The Rock News (Page 2)

• The surprise appearance by The Rock on RAW was put together by Brian Gewirtz, who is one of the few people in the company that stays in touch with him. The whole thing was un-scripted.

• Steve Austin’s promo on WWE RAW was put together by Stephanie McMahon.

• There is quite a bit of frustration within WWE that the McMahon-Trump deal isn’t getting more media coverage. McMahon was expecting another wave of coverage after RAW, but it didn’t meet his expectations. The only stuff out was a business wire story that WWE wrote itself that nobody picked up.

The Rock will join Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway in the movie adaptation of the 1960s sitcom, Get Smart. The former WWE champ is slated to play the newly created character Agent 23. Shooting is scheduled to start Feb. 3 and wrap in July.

- Reviews of Gridiron Gang have been mixed, but box office results for the latest vehicle starring The Rock are not: it ranked as the highest grossing movie of the weekend.

The film grossed approximately $15 million this weekend, causing it to outpace The Black Dahlia, starring Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson.

- Meanwhile, John Cena probably hopes his first flick, The Marine, fares as well. At least he was recently honored (sort of) by a Harvard football player.

Matt Curtis paid homage to the new WWE champion during yesterday's 31-14 victory over Holy Cross. The player flashed the "you can't see me" wave after contributing to a pair of big defensive stops; the gesture was recognized by several fans in attendance.

With Gridiron Gang opening this Friday, the Associated Press ran a review of the film.

It said the 1993 documentary - on which the movie is based - was better, but it praised The Rock, stating he "does exude his usual natural magnetism as the probation officer turned coach."

It also doled out a compliment in saying that the former WWE star no longer resorts to "easy eyebrow raising for a comedy spot."

Meanwhile, our favorite WWE wrestler-turned-acor will appear on Conan O'Brien tomorrow night.

As always, The Rock is a busy man. He spent time last week greeting troops and holding a special screening of his new film, Gridiron Gang for our heroes.

Still, The Great One found time for an interview with MTV, in which he talks about the upcoming movie - hitting theaters September 15 - and how it relates to his real-life experiences.

In the flick, The Rock portrays probation officer Sean Porter. He leads a youth-football team typical in many ways ... except for the fact that its roster is made up entirely of offenders from a juvenile detention center.

The hard-nosed kids have been caught up in often gang-related crimes involving guns and store robbery. It may be a movie, but The Rock is adamant that such real-life offenders, such as himself growing up, deserve a shot at change.

"Every kid deserves a second chance," he said. "A lot of these kids, with their past, where they came from, they never even had a first chance. We've got to realize that. That's our responsibility as adults."

The former WWE wrestler got so into the role that he injured himself during shooting.

Porter must be proud. The ex-coach believed early on that football would be the ideal vehicle to instill core values into the kids, hopefully reversing the effects of negative and selfish thinking.

"In baseball, if the pitcher throws a no-hitter, what's your left fielder doing all day?" asked the real-life Porter, who was spending the day alongside his Hollywood alter ego. "But in football, if your left guard doesn't block anybody all day, you're in trouble. Football takes 11 people; [it] forces the kids to make different choices, to work together."

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Looking quite dapper, The Rock greeted troops at Maryland's Andrews Air Force base last week. The former WWE superstar held a special screening of his film Gridiron Gang for our nation's heroes.

During his time in the WWE, The Rock set many records. But perhaps none mean as much to him as the following:

The Great One (or, you know, Dwayne Johnson) will be listed in the 2007 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records. The mark he's set? Highest paid actor in a debut role for his part in the Scorpion King.

For those wondering who else will be in those pages, consider Paris Hilton. The waste of space is considered the World's Most Overrated Person by editors. A well-deserved dishonor, we say.

As long as movies continue to bill him as The Rock, we're gonna keep referencing Dwayne Johnson in our wrestling blog, okay?!?

Here, the brawler is shown still recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon, injured two months ago while preparing for his role in the football film, The Game Plan.