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PWInsider.com can exclusively confirm that NBC's Young Rock is seeking to feature WWE characters from The Rock's rookie year in WWE for season two. PWInsider.com is told there has been casting underway for Triple H, The Undertaker, Downtown Bruno Lauer (aka Harley Whippleman) and even The Brooklyn Brawler, Steve Lombardi, who was one of the first to wrestle The Rock inside the ring. The real life Lauer made a cameo as himself in the first season, but we are told this will be a fictionalized version.
PWInsider.com has also confirmed that plans for a Memphis-themed episode currently also features Superstar Bill Dundee, so casting is underway for a Dundee. PWInsider.com has previously reported plans to include Jerry Lawler, Tommy Rich and a young Bam Bam Bigelow (as Crusher Yurkov) for an episode set in 1980s Memphis Wrestling. Lawler and Bigelow may recur in the series should they move forward with additional Memphis-era episodes.
Other names PWInsider.com has previously reported the series was casting:
*The Rock's grandfather WWE Hall of Famer "High Chief" Peter Maivia. In the casting the for Maivia, he is described as being in his 30s and seen in the 1970s, where he is the founder of Polynesian Pro Wrestling in Hawaii. He is described as "standing up" for another wrestler in the casting. While Maivia has been referred to often in the series, this would be the first time he will is seen.
*WWF 1980s personalities Gene Okerlund, Big John Studd, Freddie Blassie, Nikolai Volfoff and Mr. Fuji, among others.
*The Great Kabuki.
They are also seeking to re-cast several wrestlers from the first season, including Roddy Piper and Ric Flair. The reason they are recasting Flair is that Matthew Farrelly, who portrayed Flair in a sequence against Rocky Johnson in season one, is no longer available as he's currently signed to WWE NXT as Grayson Waller and is residing in Orlando, Florida while the series shoots in Australia.
Production for the second season is currently expected to run through January for ten episodes. There will be a holiday episode airing next month on NBC followed by the return of Season two on 3/15. The first season ended on a cliffhanger where the world was about to learn whether The Rock was about to become President of the United States.
Among the personalities who were portrayed regularly in season one were Andre the Giant, The Iron Sheik, Afa, Sika, Rocky Johnson, Junkyard Dog and Randy Savage. Andre the Giant has been bumped up to a series regular in season two.
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