The Rock Was In Tears When Gifted A Wrestling Championship
The Rock was in tears when he was given one of his first wrestling champions as a gift, says a former AEW star.
Pro wrestling fans know Dan Lambert well due to his many appearances on AEW programming over the last few years. Lambert performed as a heel that would often be critical of the AEW wrestling product. Lambert was also a manager of wrestlers like Ethan Page and former TNT Champion Scorpio Sky as well.
In the Mixed Martial Arts world, Lambert is the founder of American Top Team and his gym has helped develop many successful fighters in promotions like UFC, Bellator, PRIDE and other places.
Lambert is also well known for his impressive wrestling belt collection. He has been featured on WWE programming as well such as their Most Wanted Treasures show.
During an appearance on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast, Lambert recalled meeting Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and presenting him with a special gift.
“I actually had the first title The Rock ever held for a while, which was the USWA Tag Title. And he came to our gym to film some reality show he was doing — MMA-related — and I actually gave him that belt. And he was like in tears getting that first belt. It meant that much to him.”
Prior to his WWE debut in 1996, The Rock was wrestling as Flex Kavana for the USWA promotion that Jerry Lawler ran in Memphis. During his run in the USWA, The Rock (as Flex Kavana) was a two-time USWA Tag Team Champion with a wrestler named Bart Sawyer.
In WWE, The Rock would go on to be a 10-time World Champion (8 WWE Titles, 2 WCW Titles), he held the Intercontinental Title two times and the WWE Tag Team Titles five times. However, that USWA Tag Team Title will always hold a special place in his heart because it was his first championship in pro wrestling.