Proving that not even the biggest star on the planet was immune from television’s ruthless cost-cutting measures, Young Rock – the semi-autobiographical sitcom co-created, produced by, and occasionally starring Dwayne Johnson – was recently axed by NBC after three seasons.
Failure isn’t something the 51 year-old is used to, but he is arguably having to get a lot more accustomed to it than usual following the Black Adam debacle that saw him exiled from the DCU in near-record time, although his extracurricular activities away from the silver screen appear to be doing just fine.
In fact, when one cancellation happens, another gets dodged for a history-making first time, with Johnson sharing that tickets for the second season of his XFL football league are now on sale. Normally that would hardly be newsworthy, but when you remember that the outfit has already failed twice over at the hands of his former WWE boss Vince McMahon – losing well over $100 million in the process – then the third iteration of the gridiron group living to fight another day really has proven to be the charm.
Of course, Johnson has already taken a hefty hit right in the pocket as a result of restarting a startup that had already been started twice and imploded on both occasions, but you’d think he’s got the money to cover it seeing as he recently landed a $50 million paycheck for headlining a blockbuster that’s never even going to see the inside of a theater, but whether it gets more seasons than Young Rock remains up for debate.