WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the series premiere of Young Rock, "Working the Gimmick," which aired Tuesday on NBC.
NBC's Young Rock details the upbringing of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson across many different decades so viewers can get insight into how his formative years in a wrestling family shaped his career. The audience sees the time spent with his dad, Rocky Johnson, Andre the Giant and the Wild Samoans, and how his mom, Lia, and her mother, Ata, influenced him in his career.
But in the series premiere, as the show dives into the late '80s after the family moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, it also reveals how Dwayne's first heroic moment ended in comedic tragedy.
Played by Bradley Constant, Dwayne's going through your typical teen angst at Freedom High School, wanting superficial things without working for them. His dad isn't bringing in big bucks and his mom's struggling as a housekeeper, cleaning five houses so they can make rent and pay bills. Not helping matters is the fact that Dwayne's considered a freak in school due to his size and mustache.
Still, he doesn't show consideration to his mom as he keeps whining about wanting a car for himself. She has to catch buses to get around and home, but Dwayne's caught up in his own world. Things get so bad that he shoplifts clothes and brand-name sneakers to build a public image, which admittedly does work, impressing a cosmetic girl named Karen. Dwayne eventually gets invited to a party, and using the $103 he saved from his pizza job, he ends up buying an old, rickety Thunderbird from a really shady guy.
The man looks like a hobo, but Dwayne doesn't care because all he wants to do is cruise around, impress classmates and look good for Karen. Ironically, after buying the car, there's a real hobo in the backseat named Waffles, who scares Dwayne and his bestie, Gabe. Waffles brokers a deal where he gets to kick it with them once he gets them some beer for their party, but along the way, he also offers Dwayne some advice.
Waffles tells Dwayne material people won't be there for him and he needs to focus on those that matter. As a result, Dwayne ditches the party and picks his mom up at the bus stop, scrubbing his selfish ways. When they arrive, Waffles is in the backseat and scares "Mama Rock," but she's just glad her son's maturing. Unfortunately, just as Waffles is about to offer one last important bit of advice, he rolls over and dies. After calling 911, Dwayne runs away, once again proving to be a coward, but later, as an adult, Rock tells Randall Park about the incident on TV, admitting that every time he passes a Waffle House, he remembers his buddy who was taken too soon.
Starring Dwayne Johnson, Joseph Lee Anderson, Stacey Leilua, Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu, Ana Tuisila, Fasitua Amosa and John Tui, Young Rock airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.