S01:E03 Forward, Together

[AgentRXS]

Quote

Hawaii, 1982: When wrestlers start dropping out of Lia's Battle Royale, she suspects a rival promoter may be to blame. As Rocky's wrestling career skyrockets, Ata takes a leap of faith to pursue a musical dream.

Original Air Date: March 2, 2021

[thuganomics85]

Noticed that they only had Randall Park for the opening introduction, and most of Dwayne Johnsons' stuff was through voiceovers.  Still wonder if that is going to be the endgame for his involvement at some point.

To bust out an old wrestling term,  I definitely "marked" out a bit when they brought their version of "Macho Man" Randy Savage onto the show.  That was a fun appearance!  Surprised they actually introduced Vince McMahon as well.  I guess it would be hard not to, but he's definitely a controversial and polarizing figure to put it mildly.  I didn't quite buy the actor in the role, but to be fair, I only know the Vince on camera who is usually ramping up the arrogance and smug business man persona, so I imagine he wasn't always like that behind closed doors.

Still enjoy the early stories of The Rock and all of the various interactions with the pro wrestlers during that day.  Iron Sheik would totally be the guy that needs a list of what NOT to say during a family gathering!

Liked them delving more into Dwayne's grandfather/Peter Maivia this time.

Still enjoying the show.

[rmontro]

13 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

I definitely "marked" out a bit when they brought their version of "Macho Man" Randy Savage onto the show.

He was my favorite wrestler ever, so yeah it was good to see him.  There have been so many "Macho Man" impersonations over the years, I was a little surprised they went with such a restrained version of his voice.  

Interesting how they went with "kid" Rock instead of older teen Rock this week.  They really must be going to skip around.  I was looking forward to see some continuation from last week about his girlfriend and the other student who called wrestling the "F" word.  Or maybe that was supposed to be the end of the story.

[seacliffsal]

Too much about wrestlers I can't keep track of as well as wrestling issues.  I have never been a fan of or known about the world of wrestling so this wasn't very entertaining to me.  Maybe they are trying to tell too many stories?

[Ailianna]

The only wrestler I recognize is Andre the Giant, and I recognize him from The Princess Bride. But the story is easy enough to follow. His dad is being tempted to leave grandma's promotions operations for another guy who is offering a seemingly better deal. Grandma is trying to keep her business going. I think this is actually going to be more about his dad and mom than about Rock, since they are in every episode and are more clearly drawn already than anyone else. A bit of cinematic love letter. I'm enjoying it so far, so I'll stick around.

[rmontro]

2 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

Too much about wrestlers I can't keep track of as well as wrestling issues.  I have never been a fan of or known about the world of wrestling so this wasn't very entertaining to me. 

I remember all those wrestlers but I'm not proud of it lol.  

[AgentRXS]

I have a soft spot for ‘80s (and 90s,tbh) wrestling so I really enjoyed this episode. I give this show a lot of credit for even attempting to portray Andre the Giant and the actor is doing a good job of selling it the best he can. 
It’s harmless fun and better then I thought it would be. 
 

[tennisgurl]

Interesting that they put the framing device on the backburner this time with Randall Park only doing a brief voice over. I wonder if the framing device will sometimes be more important and sometimes not. If this show goes on for a few seasons, will we see if The Rock becomes president? 

So it seems like every episode will focus on a different part of Dwayne's life, so this week we got his childhood and next week will be college? I really like seeing so many of the wrestlers of that era, even if I really only know about wresting through pop culture osmosis. I continue to really like the show, its cute and funny and the different timelines allow for a lot of different stories. The show seems to be just as much about Dwayne's family as it is about Dwayne, which I am enjoying. 

This week we also got a brief cameo by Macho Man Randy Savage, another wrestler I know! Its like playing wrestling Bingo!

[rmontro]

7 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Interesting that they put the framing device on the backburner this time with Randall Park only doing a brief voice over. I wonder if the framing device will sometimes be more important and sometimes not. If this show goes on for a few seasons, will we see if The Rock becomes president? 

The name of the show is Young Rock, so how much focus can they put on the framing device?  Maybe they're setting up for the spinoff, Future Rock, or Rock in Chief.

I agree it's nice they're featuring his family so much.  Most good shows need a good ensemble.

[Kel Varnsen]

I think Hawaii Rock is my favourite storyline and not just because of all the vintage wrestlers, but because it is more a story about his dad/mom and grandma rather than a story about High School Rock.

Although I am not really sure what the debate was vs WWF versus the other promotion. I mean even back then it seems like the better bet would be mid-card wrestler in the national WWF vs the number one guy in a regional promotion.

On 3/3/2021 at 6:15 PM, rmontro said:

He was my favorite wrestler ever, so yeah it was good to see him.  There have been so many "Macho Man" impersonations over the years, I was a little surprised they went with such a restrained version of his voice.  

I noticed that too. When I was a kid back in the 80's it seemed every kid in my grade (at least all the boys) could do at least a half decent Macho Man impression. I was surprised this guy didn't sound more like him.

[reggiejax]

On 3/16/2021 at 7:15 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

Although I am not really sure what the debate was vs WWF versus the other promotion. I mean even back then it seems like the better bet would be mid-card wrestler in the national WWF vs the number one guy in a regional promotion.

Except WWF wasn't national at that particular time. That move was imminent, but it hadn't happened yet. They were one of the bigger regional organizations, but were still regional nonetheless. In truth, there was no national wrestling organization back then, save for the NWA, which itself was a coalition of regional organizations. 

I do love that this show is taking me back to my peak wrestling fan years. When I was a kid, and my love for wrestling was a lot more pure. 

Edited March 20, 2021 by reggiejax

[Kel Varnsen]

13 minutes ago, reggiejax said:

Except WWF wasn't national at that particular time. That move was imminent, but it hadn't happened yet

In the world of the show it was. Rocky and Ata were watching a match of his on TV that was on a syndicated WWF show. He even commented that Vince had taken WWF national.

 

[DearEvette]

I just got into this on a whim and am enjoying it so far.  I agree the youngest Rock in Hawaii is my favorite.  I love the inside peek at wrestling and seeing all the old skool wrestlers back when even I watched wrestling.  It was fun because it was basically a soap opera with storylines but acted out in a ring.  Glad to see more of them since the pilot esp. Macho Man (my favorite), Junkyard Dog and Rick Flair.

I love his dad.  The actor who plays him is charismatic.

Edited March 28, 2021 by DearEvette