5 Best And 5 Worst Portrayals Of Pro Wrestling In Movies And TV
8. The Worst - Young Rock
Sanitized and homogenized for your protection, Young Rock is a very polished, if not historically inaccurate, account of young Dwayne Johnson as he grows to be the most electrifying man in sports entertainment.
Where to begin with Young Rock? In concept, a semi-autobiographical show about the journey of young Dwayne Johnson seems bullet-proof. In execution, viewers are given a ham-fisted retelling of Rock's life as a child, high school student, and college football player before becoming the most electrifying man in sports entertainment. This is set against a backdrop of a near-future where the Rock is running for President and Randall Park is a boot-licking, awkward interviewer.
The problem with this idea is that a lot of history has to be "glowed up" to fit the narrative of the show. Many of the wrestlers portrayed in the show did not work for the Maivia family during that time, or at all. Part of the show takes place in 1987. In real life at that time, The Rock's father, "Soul Man" Rocky Johnson, was arrested and charged for the rape of a 19 year-old woman. This, along with several other historical accounts, were erased or changed to present Rocky and the family's image in the show.