The Rock provides a glimpse into his WrestleMania training.
On April 6, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will return to the ring as he teams up with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a tag match against Cody Rhodes and Seth “Freakin” Rollins on night one of WrestleMania 40. Johnson’s last in-ring appearance took place eight years ago, when he swiftly defeated Erick Rowan at WrestleMania 32. In preparation for his in-ring return, Johnson received some added assistance from several WWE staff members.
According to ESPN, WWE supplied Johnson with two wrestling rings along his Road to WrestleMania training journey. One of the rings was shipped to Johnson’s city of residence, Los Angeles, California, where a team of WWE officials and talent coordinated training sessions with him. While WWE Hall of Famer Michael Hayes and former United States Champion Bobby Roode (both of whom also work as backstage producers) provided supervision, referee long-time referee Chad Patton officiated the training sessions. WWE medical personnel were also on-site to ensure the safety of all parties involved.
Given that Johnson was gearing up for a tag team match, WWE also enlisted the help of Gallus (Mark Coffey, Joe Coffey, and Wolfgang) from the NXT brand to simulate practice matches with Johnson. Though they may be a part of WWE’s developmental brand, Mark, Joe, and Wolfgang entered this venture with a combined 50 years of wrestling.
Additional Training
When Johnson wasn’t working with the WWE team in Los Angeles, he spent some time training alone near his family home in Hawaii. This was also the location of the second ring sent by WWE. Johnson’s training has also carried over to the road as well, most recently at the site of Monday’s episode of WWE Raw – Brooklyn, New York. There, Johnson, Reigns, Rollins, and Rhodes completed a full rehearsal of their tag team match. They will meet once more later today in Philadelphia.
In describing his training sessions, Johnson noted that he was more focused on perfecting his “timing” in the ring. “Suplexes, a launch off the top rope, a catch, like bodies hitting bodies,” Johnson said. “It’s things like that that you have to do and have to prepare for. And you’re getting bruised up, you’re hitting the ropes. It comes back fairly quick. … It’s like riding a bike.”
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