Posted in: Fox, Opinion, Sports, TV, TV, WWE | Tagged: donald trump, dwayne johnson, opinion, the rock, trump, wwe
WWE Prez, The Rock Take "Michael Jordan" Approach to Trump, Red States
WWE President Nick Khan & TKO Board Member Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson addressed Donald Trump, red states, and The Rock's political ambitions.
Article Summary
- WWE's Nick Khan & TKO's Dwayne Johnson talk Trump & red/blue state fans on media tour.
- Johnson, now owning his name, brushes off wrestling Trump & political run.
- WWE focuses on in-ring action, welcoming fans regardless of political leanings.
- The Rock prioritizes fatherhood over politics, despite bipartisan approaches.
We think it's safe to say that the WWE, Netflix, TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (Endeavor's WWE/UFC merged company), and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had a pretty big Tuesday – from a major streaming deal and a board of directors appointment to Johnson finally gaining ownership of his name. To make sure that they got the word out, Johnson, WWE President Nick Khan, and TKO CEO Ari Emanuel made the media rounds later that day to offer more intel on what it all means – CNBC's Squawk on the Street, ESPN's First Take with Stephen A. Smith, and ESPN/YouTube's The Pat McAfee Show. But the media tour didn't end yesterday, with Johnson and Khan speaking with FOX "News" show Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Will Cain for an interview that went live yesterday. Of course, with this being FOX "News," the topic had to turn to ex-reality show host, multi-impeached ex-POTUS & WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump. Specifically, he asks for their thoughts on how a lot of WWE fans (and UFC fans) worship at Trump's alter (our paraphrasing there).
"Red states we sell out. Blue states we sell out. It's not what we're focused on. What we're focused on is the in-ring product and how it delivers to our fans. If politicians are fans of our product, they are welcome," Khan explained, apparently taking the Michael Jordan/"Republicans buy sneakers, too" approach. Cain followed that up asking if there was a possibility of Trump getting back in the ring – maybe against "The Rock"? "Listen, Rock against Donald Trump… I don't know how that will work out for Donald Trump in the ring," Khan replied, taking a very high road with his response. Honestly, the question itself smelled of not understanding just how physical pro wrestling is – even scripted. Translation? Trump would crumble into dust like a vampire going face-to-face with the sun if The Rock even arched his eyebrow too close to him – though Khan, The Rock & Cain all agreed that Trump would get a "big ovation." When you consider that waiters get a "big ovation" when they drop a tray of dishes, I'm not sure "big ovation" really means a whole helluva lot.
But what about The Rock's (he's fine being called that now since he owns his name) political ambitions? We've gone on record saying that we thought NBC's Young Rock was Johnson testing the Presidential waters – but it doesn't sound like that's something in Johnson's future. "I'm honored. I'm not a politician, never had the intention to be a politician," Johnson shared, adding that he understands the buzz – especially considering the importance of this election year. But it's not like he hasn't been approached. "I actually got approached by both parties. One after the other. I said, then, as I say now, 'I'm honored, thank you. The most important thing I'm doing now is being a daddy to my little girls.' I like school drop-offs and I like pick-ups. I like that, and I know if I were to ever go down that road, which I have no intention to, all that goes away, and I don't want that to go away," he explained.