Dasha Gonzalez Shares Unexpected Message She Received From The Rock
Dasha Gonzalez was this week's guest on AEW's Unrestricted podcast. The former NXT Superstar, who is now signed to All Elite Wrestling and has varying roles, spoke at length about her journey.
Gonzalez appeared in the second season of The Titan Games in 2020, and spoke about how she was initially aiming to be a part of the first season but ultimately had a scheduling conflict while working for WWE.
"So Titan Games, I saw The Rock's call to action on social media," Dasha said. "At the time, I was with the other company [WWE], and I was only allowed – I wasn't even allowed to train in the ring, because god forbid something happened to me and I couldn't do my job, I'd get in a lot of trouble. So I saw The Titan Games, I did The Rock's call to action, submitted the videos, got on the show for like Season One, and I went over to my boss, and I was like, 'hey, I have this opportunity. I'd really love to do it.' Me being the athlete that I am, not being able to get that extra energy out, I was like, 'I need to compete. I need to do something. If it can't be in the ring, then I'm gonna do it on my own time.'
"I had a scheduling conflict that didn't work out, and I was like – I'm super bummed, and it made me super angry that I can't do it, so I'll do a fitness competition. Ended up rupturing my Achilles tendon and was out for almost a year. I was like, 'man, I didn't get to do Titan Games, I got let go from my job, I've got an injury.' It was not a fun time. But, me being the optimist that I am, everything happens for a reason. OK, there's a reason why I didn't get this opportunity. That doesn't mean the door is completely closed. If there is a second season, I have this injury I'm recovering from, it'll be like the closure, the finish to my injury.
Dasha Gonzalez continued and explained how she wound up appearing in Season Two, and that after the conclusion, she received an unexpected message from Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
"The one thing my mom always taught me to do, and even Pageants taught me to do, was just to make sure people know how grateful you are for the experience," Gonzalez said. "So I just went on Instagram and wrote The Rock a message, I'm like, 'this man's never going to see this,' but thanking, you know, thanking the production company that works through the show for the experience.
"And, it was probably like two or three months after, I got like a message from him [The Rock] saying how proud he was of me, and how hard I'd worked. I just honestly couldn't believe he would take the time out of his day to send me a two-minute message. That's what kind of a stand-up guy The Rock is.
"He thanked me for, like, representing wrestling. I was just so shocked. He said, 'It's so good to have somebody like you representing the wrestling industry and just not giving up. It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from. You gave it your all.' And I felt like I did it, and it was nice to see that he recognized that and everyone there recognized that, so I'm just – even still to this day, I'm so grateful for it."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit AEW Unrestricted with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.