his hero.
He beat his hero.
Tyson already made that promise.
I'm going to come back and I'm going to...
joe rogan
There's a famous moment where Ali comes up to Tyson before he fights Larry and he says, get this motherfucker for me.
Like you said...
unidentified
In the ring.
Yeah, he just walks up to him and says, get this dude for me.
dwayne johnson
Wow.
joe rogan
And Tyson was like, already just so charged up.
I mean, this was like a legacy-making fight.
And when he knocked out Larry Holmes, everybody was like, oh my god, no one's ever knocked out Larry like that.
dwayne johnson
No, dude.
joe rogan
That was crazy.
dwayne johnson
And he was a big heavyweight.
joe rogan
Yeah.
He was a big heavyweight.
And here it is.
He comes up to him and he's like, look at this.
Get this motherfucker for me.
dwayne johnson
Wow, look at the nod, the light nod.
joe rogan
And look at Tyson.
He's fired up.
But I'll tell you something, man.
Larry was older then.
He was an older fighter.
Are you going to let it go?
Larry was an older fighter back then.
Back then, this is 36, in the age of no testosterone replacement.
Larry had taken some time off and came back for this fight.
He was still very, very good, but Tyson was on another level.
He was just the new destroyer.
He was the new Sonny Liston.
He was the new Joe Lewis.
He was the new Jack Dempsey.
He was just something special.
And combined also because of his trainer had all the videos of those guys.
So he watched all those guys and studied their movement.
Cuss and Jim Jacobs, who was his manager.
Jim Jacobs, who's a boxing historian.
But Mike Tyson was just something different, man.
He was just something different.
And when he starts battering Larry and beating Larry up, I mean, it was just...
dwayne johnson
Even in body language, you could just tell.
joe rogan
Yeah.
I mean, it was just seek and destroy.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
And Larry, any mistake that he made was met with hands that were moving far faster than any boxer he'd ever faced before.
But Larry came out in this round and showed that jab.
This is round three?
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
This is where you see Larry, like when Larry was like 25, he would have given anybody fits.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
But then Mike crashes him, boom, and drops him.
And Larry's in like real trouble.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
And I remember watching this when I was a kid.
I was like, oh my God, he's going to get him.
I can't believe he's going to get him.
Nobody liked Larry Holmes.
It was so fucked up.
He never got his just due.
And then Tyson catches him right here with his right hook.
Boom.
dwayne johnson
It's kind of like over the top of the head.
joe rogan
And then when Larry gets up, he's in real trouble, and then Tyson closes the show.
dwayne johnson
Yeah.
joe rogan
He was so hurt.
It was so bad.
Like right there, that overhand, right?
dwayne johnson
Yes, yeah.
joe rogan
I mean, he's just fucked.
dwayne johnson
You know it's coming.
joe rogan
And when Mike is coming at you, the punches are coming so fast, you can't anticipate what angle they're coming from.
Boom!
And here's the right hand that comes here.
Boom!
And then the second one.
dwayne johnson
Boom!
joe rogan
That was it.
dwayne johnson
Oh, man.
joe rogan
That was the legacy-making fight for Mike Tyson.
That was the one where everybody's like, God damn, he might be the greatest ever.
And he still might be the greatest ever.
I think Tyson in his prime, damn, I put him up against anybody.
Anybody that's ever lived.
dwayne johnson
Yes.
joe rogan
In his prime.
I mean, you can't look at Tyson when he lost and Tyson later in his career.
I feel like you can only keep up those RPMs when you're fucking after it for so long before guys lose motivation, their body doesn't perform the same way anymore, there are too many wars, whatever it is.
But if you look at the Tyson when he was storming the gates, when he was in his prime, like no one ever.
dwayne johnson
And motivating too.
joe rogan
Oh my god.
dwayne johnson
I remember watching his fights and just ready to fucking run through a wall and train anything I could do, dude.
joe rogan
Yeah, do anything.
He's just like, what?
How is it possible that a person could be that proficient at something?
dwayne johnson
Dude, so at about the time when I was my first amateur wrestling days in high school and all that, again, as you're 15, 16, you're looking for a way.
What's my thing?
And you're just thinking about money.
Like, I want to make money.
And so I kind of had a connection to boxing.
My old man boxed.
We watched all the fights.
Tyson, Michael Spinks, 87, I think, or 88. Remember that?
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
And I think that Spinks was champion.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Sphinx was the light heavyweight champion and then he beat Larry Holmes, won the heavyweight title.
I think he had one version of the heavyweight title.
I think it was a unification fight.
Is that correct?
dwayne johnson
It was the one in like 90 seconds.
And I remember, and at that time Mike was coming up.
Here it is.
joe rogan
Yeah, this was, I think Mike said that he fought this with a venereal disease.
Which is hilarious.
He had like gonorrhea or some shit.
dwayne johnson
Ah, don't we all.
joe rogan
But, you know, Spinks was just terrified going into this fight.
dwayne johnson
You saw that in their face-off too.
joe rogan
You saw it.
It was just an execution.
I mean, Tyson was just...
And Michael was really...
He just drops him to the body there.
Michael was really a light heavyweight.
I mean, he blew up.
He put on some weight to make it up to heavyweight, but he just never had the kind of power.
He was an amazing light heavyweight.
But at heavyweight, he just did not have the kind of power.
And here comes the bomb.
dwayne johnson
That's it.
And like a ghost fucking punch that comes out of nowhere, right?
joe rogan
Just a fucking ruthless right hand.
And that was it.
dwayne johnson
So, dude, so during this time in my life, I'm thinking, you know, I got an idea.
Amateur wrestling, I'm not jiving with.
I like pro wrestling.
My old man has taught me how to box just a little bit.
That's what I should do.
I should box.
Because at that time, my eyes were on Michael Spinks, and I used to think at that time, even though I got a lot of respect for the game, and I always think everybody's got a one-punch chance, right?
joe rogan
Mm-hmm.
dwayne johnson
I was like, I know.
I bet you I could work my ass off, and in two, three years, with the right coaching and discipline and training, I could be up there.
And if Michael Spinks is heavyweight champion, I got a shot.
I think I got a shot.
Dude, now again, I'm fucking 15. Right.
unidentified
Of course.
joe rogan
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
I'm like, I got a shot.
I see this fight, and I went, there's no fucking way.
unidentified
Yeah.
dwayne johnson
With Mike Tyson as champion, that my dreams of boxing and making money would ever come true.
joe rogan
Yeah, where does it go?
It goes to getting executed.
Like, if everything goes well, you get executed.
dwayne johnson
If all the training goes well and the discipline, the road work, you get executed, dude.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Yeah, there's levels.
Well, listen, brother, it's been awesome to sit down and talk to you.
You're an inspirational guy.
You really are.
You're a guy that just...
You're just a workhorse, man.
And you're such a fucking expression of positive energy in all of the things you do in life.
And I just appreciate you very much.
And I really appreciate you coming on here, man.
dwayne johnson
Brother, look, I appreciate you.
Thank you.
And this has been years in the making, man.
joe rogan
Years to make it, and it was really fun to get to hang out together.
No cameras, no bullshit.
dwayne johnson
Oh, it was great.
joe rogan
We just all got together and had a good time and worked out.
Just working out.
It was fun.
It was fun.
dwayne johnson
Well, I appreciate all you do, all you are.
joe rogan
Appreciate all you do, too.
Thank you.
dwayne johnson
Appreciate the brotherhood.
We'll do it again.
Thank you, buddy.
Bye, everybody.
Export Selection