{"id":124024,"date":"2024-04-16T08:37:03","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T12:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=124024"},"modified":"2024-04-16T08:37:03","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T12:37:03","slug":"the-rock-begins-the-smashing-machine-mma-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/04\/16\/the-rock-begins-the-smashing-machine-mma-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rock Begins &#8220;The Smashing Machine&#8221; MMA Movie\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;The Rock&#8221;<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0has started work on his next movie The Smashing Machine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dwayne Johnson revealed he was beginning work on the MMA biopic, this week, following his <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/04\/01\/preview-wwe-raw-4-1-24\/\" target=\"_self\">three-month return<\/a> to the WWE.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Johnson claimed he had made wrestling cool again during this period.\u00a0<\/span><strong><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">WrestleMania 40<\/span><\/em><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0was an overwhelming success thanks in part to &#8220;The Rock&#8217;s&#8221; in-ring return. Viewership, social media engagement, and live attendance all set new records for <em><strong>WWE<\/strong><\/em> <em><strong>WrestleMania.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Rock&#8221; also shared details of his extensive 12-week\u00a0<em>WrestleMania 40\u00a0<\/em>training camp and heaped praise on\u00a0<strong>Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>Seth Rollins\u00a0<\/strong>in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheRock\/status\/1779970100759601214\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this video on X.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">WWE is also experiencing a record run of consecutive TV sellouts. But the company will have to do without Johnson as he commits to telling the gritty story of MMA star <\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Mark Kerr.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Here&#8217;s everything we can expect from The Smashing Machine movie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Enjoy your Sunday cheat meals, my friends.<\/p>\n<p>My 12 week training camp for WrestleMania ended last week and I\u2019ll start my new training camp tomorrow for my next film, The Smashing Machine.<\/p>\n<p>When training camps + diets gets super strict, I treat my cheat days, like a glorious\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iXAeFkopwd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/iXAeFkopwd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheRock\/status\/1779970786448576599?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 15, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Smashing Machine Mark Kerr<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Smashing Machine will tell the story of former\u00a0<\/span><strong><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ultimate Fighting Championship<\/span><\/em><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0(UFC) Champion\u00a0<\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Mark Kerr.<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Johnson will play the lead role of Kerr, who struggled at the height of his fame with an opioid addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Johnson is a board member of TKO Holding Group, the holding company that owns both the UFC and the WWE.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Smashing Machine is based on the 2002 documentary of the same name. It follows Kerr at the height of his MMA career while reliant on pain medication. He also has a tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend\u00a0<\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dawn Staples<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0as he attempts to get clean. Dawn is an addict who struggles with alcohol abuse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Emily Blunt is rumored to play the role of Dawn Staples across from Johnson as Kerr.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Smashing Machine was written by Benny Safdie along with Kerr. It will be directed by Safdie. Safdie has appeared as an actor in movies including Oppenheimer and Liquorice Pizza.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Smashing Machine - Trailer\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-7DO5c7gWNw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Who Was Mark Kerr?<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Kerr was a celebrated college wrestler and childhood WWE fan. He went on to win Gold at the 1994 World Cup and Silver at the 1996 Pan American Games.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">However, he missed out on the 1996 USA Olympic Wrestling team.\u00a0<\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Kurt Angle<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0would famously win Gold for the USA at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, Georgia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Kerr switched to MMA and joined the UFC. His first tournament was at UFC 14 where he won the World Heavyweight title. The UFC was banned in various States as US Senator John McCain deemed it &#8216;human cockfighting&#8217;. It continued as an underground sport.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Kerr began fighting in the Japanese promotion Pride Fighting Championship to benefit from better pay. It will be this period of his life that the movie is likely to focus on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Smashing Machine is a joint production between A24 &#8211; the studio behind <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2023\/12\/13\/wrestling-legends-wwe-aew-turn-the-iron-claw\/\" target=\"_self\">The Iron Claw<\/a> &#8211; and Seven Bucks Productions and Flynn Picture Company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Joe Rogan - Kurt Angle - The Smashing Machine Documentary - Fighting Mark Kerr&amp;Pain Killer Addiction\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dTwLKe9I8lc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/h3>\n<p><em>Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013\u00a0<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/watch.wwe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">WWE Network<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Peacock<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The Rock&#8221;\u00a0has started work on his next movie The Smashing Machine.\u00a0 Dwayne Johnson revealed he was beginning work on the MMA biopic, this week, following his three-month return to the WWE. Johnson claimed he had made wrestling cool again during this period.\u00a0WrestleMania 40\u00a0was an overwhelming success thanks in part to &#8220;The Rock&#8217;s&#8221; in-ring return. Viewership, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3852,"featured_media":124036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7205,139,4,3],"tags":[1454,245,8859,550],"class_list":["post-124024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-ufc","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-dwayne-johnson","tag-kurt-angle","tag-mark-kerr","tag-the-rock"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3852"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}