WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the series premiere of Young Rock, "Working the Gimmick."
NBC's Young Rock doesn't pull any punches when it comes to Dwayne Johnson poking fun at himself. Sure, it's an emotive story about how he grew up with his parents in the wrestling business, but it's also covers a lot of comedic ground in terms of his current career as an actor and where he plans to be in the future.
To properly do this, the show dives deep into '80s and modern-day wrestling, as well as Hollywood, and carves out quite a few funny pop culture references in the premiere.
Early on, it's revealed that the Rock's going to be running for president in 2032 as he's a man trusted by the people. However, the press doesn't ask much, being skeptical of another celebrity taking the presidential reins. A newspaper headline is shown, which reads, "Too fast. Too furious. Too famous?" poking fun at Dwayne as Hobbs in the Fast & Furious franchise as reporters question if he'll be a narcissist in the role.
At a philanthropy function, he defects and plucks a squash, calling it "bigger than Kevin Hart's ego," playing off the movies he starred in with the actor. They have such great chemistry on and off-screen in movies like Central Intelligence and the Jumanji reboot, so it's a funny nod.
The Jumanji franchise is referenced again later on when Dwayne is being interviewed. It's mentioned that Ludacris throws him off a train in Jumanji 5, once more poking fun at Fast & Furious and the entertainment industry's obsession with sequels. The kicker in this conversation is the Rock is due to play Gene Simmons, KISS frontman, in a biopic, despite looking nothing like him. All of this is conveyed to Randall Park, as they make light of Park's failed film career in the episode and how he's turned into an entertainment journalist in a hilariously meta moment.
As for the wrestling jabs, when Rock reveals to Park that every time he opens the fridge, he yells, "Can you tell that the Rock is hungry?!" which is a play off of his signature WWE line, "Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?!" We also get scenes with his dad, Rocky Johnson, the Wild Samoans, Junkyard Dog, Iron Sheik and Andre the Giant in a look behind the curtains in the '80s as they break kayfabe. His dad even pranks his university mates years later, telling them Rock will be on a Wheaties box, a top honor for athletes. Stone Cold graced it but sadly, it's a dream the Rock would never achieve.
Last but not least, high school Rock drops the iconic People's Eyebrow when he's trying to play all suave, winning over Karen. He also uses it to convince classmates he's a rich aristocrat named Tomas and not a narc like Johnny Depp in 21 Jump Street, due to his size and facial hair, which even the teachers think make him look like an adult.
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.