The Rock couldn’t resist.
Appearing on “WWE SmackDown” on Friday night at FedExForum, The Rock — the ring name for Dwayne Johnson — started off by talking about his affinity for Memphis. His wrestling career started at the WMC-TV Channel 5 wrestling studio. His father, Rocky Johnson, also wrestled in Memphis.
Then he launched into a song, mostly to call out Cody Rhodes and Seth “Freakin” Rollins, who he’s in an ongoing feud with as part of a WWE storyline ahead of WrestleMania. But then he added something else about Memphis.
“You’re simply an embarrassment, son,” he sang about Rollins. “Just like Ja Morant when he’s waving a gun.”
A photo of Morant appeared on the big screen, and that led to boos from the crowd, even as The Rock paused for a second to yell, “I love you, Ja. We love you, brother. Get well soon!”
Morant, the star guard for the Memphis Grizzlies, was suspended for the first 25 games of the NBA season because of multiple gun-related incidents, including when he appeared to flash a gun on an Instagram Live video. He played in only nine games before suffering a shoulder injury shortly after returning from the suspension. He had surgery and was ruled out for the year.
As for The Rock, he was briefly interrupted during his “SmackDown” segment by a “Whoop That Trick” chant from the crowd. He continued by previewing the WrestleMania tag-team match that will feature him and Roman Reigns taking on Rollins and Rhodes.
His segment opened the show at Friday’s episode of “SmackDown.”
