Dasha Gonzalez Talks About Her Awkward Experience Meeting The Rock

In an interview with Wrestling Inc, Dasha Gonzalez spoke about her awkward experience when meeting with The Rock for the first time. Rock is the host of The Titan Games, on which Gonzalez is a contestant. Here are highlights:

On her athletic background and coming back from an injury: “I swam, dived, wrestled, played football, did ROTC. I was an athlete growing up. I was coming off an achilles tendon injury. I wanted to kind of turn the page with this injury and end that chapter and start a new one. I’m still rehabbing til this day, but the doctors cleared me. I wanted to see if it was something I was meant to do.”

On meeting The Rock: “I had met The Rock one time talking to Roman Reigns on a case backstage before TV one day. I was like, ‘Hi, I’m Dasha.’ I very awkwardly said hi and ran away. I didn’t really get to meet him. It was pretty cool to be able to chat with him and receive encouragement from him.”

On representing AEW and pro wrestling: “Not only being a former performer for WWE, but now with All Elite Wrestling. I thought, ‘Many, I’m representing the company I work for. I’m representing the wrestling community.’ I wanted to do the best I could and prove to everyone I’m an athlete. I’ve been training in the ring as well too. I have always been very athletic too. So having that bond. Wrestling community is like a family regardless of whatever organization you’re in. We all have a common love for sports entertainment, wrestling, being active, putting on a show. Often wrestlers get a bad rap. ‘We all know wrestling is fake.’ You have to be an athlete in order to compete in the ring. Hopefully, we’ll open new eyes.”

On the tryout system: “I love the new system. Once you lost you were out. Life doesn’t happen like that. Just because you lose, you don’t get kicked out. I really like there were rounds of redemption. You may have had a bad day. Something may have happened. Maybe you couldn’t figure out one of the machines. It’s just like life. You gotta keep going. You have to keep moving forward. You have to stop, reevaluate, refocus. It was cool that just because you lost one time, doesn’t mean you’re down for the count.”

On the support she’s received: “I have the best support system on the face of the planet. Whether it’s my family, the wrestling community or my job. It was pretty cool because when I applied and finally got the invitation to join Titan Games at their combine, their tryout. I went over to my bosses and said, ‘Hey guys, I kind of have this opportunity. I was wondering…walking over gingerly.’ They said, ‘Oh my gosh. This is incredible. You definitely need to try out’. I’m going to be representing All Elite Wrestling. I’m super excited to be a face in that sense. I’m excited for Titan Games. I’m excited to give my all. Even during the tryout, I’ve been given so much support. I received so many phone calls, text messages making sure I was okay. That honestly eases any sort of tension or fear. My motto in life is even though you’re scared, just try it. Winners never quit and quitters never win. No matter what is thrown at me, I’m at least going to try and say I gave it my all with no regrets.”