The Rock Reacts to His First WWE Match: 20 YEARS OF THE ROCK

Hey, what's up, guys.

So we're doing a
little feature here

that we're going to do
every once in a while

and it's called Rock Reacts.

Now, what we have here for
the very first Rock Reacts,

the amazing crack workers at
Seven Bucks Digital Studios

found my very first
match in the WWE.

I'll just give you guys
a little bit of context.

Generally, when somebody
comes in the WWE

and they have their
very first match,

their very first
match is generally

what's called at a live event
or at a very small venue.

It's certainly not at
a big pay-per-view.

My very first match
in the WWE was

at one of their
biggest pay-per-views

of the year called Survivor
Series in the most famous arena

in the world, Madison
Square Garden,

where my grandfather wrestled
in the 70s for Vince McMahon's

dad, my dad wrestled for
Vince McMahon's in the 80s,

and here I came in in 1996.

I give you that context.

I remember knowing what
the finish of the match

was and I made one call to my
parents and I was like, hey,

just watch tonight, something
special is going to go down.

And I was super,
super, super amped

and excited for this night.

Here we go, Rock Reacts.

Ladies and gentlemen, his debut.

All right, so right now
I am feeling myself,

I'm so hyped up, I'm so excited,
and I've got a fucking chia

pet on my head as a haircut.

Superstar [INAUDIBLE].

His father--

So I jump over the top
rope, like I'm a bad bitch,

and I literally point--

I have to rewind this
just so you guys know.

I think I'm pointing to
what's called the hard cam,

and I'm literally
pointing to nothing.

And that's why my
back was to you guys.

And again, I had this whole
thing mapped out in my head

that I was going to
jump over the ropes,

I was going to look at the hard
cam, because we're always told,

you look at the hard
camera, the main camera,

you're speaking to the world.

I jump over the top
ropes and I'm like, yeah!

I'm here!

Fucking hard camera's behind me.

Here we go right now,
reaction continues.

Jake the Snake just
got hit with what

looks to be a heart
punch from a man

by the name of Crush, who was
an awesome guy who has since

passed away and I
appreciate him so much.

So after that elimination,
now I am the only one left.

It is one against two.

And it is the two heels against
the one young rookie baby face.

And I'm going to pause it
right here because something

really, really cool happened.

These guys are amazing
athletes, they go out,

so I had no idea what
the finish of this match

was going to be until maybe
an hour before the match.

So we set it up where ultimately
the final three competitors

were two bad guys against one
good guy, and that was me.

So the moment Jake
the Snake Roberts got

beat, you felt an immediate
shift in the tone of the crowd,

22,000 people in
Madison Square Garden.

They looked at the two bad guys,
they looked at the new rookie,

and in that moment,
20,000 people

can either go, shit, he's
going to get his ass kicked!

Or they go, shit, he's
going to get his ass kicked!

But you know what?

We like that dude and we
want him to kick ass too.

And 22,000 people did
something in this moment

that defined my
career and literally

changed my life in one night.

And it's something
you can't write,

it's something in wrestling you
can't write, you can't script

it, you can't script
it in Hollywood,

because you just can't
script how people are

going to react to something.

And that thing that they
did was 20,000 people

started chanting my name.

Here we go.

--is left with two
men on one, two--

Holy shit, look at that hair.

--against the rookie.

Two on one sounds kinda good.

Look at this, he's a newcomer
and they're already chanting

his name, the entire building!

20,000 people!

They're chanting my name.

They're like, Rocky,
get a haircut!

Holy shit!

So I'm in there with a guy named
Crush, first name was Brian,

has since passed away.

He's amazing and also
he was a great friend.

And also a good buddy of mine
who's still in the WWE kicking

ass is Goldust.

This is called a
test of strength.

And back in the good old days of
wrestling, I loved doing this.

--in a tug of war.

Exactly.

We know he'll take a shortcut,
just like he did this morning.

And the injured Mark Henry--
wait a minute, one, two!

It's got a quick, small
package, one, two, kick out.

Look at the power.

Then I start nailing Goldust
with the big right hand

and I start going
crazy right here.

Right here, all that
crazy shit and those crazy

moves, in wrestling terms
that is called Babyface Fire.

Now Goldust is just
slapping me, by the way.

Here we go.

They shoot me in,
there's a duck, going on,

double crossbody.

And look at this,
over the top goes--

Over the top!

Bro, Vince McMahon
commentating, he

was one of the greatest of all
time in terms of commentating.

I wish he would
still commentate.

And now here we go, back
and forth, trading punches.

With the powerhouse crush.

Ah!

He better watch out
for that heart punch.

A low blow, right
into the balls.

But they're not just any balls.

Those are the people's balls.

All right, here we go.

This is it.

This is the end!

Oh, he moves!

Hard punch to Goldust.

You could feel the crowd.

Uh-oh, big mistake.

Big crossbody.

One, two, three.

Here's a little Info
that I'll share with you

guys that I've never
shared with anyone.

When I gave the big crossbody
to Crush and he basically let

me go over, and that's what
it means in wrestling terms.

As I was pinning him, I'm going
to rewind it for you guys,

I give him a big
crossbody, landed on him,

I started pinning and the
referee was counting, one, two.

You'll see my head down and I
was actually speaking to him

and as I am pinning
him, I'm saying to him,

thank you so much, brother.

Thank you so much,
I appreciate that.

And I heard him say,
I got you, brother.

It's a very special thing when
something like this happens.

So anyway, I just want to
share that with you guys.

He's no longer here, but I'll
always appreciate that man

for doing what he did.

So here it is, crossbody,
you see my head down,

I'm talking to him right now.

I'm saying, thank
you so much, brother.

And he's like, no problem,
brother, I got you.

And then I get up and
of course Jim Ross, one

of the greatest of all time,
telling that great story

as he always does.

Now it's just between
me and Goldie,

It's a little slide
down the back, up.

This was my finishing
move at that time,

it was the big
shoulder breaker bang!

Then [INAUDIBLE] told me, it's
your night, put your head up.

Referee Jack, phenomenal.

Here is your winner--

Oh my god, I feel like my--

--Rocky Maivia!

--Name should be [? Adrienne! ?]

And then I turn my
back to the hard cam,

get a good shot of
the back of my head.

22,000 people at Madison
Square Garden, bro.

Completely crazy.

--and how proud is
Rocky Johnson and his--

Vince McMahon saying how
proud is Rocky Johnson, my dad

and my mom.

Here's the thing, they had
no idea that I was winning.

My mom was bawling at
home, my dad too, as well.

It was a very special
night, my grandmother

was crying too, as well.

This particular night, aside
from me wearing some bright ass

blue wrestling gear and
a really awful haircut,

I had no business, it looked
like a pineapple and a chia pet

all mixed in one, it was a
very, very special night.

And this night really
kicked off my career,

really defined my career.

There's an old saying
in show business,

if you can make it in New York,
then you can make it anywhere.

And my very first
night in New York,

they embraced me like
a son and since then I

have nothing but gratitude
and love for New York City,

for the WWE.

For all those guys that put me
over that night in the ring,

I appreciate that.

And the greatest thing I
appreciate is the fans.

All right, guys, I had a
blast with Rock Reacts.