The Rock really wanted to do an interview for his Web site, TheRock.com. He really did. Unfortunately, he’s The Rock, and he also seemingly had 2,000 other things to do Tuesday night before the live SmackDown! event at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. And then there was an eight-man tag team match that he had to get ready for.
However, he did manage to squeeze in a few minutes for an interview - just after he had met a couple of Make-A-Wish Foundation children, and just before he was summoned to Vince McMahon’s office. As he was leaving the arena after the show, The Rock promised that he’d do Part 2 of the interview during Unforgiven weekend. So, here we present Part 1 of our interview with The Rock.
TheRock.com: A lot of people say it takes time to get back into ring shape. You’ve been back for about a month now. Has the ring rust gone away? Do you feel 100 percent comfortable in the ring yet?
The Rock: Well, I feel extremely comfortable in the ring because I feel like the ring is like my second home, having grown up in this business. And far as for having ring rust, I think I was fairly lucky not to have that much ring rust. A goal of mine -- regardless of how ambitious -- was when I was away doing the film ("The Scorpion King"), to come back quicker, faster, and better than when I left. From what I’m told by my contemporaries and my teammates, I did it.
TheRock.com: You seem to look leaner since last time we saw you. Is that true? If so, is that by design?
The Rock: I’m definitely leaner. I probably dropped 10-15 pounds from when I left after WrestleMania. It was by design. I wanted to get a better grip on my nutrition - not that I was heavy when I left or anything like that - and have a better understanding of overall nutritional value. It’s not like I went on a diet or anything, I just became extremely aware of what I was eating and when I was eating it. And as fans know, I’ve never ever concerned myself with being the biggest guy in the company. I’ve never concerned myself with being the strongest guy in the company. I didn’t have to then nor will I ever have to be the most muscular guy in the company. I’ve always concerned myself with just being the absolute best.
TheRock.com: Would you say this is your ideal weight right now? Or are you looking to add or drop a few pounds?
The Rock: I’m absolutely fine with it. I don’t even know how much I weigh.
TheRock.com: Are you actually done with the movie? Don’t you have some voiceovers to do still?
The Rock: No, I’ve pretty much taken care of all the voiceovers. I probably will have to do some re-shoots after the director shows us his cut, which will be in about a month. It all depends. I’m assuming there’s some re-shoots we have to do. Just a couple. A scene or two.
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TheRock.com: How’s fatherhood treating you?
The Rock: Fantastic.
TheRock.com: There’s been a lot of talk about new movies being written for you. Can you comment on that?
The Rock: Right now they’re just scripts that are in development -- projects that are in development. And Universal is working extremely hard at finding not just projects for me, but the right projects. They’ve got a couple of great writers over there who are writing these scripts right now. A lot of the studios are working hard at developing projects as well, but all the studios are well aware of my commitments to the World Wrestling Federation, and well aware that there is a lot of smack to be layed down before I do something else.
TheRock.com: There was a rumor that the next movie you will do will be an action comedy. Where would you like the next picture to be?
The Rock: The first two movies were period films, and while fantastic - "The Mummy Returns" (has earned) I think almost half a billion dollars now, worldwide -- both films are period films. What is certain is that the next film has to be a contemporary film - today, right now, The Rock -- whether it’s a buddy action comedy, or whether it’s an ensemble action suspense film. It all depends. I think the one thing that we’re all clear on is that it’s contemporary.
TheRock.com: These appearances that you’re doing -- Conan, Howard, Rosie - are they to promote your movie?
The Rock: Well, no, they’re definitely not to promote the movie because the movie doesn’t come out until April. Ideally, it would’ve been good to do these four weeks ago when I came back. But we, for some reason or another, couldn’t get it done. So we do these now - Rosie, Conan and Howard Stern - and it’s basically to talk about being back in the Federation and what it means to me.
TheRock.com: One thing all these shows have in common, if I’m not mistaken, is that you’ve never been on them before.
The Rock: Exactly.
TheRock.com: Is that a coincidence?
The Rock: It is coincidental. I mean, it wasn’t a concerted effort and a well-navigated plan to put Rock on shows he’s never been on. It just so happened, through coincidence, that they are all shows I’ve never been on. What I like is, No. 1, I do like that I’ve never been on them. But No. 2, I like the huge discrepancy between Conan, Rosie O’Donnell and Howard Stern.
