So back in 1999, I'm a sophomore at Syracuse, and @davelevinthal assigns me a story for the @dailyorange on why the World Wrestling Federation can't hold a PPV-level show at the Carrier Dome. The answer is essentially that the school thought the WWF's material was too lewd. https://t.co/QqrU98HFCE— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 24, 2020
Instead, WWF stages a house show at a much smaller arena downtown. I set up an interview with the one wrestler who knows what it's like to perform at the Carrier Dome: @TheRock. He played football at Miami -- including games at the Dome. He was the perfect guy to talk about it.— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 24, 2020
He's a star at the time, but he gives 18-year-old jabroni me 25 minutes. Gracious. Kind. Helpful. He’s so accommodating that I get greedy. My dad was a newspaperman for 42 years. I know you don’t ask sources for anything. Instinct took over. Just couldn’t pass up the opportunity.— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 24, 2020
“I have a terrible answering-machine message,” I told @TheRock. You have to understand: This was pre-widespread cell phone. The landline was the only way to reach people. So the outgoing message was vital. He laughed, grabbed my recorder and asked for my roommates’ names.— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 24, 2020
He hit record. And this is what he said: “This is @TheRock, the people’s champ from the WWF. You’ve reached Jeff, Jake and Danny. So leave your name … IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS! So leave a message after the beep, if you smell what the Rock is cookin’!”— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 24, 2020