How is The Rock preparing for WrestleMania 40? All you need to know about his special training camp
The Rock will return to the wrestling ring for a full-fledged match after a decade, as he last competed against John Cena in 2013, excluding his impromptu bout with Eric Rowan at WrestleMania 32. A lot of time has passed since then and therefore, The Great One is training hard to get rid of any potential ring rust ahead of WrestleMania 40.
During a recent interview with ESPN, Brian Gewirtz shed light on how the Hollywood star is preparing for his huge tag team match at The Show of Shows. The Rock started his training in the first week of February this year, with WWE making special arrangements for him.
The Stamford-based promotion shipped two rings for The Final Boss, with one being in Los Angeles, where he resides and the other being in Hawaii, where he lives with his family. The Rock started his physical training in LA with three NXT wrestlers in his training camp, which was set up in a warehouse.
On the other hand, the 52-year-old has been training alone in the ring that was set up in Hawaii, where he also spent some time with his family. The Brahma Bull has been following a strict diet and leaving no stone unturned to prepare for his blockbuster tag team match against Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in Philadelphia.
The training camp in Los Angeles also had WWE producers Michael Hayes and Bobby Roode, who supervised The Rock's training sessions. Besides, it also had veteran referee Chad Patton, who has been officiating the entirety of his sessions in the camp and the WWE medical team, which has been looking after him.
The Rock has been practicing limited moves in the gym
The Hollywood star has been firing on all cylinders, preparing his body to hit the ring on April 6th in Philadelphia. However, the most notable thing is that he has not been practicing many mobility drills in his training sessions, which could be because of several factors.
The Rock is rehearsing some limited movesets, which include suplexes, moves from the top rope, collisions and a few other moves that accommodate tag team action. The Great One is focusing more on timing-based maneuvers in the squared circle than sequences that require much agility and speed.
Therefore, the 52-year-old star has been taking good care to prevent himself from getting injured ahead of his huge tag team match at WrestleMania XL, as he has been extremely fastidious. He has been working hard on both of his training camps in Los Angeles and Huwaii, including a good diet.
It will be interesting to see one of pro wrestling's biggest stars return to in-ring action after a long time, as The Rock is currently involved in one of the most compelling storylines in WWE.