It’s been 20 years since Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson began his wrestling career. He’s been pretty nostalgic of late, even giving an entertaining commentary on the video of his WWE debut. Now The Rock’s Seven Bucks Productions is teaming with Will Ferrell’s Gary Sanchez production house for a comedy rooted in the action star’s early pro wrestling career, reports Variety.
Also on board is Brian Gewirtz, who was head writer for the WWE. According to Variety, Fox has shown strong interest in the series and a writer attached to the FX comedy Married will script the pilot episode. More about the as-yet untitled show:
The series offers a behind-the-scenes look at a fictional professional wrestling outfit and chronicles the one-of-a-kind odd couple relationship that develops between a charismatic young character, like the The Rock, and a painfully awkward comedy writer new to the world of wrestling. A fish-out-of-water among all of these alpha males, this beta former sitcom writer needs as much help as he can get navigating the extremely passionate, sometimes crazy and always unpredictable world of professional wrestling.
In a statement quoted by Variety, Dwayne Johnson mentioned that November, 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of his Madison Square Garden debut as “Rocky Maivia. “I was 24 years old,” he said, “putting in the hard work, making $40 bucks per match and had no clue of the long journey that lay ahead of me with characters and backstage stories so colorful you’d think there’s no way that can be true.”
Johnson continued on to say that whatever fans saw in the ring was nothing “in comparison to the insanely entertaining show that goes on backstage.”
Writer Gewirtz indicated he and Johnson “had encounters and experiences that were unbelievable as well as unforgettable,” and they “can’t wait to bring this project to the fans.”
A straight-up comedy that finally puts us backstage and inside pro wrestling locker rooms? We can’t wait.
Read more details about the show at Variety.