The Rock gave his entrance song a fresh twist by sampling Lil Wayne’s classic “Tha Block Is Hot.”
At WWE SmackDown on Feb. 21, fans heard The Rock’s signature “if ya smell” catchphrase blend into Lil Wayne’s hit, while New Orleans visuals lit up the screen.
After the show, The Rock broke down his music choice: “I’ve always been a big fan of Lil Wayne. I’ve always been a big fan of Louisiana hip-hop from Master P, Juvenile, Birdman, 504. All of those guys,” said Johnson. “Those are my guys. I came up in Miami and South Florida. Those are my influences. I love all of those guys. I felt like, we’re coming to New Orleans.”
The Rock then dropped even bigger news, linking the music choice to an epic announcement.
“I have a big announcement: we are bringing WrestleMania to New Orleans,” he explained. “For years, before I would go out and wrestle in these matches, whether here in New Orleans or around the world throughout the United States, I was always listening to all of those guys. I figured, now I’m going to go out, let’s take a moment. I wanted to give love and respect to the OGs.”
“This is Lil Wayne’s city. I love Kendrick, that’s my guy. I love the NFL and I love the Super Bowl. I loved his performance,” Johnson continued. “It was my way of showing love to the OG of New Orleans and that’s Lil Wayne. ‘Tha Block is Hot,’ specifically, I wanted that one.”
This Rock shoutout hits different considering Weezy missed out on that Super Bowl performance he wanted. But back in December, Wayne kept it cool about the whole thing – even dishing out some wisdom to Kendrick Lamar and making it clear there was no beef.
“Obviously he can’t control that, you know? So he didn’t let me down,” said Wayne in an interview with Skip Bayless. “It ain’t like he can control it or nothing. And also I’ve spoken to him and I wished him all the best and told him he better kill it.”
