Warren Sapp Says The Rock Got Most of His WWE Catchphrases From Ed Orgeron
Warren Sapp joined Shannon Sharpe on the "CLUB SHAY SHAY" podcast and discussed playing football at Miami with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Sapp had a lot to say about his former college teammate but perhaps the most noteworthy thing he revealed is that a lot of the catchphrases Johnson used in professional wrestling originated from Ed Orgeron.
Orgeron coached the defensive line at Miami from 1988 to 1992 and had both Sapp and Johnson as pupils. Sapp told Sharpe that "candyass" and "shoving it sideways" were among things Orgeron used to say to the linemen if they had a bad practice or game. Johnson just adapted them to his character once he debuted in WWE.
Check this out:
.@WarrenSapp ranks Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s football skills as a 6:
— Club Shay Shay (@ClubShayShay) January 12, 2021
“Dwayne was the type of player who wasn’t going to dominate a game or take it over. But he was good enough to where he wasn’t going to lose the game for you.” pic.twitter.com/M8vwhqYER2
Hey, the best actors use things they observe in real life to enhance their characters. Wrestlers are no different.
It's really interesting to hear Sapp talk about Johnson as a football player, putting his skills at "a six" while marking his own as "an eight." Sapp is a Hall of Famer so The Rock being at a six is pretty damn good. It also sounds like Johnson's Miami teammates always knew he could go into wrestling and be successful because of his charisma.
Sapp talks about the rest of his career in the interview, and it's definitely worth listening to.