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Videos show fans booing after The People's Champion gave a simple explanation as to why he was two hours late for a fan event at WWE World on Thursday, April 4.
The Rock said he was late because he was watching clips of Jalen Hurts, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, losing in the playoffs again.
Despite his bad guy persona, Johnson was gracious as ever in West Windsor, NJ earlier in the week, where he lifted at Ludus Performance Gym, the fitness center said on Instagram.
Owner Joe Smeck sad Johnson's team picked his "humble garage gym" "because he liked what he saw."
"I was thinking it had to be an April Fool's prank. No way, is one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to my entrepreneurial and fitness pursuits was about to walk through these doors," the post said. "Then it happened. Hood up, standing larger than life the Brahma Bull walked in looking like Black Adam!"
"After he finished up his workout and wiped down his machines, he once again walked over, shook my hand and gave my gym praise, and THEN turned around once more to say 'And by the way brotha, you look great, keep it up,'" Smeck recalled.
Smeck was involved in fitness since a child when his grandfather would wake him and his brothers up every morning for Mike's Boot Camp.
His life changed when he discovered weights as a teenager.
"Like all teenage boys, my fitness journey started off to impress girls, then transformed into a means to improve my athletic ability but quickly it became a discipline and staple in my every day life," he said.
Smeck earned his master's degree in exercise science from East Stroudsburg University and in September 2020, brought Ludus to life.
The Rock has been an inspiration to Smeck along the way, he said.
"Dwayne has been a fitness icon for years since his start in the WWE, to Scorpion King, Hercules, Pain and Gain, and his latest, Black Adam," he said. "He constantly pushes the envelope with his physicality and as a fitness professional is a true example of practice what you preach."
Smeck was floored when Johnson asked to work out in his facility.
"As one of the most successful entrepreneurs and largest personalities in the world he could've reached out to us and asked us to shut our business down so he could workout in peace but instead his personnel who was in contact with us told us that he is a business man himself and understands that we are a small business so we didn't need to shut down," Smeck tells Daily Voice.
"And when he walked through the doors of Ludus Performance he looked us in the eyes and thanked us for having him. He cleaned up after himself and once again thanked us at the very end. His presence is absolutely unbelievable the aura in the facility was surreal but at the same time he was humble and respectful of my business and myself as a professional."
The Rock will be teaming with his cousin, Roman Reigns, to take on Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins at Wrestlemania XL Night One on Saturday, April 6. It will be The Rock's first full length match in 11 years.
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