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The Rock appeared on The Pat McAfee Show this afternoon.
On the audience reaction: "I feel it. I sense it. I feel it every day. I'd like to think, we try to keep our finger on the pulse of what's going on, whether you're in entertainment or not, just the stuff that's going on around you. There's been a lot of big developments, a lot of cool stuff that I've been lucky enough to experience these past couple of weeks. Member of the board of TKO complete full ownership of the name The Rock, which is a big, as you guys know, a big deal. And of course asking the question, now if The Rock goes out to eat, does he sit in a booth? No! Does he sit at the bar? No! Or does The Rock sit at the head of the table? The place went crazy. It went nuts. So yeah, there's a lot going on. And yes, of course as what you're talking about, in our world of professional wrestling, which we all love and enjoy in our world of WWE, that's one of the best parts about it, is when you can anchor in to the passion of the fans. Yeah, today we got a press conference. 4 PM local, 7 PM Eastern. It's gonna be at T-Mobile Arena, free to the public. It's free to the public. Super Bowl weekend. Here we go, and history is going to be announced that history is going to be made. Cody Rhodes is going to make his decision on who he's going to face in WrestleMania, even though we all have a feeling of the direction that is going. I cannot wait."
Getting back in ring shape: "So you, you talk about getting in shape and ring shape as you guys know, football players, like man, it's whatever it is, the sport that you do it, you love it, you leave it. It's tough to come back to it, right? If you guys had to put the pads back on, lace the cleats up, put the helmet back on, and roll, it's tough to do. In a world of pro wrestling, I haven't done that in a very long time. When I do go back to the ring at Wrestlemania, the most important thing is a training camp, which has already started. I have multiple rings set up over in Hawaii. I have a ring set up on the west coast, and we're full on in camp. How do you feel? Hurting. Somebody's hurting because it's hard. It's hard to adjust back. But in a way, it's like riding a bike. Like I was very lucky in my career that I was somewhat of a ring general and knowing the ring and where to go and where to be at certain times when I needed to, but the training camp part of it is hard because you could work out on the wage. You could do all the stuff that you know you want to do. But until you go back in the ring And you take those falls, those slams, those suplexes, things like that. There's nothing like it."
Why he's stepping back in the ring: "By the way, to answer your question, it's an important one, on why? Yeah. Why? Dude, I love it. And that's why. I don't have to go back. I've been lucky enough to get this point, get to this point in my career. I love what I do, I love getting in there, and I love pro wrestling. It's who I am, it's what I was born to do, and I was born in this business. But also, from the second that Roman Reigns years ago said, I'm the head of the table and I'm the head of this bloodline. Graceful time. That's when our story began. It's converging now, it's converging to WrestleMania. I understand the passion which we are gonna address and we'll get to today."
The fan reaction to Cody Rhodes: "Yes, I expected it We expected it because it's right there again. You go back and again, you'd like to think hey, I got my finger on the pulse We all try to keep the finger on the pulse ultimately what the fans want and what they're saying and Sometimes oftentimes as you guys know in sports and entertainment and anywhere what regardless of the vertical of business you're in There's a wave of noise that happens right out of the gate a minute that you want to just pause for a second. Let's not make any rash decisions. Let's wait and see how it all shakes out and see what happens from there. So it was just a matter of waiting. So now I was not surprised at it. I did expect it. But here's the fun part about this is you have. And I've, by the way, I've known Cody for a long time. He's a buddy of mine. The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, and my old man, soul man, Rocky Johnson, they were boys. They tag teamed together down in Florida. We used to go over to the Rhodes house a lot, all the time, when I was growing up. And we're tight in that way. I love Cody. I love his passionate fans. Then, there's the other passionate fans of Cody. And they're called the what's that? Oh, Cody Crybabies, yeah.
Rock cuts a promo on the Cody Crybabies in character: "At the end of the day, look, you got the Cody Crybabies and you have the Cody fans and then you have Cody himself and there's a clear distinction between the three. But The Rock says this, those Cody Crybabies, the ones for every ten tweets, they're shoving a Chicken McNugget in their mouth. Every 20 tweets, they're shoving two McNuggets up their ass. The Rock says this, All you gotta do is sit back, know your role, shut your mouth, and enjoy the ride that The Rock is gonna take your candy asses on. So hashtag that. Hashtag shut your bitch asses up. Hashtag Cody Crybabies. Yeah!...That's the fun part of what we do. That's wrestling. It's pro wrestling. That's WWE. And it's awesome. And I can't wait for for this afternoon."
The Live Reaction: "It's why I go back and the funny thing about the, whether it's the CodyCrybabies or whether it's the surge of the net doing its thing within the first hour of information dropping at the end of the day, there's a few things that happen. My music hits, the place goes bananas. Look, when we went to Birmingham and we did that big face off with Roman Reigns, that was a long time coming. And if you think back, from Birmingham, from San Diego, when I said, should I sit at the head of the table, to back when we were on in Colorado saying, hey boys, we were supposed to do a match with Roman at WrestleMania 39. Yes. And it never happened. Like everything. is strategic. Everything is well thought out. And there's a story to be told there. There's a story to be told. A longer story. But, the key I feel is when you're in this position, I'm very lucky and fortunate to be in this position is to also make sure, man, that you're flexible along the way. Like the goal the North Star goal to me is to continue to build WWE as a global brand, and if this is our world of pro wrestling fans, and it's a big fan base, as you guys know, going into WrestleMania, let's cast the net. Way past this, bring new people in so they can enjoy the product and keep them here and in order to do that, let's keep our eyes on the North Star, but let's be open to how we get there. Long gamer, bud. Bring some old people back in too. Yes, definitely bring some old people."
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