ABC/Paula Lobo
Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? That’s not only a famous threat used by Dwayne Johnson back in his wrestling heyday, it’s now just one of the phrases he legally owns.
As reported, a deal to join the board of directors of the TKO Group, the new parent company of World Wrestling Entertainment, gave The Rock legal ownership of the wrestling moniker he brought from the ring to the big screen.
But Variety is reporting a new SEC filing revealed he also now owns dozens of other words and phrases he made famous during his wrestling days.
Some are extremely specific to Johnson, like “Rocky Maivia,” his first wrestling name, and the nickname “The Brahma Bull.” Some refer to former foes, like “candy a**” and “jabroni.” Others are arguably amusingly general, like “It doesn’t matter what…”; “Blue Hell”; and “The millions… (and millions).”
According to Variety, others include “Team Corporate”; “Rock Nation”; “The Nation”; “Roody Poo”; “If you smell what The Rock is cooking”; “The Samoan Sensation”; “The Blue Chipper”; “The Great One”; “Know Your Role and Shut Your Mouth”; “Team Bring It”; “The Rock Just Bring It”; “Rock Bottom”; “Rockpocalypse”; “Project Rock”; and the phrases “Finally, The Rock has come back to…” and “The most electrifying man in sports and entertainment.”
Similarly, Johnson now legally owns related logos and “all other nicknames, caricatures, voice, signature, gestures, routines, costumes or parts of costumes, accessories [and] crowns” worn, earned or used during his reign as a pro wrestling champ.
That naturally would cover “The People’s Eyebrow,” a signature arch that even made its way onto Maui, Johnson’s animated demigod Moana alter ego.
In short, what The Rock is likely cooking smells like money: He’d be able to monetize these phrases on apparel and the like.
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