Most Americans woke up this morning
to find presidential candidate, Dwayne Johnson
in the middle of a very public social media feud
with a chiropractor from Minnesota.
Dr. Julien echo has been tweeting at candidate Johnson
since he announced his run for the presidency,
and last night, he finally got a response.
Dr. Echo had tweeted,
"Dwayne Johnson will never be my president. Went to school with him.
"Bad dude. The world needs to hear what I have to say."
To which Johnson replied,
"thirty years later and you're still a jabroni."
Echo replied, "you stole 'jabroni' from the iron sheik."
(Sig hs) Johnson, "no, I didn't.
"I asked him if it was okay for me to use the word,
"and he said yes."
Echo, "how do we know that really happened?"
Johnson, "ask the iron sheik."
Echo, "I don't want to."
Johnson, "I hate you."
Echo, "I always knew your heart was black."
And then many more exchanges that cannot be repeated on television.
Sources... (Continues indistinctly) Guys, my bad.
I'm sorry.
I thought you said you were doing a crossword.
Johnson and echo were classmates
at Washington middle school in Hawaii back in 1984.
You were just saying
that you wouldn't let anyone get under your skin like that anymore.
I know. I know.
It's just so unlike you,
you usually let that kind of thing roll off your back.
I do, usually, yes. But god, this kid...
For some reason he makes me feel like am 11 years old again
and I'm fighting in the schoolyard.
He's got a way of just digging and needling,
and he also has this really punchable face,
it's so punchable...
Uhm it's like right in the f...
Yeah, Jamie, turn off the camera
and destroy the footage.
Uh, yeah, so, technically we don't own the footage.
It belongs to the network.
Since when did you become a corporate stooge, Jamie?
(Scoffs) Wear that che Guevara t-shirt all the time
and then you say something like that?
Come on, man.
The story is breaking everywhere.
All the news outlets and social media.
Oh boy, come on, Sandy, we gotta deal with this now.
(Beeps)
(Sighs) Randall, look, I know I shouldn't have responded
but that kid has been coming for me since day one.
I mean, it's natural to wanna defend yourself.
It is, but doing something wrong
with the best of intentions isn't any excuse.
My dad used to do that all the time
and it used drive my mom and I crazy.
Like this one time in particular
when we were living in Nashville...
Oh, yeah, you started to tell me about that.
Yeah. You went there to live with your dad
while he was wrestling in the Memphis territory.
Correct. And he had told my mom
hat he had found a place for us to live, which he hadn't,
so I was stuck living with a family friend, downtown Bruno.
And my mom didn't know any of this.
And she was planning to join us in a few weeks.
And my dad told me,
by the time she got there
he was gonna have everything taken care of.
And did you believe him? Isure did.
'Cause even the though my dad worked a gimmick,
and he was the master of spin,
I was still 15 years old,
and he was still my hero.
(Groans) Adult Dwayne: My dad wrestled in Jerry lawler's show
which aired live every Saturday morning.
(Groans) And rocky gives Jeff jarrett the business.
Come on, double j!
Quit getting punched so much.
Adult Dwayne: It was the biggest thing in Memphis,
beat everything in the ratings.
Golden girls, who's the boss?
Randall: Not cheers though. Even cheers.
Randall: Even cheers?
(Crowd cheering)
Vicious clothesline!
I think that's all she wrote, folks.
Get him, soulman!
(Crowd cheering)
Bruno: Get up now, big guy. Come on!
Get up! Two, three...
(Bell ringing) Whoo!
Yeah! (Crowd cheering)
Whoo!
Lawler: Another win for rocky Johnson.
He's having a hell of a run out here, folks.
(Upbeat music playing)
Whoo!
Adult Dwayne: My dad got me work with the ring crew,
setting up before and cleaning up after matches.
Hey, dad. Great match today.
Thanks, dude.
A win against Jeff jarrett always plays huge
around here.
That's 'cause I remind everyone of their most hated cousin.
I can see that. (Chuckles)
Hey, nice match today, brother.
Thanks Bruno, you too. Oh!
Ooh, I liked when you said jarrett was 230 pounds of corn meal and sex appeal.
(Laughing)
I appreciate that. Although, all credit goes to mama.
That's how she used to describe my daddy.
Hmm. Yeah. Dude, you ready to get out of here?
Uh, yeah. Give me five minutes. All right.
I'll see you later. Yeah, all right.
I'm hitting the road.
Got a match in tupelo tonight.
So, uh...
Here, some walking around money.
Call that father-son trickle-down economics.
Tricka what? Trickle-down economics.
It's this financial theory that's gonna change society, son.
The basic idea is that people who make money, make even more money,
so that the little guy has a chance to get ahead.
That doesn't sound right.
Doesn't matter how it sounds. Matters that it works.
Hmm. Oh and I told mom that I'm gonna call her today.
Great. Give her my love.
And when I get back,
I'm gonna get us a place before she even gets here.
Don't worry about that. For sure.
I'm not worried. I got it covered. (Rocky chuckles)
Young Dwayne: E verything's going great, mom.
Dad and I are all moved in and we can't wait for you to get here.
Fantastic. So happy to hear that Dewey.
How's school? You're liking your teachers?
Now keep in mind, I'm not enrolled in school.
Why not? Well, because no one made me do it.
My mom told my dad do it.
My dad told me to do it. Then he forgot.
(Chuckles) And if no one's checking on me
I'm not gonna be like, "ooh, ooh, ooh,
"someone enroll me in school please, someone!"
I'm not doing that.
School's good. Yeah. Today we learned about...
Trickle-down economics.
Great. Hey, is your dad there?
He's at the gym.
But he sends his love.
And he said for me to tell you he'll call you tomorrow.
Hey, Dewey...
How you want your eggs?
You can have them any way as you want as long as they're scrambled.
(Shushes) (Chuckles)
Who was that?
Uh... It's just the exterminator.
Ata: Exterminator?
Are there rats in the apartment?
No, no.
Termites.
Termites?
Uh, we don't have termites.
There just spraying to make sure that we don't get them.
We know you don't like bugs.
Yeah, I hate them.
I told you if you ever see a a bug on me,
don't tell me, just knock it off,
because I will freak out.
I know, mom.
All right, well, our car is on a boat on the way to California.
I'm gonna fly out there and pick it up and drive it to Nashville.
Okay? So, I'll see you two on Saturday.
Okay, see you then.
Love you. Love you too, honey.
So bad news, we ran out of paper plates.
So, it's eggs a la road & track.
Hey, how's moms doing?
Good. She gets here next week.
Oh, damn.
So soon.
Well, it's been great having you, roomie.
She's not here yet.
How about we skip the toilet eggs go have some fun?
I mean, I reckon I could throw 'em in the fridge.
Mmm-hmm.
Ah, what the hell.
Let's tear it up.
Didn't it bother you, not telling your mom what was really going on?
It did. It really did.
But look, Randall, I didn't want to worry her.
And I knew my dad was gonna deliver before she got there.
I mean, he's showman right?
So, he likes a dramatic finish.
So, in the meantime, you were just gonna have some fun.
Oh, come on, man. I was 15 years old
in a brand new city, a great city.
Mmm-hmm. Practically unsupervised.
(Chuckles) I mean what would you do?
(Inhales) I would have had fun.
Come on. (Chuckles) Like what?
I don't know. Like watch movies...
Uh-huh. Like go out, though? Eat candy and stuff.
A lot of fun. (Chuckles)
Yeah. Sounds fun, man.
Wow!
(Guitar strumming)
(Singing) Well, I'm a honky-tonk man
and I can't seem to stop
she's really good.
Oh, yeah.
Everyone's really good in Nashville, Dewey.
You got a dream, this is where you come.
What's your dream?
To not be poor.
(Chuckles)
That's it, brother. (Chuckles)
All right. Hey!
Suck it, Bruno.
You know, I suggest you shut your pencil neck up
before my bodyguard here whoops your ass.
What are you doing? Go with it.
(Creaks)
Bruno: Oh, my god! Oh, he's tall.
Oh, I know him and I didn't even know he was that tall. Way tall.
I mean, that's a... he looks a little bit bigger than you.
Where you going?
(Laughing)
You scraped your chair back, and he almost pissed his pants.
(Both laughing)
Whoo! Oh, boy, I'm about to get a whole hell of a lot more
mouthy with your imposing self by my side.
Adult Dwayne: So Bruno and! Started hanging out pretty much all the time.
Hey, you sure you don't mind driving?
You kidding? I love driving.
Good, 'cause I love drinking beer.
(Both chuckle)
(Song continues playing)
And when the money's all gone I'm on the telephone
singing, hey, hey, mama...
Adult Dwayne: While my dad was on the road
I was on my own until my mom got there,
to do pretty much whatever! Wanted.
(Song continues playing)
I'm a honky-tonk man
and I can't seem to stop
I love to give...
Nice of your girlfriend to let you wear one of her hats.
What do you mean?
And when the money's all gone
I'm on the telephone singing hey, hey, mama
can your daddy come home?
Hey, hey, mama, can your daddy come home
well, I'm a honky-tonk man
and I can't seem to stop
(singing) And I can't seem to stop
I love to give the girls a twirl
to that old jukebox
and when the money's all gone
I'm on the telephone
singing, hey, hey, mama can your daddy come home?
Excuse me.
Oh, iwasn't...
I just have to say, you have the voice of an angel. (Chuckles)
Oh, okay. Thank you.
(Chuckles) Sorry if this seems fonnard but, uh...
Do you wanna go grab a drink?
I've noticed you're not married.
I'm 15.
Not again!
Why are all the beautiful men 15?
Adult Dwayne: And of course, my dad came back
to wrestle for law/er whenever the king needed him.
All right, downtown Bruno.
Tell everyone about this new wrestler you're managing
making his debut on the show today.
(People booing)
Oh, man. You talking about this man, right here?
(People booing) This guy right here is crusher yurkov.
6'4," 400 pounds of romping, stomping tattooed destruction.
I found this man in an alleyway head-butting a dumpster.
And let me tell you something, Jerry lawler,
that hunk of metal
got off a lot easier than rocky Johnson will.
(Crowd cheering) Hey, speak of the devil.
Rocky Johnson's here.
(All cheering)
Downtown Bruno, you weasel.
I'll whoop your ass
and then whoop the beef out of this meatball sub that just rolled in here.
Hey, you don't compare me to food!
They're not even waiting for the ring!
These two wanna kill each other!
Are you crazy?
Wait for the ring! Oh, my god!
Adult Dwayne: So yeah, I'd say my dad and I were both killing it out there.
Get him! Young Dwayne: It must have hurt.
I don't think it hurts more than any other place.
A skull tattoo? No way!
(Chuckles) That hurts way more than... hey.
Rocky? I'm crusher.
Crusher yurkov.
We met earlier when I tried to strangle you.
(Chuckles) I remember you, crusher.
Oh, good, good.
Hey, sorry for the interruption.
I just wanted to say it was a real honor to wrestle you today.
Oh, wow. Thank you.
Hey, this is my son, Dwayne.
Nice to meet you.
Me and my dad were actually just talking about you.
Yes.
Did your skull tattoo hurt?
Terribly.
Hey, I'm actually a huge fan of you and Tony atlas.
"Soul patrol" nerd, right here.
Hey, I appreciate that, brother.
(Chuckles) Watching Tony in wrestlemania 2...
It just wasn't the same without you.
You know, I always felt like you did 99% of the real wrestling in the ring.
Rocky: You see this, Dewey?
We got ourselves a student of the game.
Yes, sir. Vince McMahon sent me down here to develop my skills,
and maybe hopefully, one day, he'll call me up to the wwf.
Wwf? Nice.
Yeah. You know, I always thought you had a lot more left to do there.
You know, too bad about that whole Saudi Arabia thing,
you know, such freaky timing.
Hey.
Hey, I saw an opportunity to wrestle for another promoter, and I took it.
There's no law against trying to make some more money for your family.
No, of course, I... I...
I just meant it was bad luck...
Man, I don't need luck.
We make our own luck.
I... I meant no disrespect.
That's fine.
Don't go spreading rumors.
Bruno: Hey, brothers.
We'll have to hitch a ride to Nashville.
Looks like one of the crazy fans slashed my tires.
Damn!
Congrats, Bruno. You're getting some serious heat.
(Chuckling) I know.
People hate me so much.
Isn't it great?
Hey, you can't handle my heat,
stay outta my bathroom kitchen.
(Chuckles)
Ata: Hey, there. (Tires screech)
(Car door opens)
There are my guys!
(Chuckles)
Hey. Mom.
My goodness. It's so great to see you.
I've missed you.
Oh, we missed you too, baby.
I didn't think you were getting in until Saturday.
It is Saturday!
That's why I came straight here
because I know you always shoot Jerry's shows on Saturday.
Yes, we do. Hi, Bruno.
Hey, ata.
Uh, this is crusher.
Yeah, I just started managing him a couple weeks ago.
Hello, crusher. Ma'am.
Okay. Well, let's go.
Can't wait to see our apartment.
Great. Let's go see the apartment.
But you've been driving for a long time, babe.
I'll take your car.
Dewey, you can ride with Bruno and y'all follow us.
Yeah, that's a good idea. (Chuckles)
The car is loaded with boxes
and souvenirs and fireworks. (Chuckles)
(Rocky chuckles) The open road was basically a 2,000-mile strip mall.
(Chuckles) Yeah.
It's just that... My tire's slashed,
remember? Um...
(Song playing on radio) Thanks for the ride.
Yeah, no problem. It's a rental.
So, uh, where are we going?
I don't know.
Bruno?
No idea, brother.
Maybe he got us a place.
Maybe he's just taking us there to surprise us.
Maybe!
Yeah, yeah, maybe.
Hey.
Did I ever tell you your dad was the one who encouraged me
to get into the wrestling business?
He must have seen something in a short, skinny white kid
who could talk circles around a preacher. (Chuckles)
And believe me, he was the first.
He said to me, "you know what, Bruno?
"I'm gonna call Jerry lawler for you."
And he did.
Changed my life forever.
Your dad is a good man.
(Tires screech)
Young Dwayne: Ooh!
Yeah, that's not good.
I don't think he got the place.
Nope. Maybe not.
(Tires continue screeching) Maybe not.
(Tires screech)
Rocky: Babe, baby. Come on.
Where the hell were we going?
Where were you even driving to?
Long John silver's!
I was gonna tell you on the way I didn't get an apartment
then smooth it over with some fish.
Somem
why didn't you just get an apartment?
You had one job!
Hey, I happen to have a wrestling job,
a very real job that takes me all over this territory
to make money for this family.
You told me he had an apartment.
You said the exterminator was there!
He said he was gonna get a place before you got here.
So where have you two been living?
I'm here and there, you know, in and out of town, just bouncing around, really.
Bouncing around?
And I've been staying with Bruno.
Hey-o.
With Bruno?
If you don't mind, gentlemen, I'm just gonna interject real quick. I just wanna say,
you know, we have been very responsible.
All right? No shenanigans.
And even when I've only had a few beers...
Bruno. Dewey drives us home,
super safe. You're driving?
Barely.
Mostly, he's just my bodyguard.
What? Yeah. I mean, only at the rougher bars, of course.
Bruno. I'm gonna go move the Nissan.
Butt's a little too close to the road.
Wait, so who's been taking you to school? (Car door opens)
Yeah, Dewey. How is school?
(Car door closes) It's summer.
It's October.
Are you not in school?
I couldn't enroll myself. An adult needs to take me.
I didn't know that.
Bruno, why didn't you enroll him?
Well, shoot, brother. I don't know.
I guess that's on me.
I can't believe you've both been lying to me.
Dad said he had a plan. Now...
(Engine starts) Everyone just take a breath.
He didn't have a plan, Dewey!
Babe, I did have a plan.
Adult Dwayne: That was a tough time for all of us,
but especially for my mom.
We had so much stuff going on back then.
And I've spoken a little bit about this publicly,
but this story is about my dad
and having good intentions, but still making mistakes.
Well, I can understand why you wanted to believe
what he was telling you, though.
Yeah, I mean, this person who's been your hero your entire life,
and it's hard to wrap your head around the idea
that maybe he's not the person who you think he is.
So what happened after that?
Well, first, my mom enrolled me in school,
and then she found us an apartment to live in.
(Upbeat music playing)
(Grunts) (Sighs)
(Chuckles) Hey.
Hey, this is nice. It will be, yeah.
Hey, what do you say we break in that kitchen with two words...
Cheese, burgers.
It'll just be me and Dewey for dinner tonight, rocky.
It'll just be me and Dewey for dinner for a while here.
Oh, come on, baby.
(Chuckles) I know you're still upset with me...
You can stay with Bruno whenever you're "bouncing through town."
If that's what you want.
None of this is what I want, but it's what it is.
(Door closes)
(Car door closes)
Thanks for the ride, mom.
Of course.
You sure you don't wanna come in,
say hi to everyone? I'm sure.
I'll see you at home.
Adult Dwayne: I understood how my mom felt.
My dad had let us both down.
(Indistinct chatter)
Lawler: Ooh! Another hit!
And crusher yurkov is holding his own
against the veteran rocky Johnson!
Looks like rocky's setting him up for a drop kick.
But crusher has other ideas.
(Thuds)
Oh, impressive athletic ability for a man that size.
The champ looks stunned.
He's reelin', folks.
The big man's got him right where he wants him.
(Thuds) (Crowd booing)
Hey, son, how you doing?
Fine. (Grunts)
Hey, how's your mom? That's right, baby!
Choke him out!
Hey, miss you, roomie. How's moms doing? Announcer: Three...
Hey, that's what I just asked.
She's doing fine.
Announcer1two... look, you know your mom and me.
We go through our ups and downs, but we always see it through.
Bruno: Stop the count!
I'll give you a ride home today, okay?
(Crowd booing) Man: Get back in the ring.
Yeah, I don't know.
It's only been a week. She's still pretty upset. Announcer: One!
What the hell's going on over here?
Everyone okay? Nobody's got the clap, right?
The clap?
Yeah. It's going around.
Everyone be careful. Take care of yourjunk.
Look, it's just a ride.
I won't come in, I promise.
Yeah, okay.
All right, let's get back to work.
Thank you, son. Agh!
(Thuds) (Crowd booing)
Lawler: These two are crazy!
So, how's school?
Dad. What?
I just want to talk.
What's there to talk about?
I believed you when you said you were taking care of things,
and it all blew up in my face?
You're right to be upset, okay?
I'm upset too.
I know I kept you in the dark about all this, but I do have a plan.
It just... didn't come together in time.
(Slow music playing on radio)
Where are we going?
To show you the reason I didn't get us a place.
It's because I couldn't get us a place like this.
Man, I wanted us to live somewhere good,
like back when I was wwf champ.
Better, even.
Dad, we don't need a place like this.
I'm gonna get us a place like this.
I promise. I'll make it happen.
I had us on top once before.
I'll get us there again.
(Chuckles) (Car door opens)
Randall: And did you believe him?
I believed that that was genuinely what he wanted to do.
Bestuflenfions. Exacfly.
But my dad's choices really put my mom and I in a tough spot.
And even though we came to an understanding in that car ride,
that was just the beginning of my journey with my dad.
(Door closes) And things would get even more complicated down the road.
All right. So we drafted up a media strategy to deal with this.
Wrote up a press release,
booked you on the Sunday show circuit.
But then we were like, "why the hell are we indulging this jerk?"
Yeah, why would we amplify him and give him an even larger platform?
So instead, we think, we should destroy him from the shadows.
Whoa. I'll get our guys started
on digging up dirt on Dr. Echo.
Guys, I appreciate this,
but we're not gonna do that.
After talking with Randall here, I realized
that making a mistake with the best of intentions is one thing,
but making a mistake with the worst...
It's just not me.
(Chuckles)
Yeah, our chat got pretty deep.
(Chuckung)
Hey, uh, Jamie, you get that?
I did, because luckily,
I didn't destroy the digital card.
We get it, Jamie. You're a hero.
All hail Jamie, doer of herjob.
You know, but you guys are right.
We shouldn't give him a larger platform, and the 24-hour news cycle
moves fast, and tomorrow, they'll be on to the next thing.
So let's just ignore it and let it die.
Okay, sure.
I just need to make a call real quick.
You already called your guys, didn't you?
I did.