The Rock Suffers Injury While Shooting Latest Movie

Dwayne Johnson reveals elbow injury suffered while filming The Smashing Machine.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE Raw The Rock Cody Rhodes
WWE

With some fans hoping The Rock will be back in a WWE ring at this year's SummerSlam, any such plans may have been dashed due to the Great One having now suffered an injury while shooting his latest movie, The Smashing Machine.

Taking to Instagram, Dwayne Johnson revealed a huge lump on his elbow, with him speculating that he may have suffered soft tissue damage and adding how he'll need to get the elbow drained of liquid before he's able to have an MRI.

In typical Rock fashion, the Final Boss advised that tequila - his own Teremana brand, of course - is the best medicine for any such issues before ending the video to head to the gym.

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Having impressed at WrestleMania XL in his first proper match in 11 years - discounting a six-second squash win over Erick Rowan at 'Mania 32 - there's been plentiful rumblings that The Rock is being lined up for matches with Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns. While it seems hard to imagine the People's Champion won't be wrestling at WrestleMania 41, others have also speculated that he may even do something at SummerSlam this August.

When, where, and if those Rock vs. Cody and Rock vs. Roman matches take place remains to be seen, with the latest reports indicating that the Rhodes bout is penciled in for WrestleMania 41. As is ever the case, though - and as seen in the build to this year's Showcase of the Immortals - plans can always change several times when it comes to these things.

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As for The Smashing Machine, from A24 and directed by Uncut Gem's Benny Sadfie, that movie is the story of the life and career of MMA icon Mark Kerr. Produced by Dwayne Johnson's Seven Bucks company and also featuring Emily Blunt, Lyndsey Gavin, Oleksandr Usy and Ryan Bader, The Smashing Machine is currently targeting a December 2024 release.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.