Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson sustained a legitimate concussion on the set of his upcoming Mark Kerr biopic, The Smashing Machine, a direct result of the production’s commitment to capturing authentic in-fight physicality. Johnson confirmed the injury occurred after he insisted his scene partner deliver real strikes during the filming of a fight sequence.
The incident was driven by director Benny Safdie’s guiding philosophy for the project. “Benny Safdie had this motto before we started filming, which was: ‘As real as possible. Let’s make it as real as possible,’” Johnson stated. He also recalled Safdie’s desire to shoot the fight scenes without camera cuts or stunt doubles, a high-risk method Johnson accepted by saying, “Absolutely. Let’s do it.” To meet these physical demands, Johnson trained for three months with MMA fighters, adding 30 pounds of muscle to accurately portray Kerr.
The injury took place while recreating Kerr’s fight in Japan against Kazuyuki Fujita. According to Johnson, his opponent was initially hesitant to make forceful contact. “I said to the fighter I was working with: ‘Hey, brother, I know it sounds crazy, but you gotta hit me. You gotta hit me,’” Johnson recounted.
He explained that after the fighter refused, both he and Safdie intervened to push for realism in service of the story. “Benny came up and said: ‘You must hit him. I know you respect DJ, but you respect the real fight with Mark Kerr in Japan. Maintain our integrity and hit him hard,’” Johnson said.
Johnson affirmed the resulting impact, and his groggy state, were captured on camera for the film, which is scheduled to premiere on October 3. “After that fight, you see me looking groggy — that’s because I had a concussion,” he said. “But that’s it, if you’re going to make an MMA movie, you gotta go all the way. And that’s what we did.”
Johnson’s intense focus on his acting career aligns with reports that have dismissed speculation of a WWE return. A September 26 report confirmed he will not appear at Survivor Series due to his Hollywood schedule, with Fightful Select noting that talk of a comeback was baseless and that “nobody in WWE has heard that.” Johnson, who has not been on WWE television since the Elimination Chamber event in March, also missed WrestleMania 41. His last appearance set up an angle where Cody Rhodes told him to “Go f–k yourself,” which ultimately led to John Cena’s first heel turn in over two decades.