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Only one celebrity is mighty enough to host a reality competition so metal, it makes American Ninja Warrior look like a baking show. This January, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has a series called The Titan Games coming to NBC, and it looks absolutely bonkers.“I wanted to create the most epic and insane athletic competition ever devised,” the wrestler-turned-movie star says while swinging a sledgehammer in the trailer. The men and women on the show will compete in a series of grueling physical tests inspired by—get this—The Rock's real workout routine. Obviously, the wrestler-turned-movie star is not a normal, mortal man. We're talking about someone whose "cheat day" diet is routinely mountains of french toast topped with apple pie, entire sushi platters, whole batches of cookies, and stacks on stacks on stacks of pancakes.Nevertheless, The Titan Games will consist of grueling physical feats no one really has to do IRL, because humans invented construction machinery. Competitors will wield Thor-like hammers, climb an obstacle-ridden "Mount Olympus," dodge fireballs, knock over towering pillars with their bare hands, and smash gigantic concrete balls. (Here's hoping Miley Cyrus makes a cameo to sing Wrecking Ball.) The spectacle really has to be seen to be believed. Check out the trailer below:
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How could anyone expect less from a guy whose roles hinge on impossible physical feats, like jumping from a construction crane into the window of a skyscraper. The Titan Games certainly seems about as intense as one of Johnson's action films.Cheesy strongman tropes aside, The Rock clearly believes in the transformational power of physical fitness. “When I was an athlete, I feel like sports really helped me through the best of times and the worst of times,” Johnson said when The Titan Games trailer premiered. “It got me off the streets when I was getting arrested. It got me through depression. The idea was, I wanted to create a platform to give everyday people the opportunity to change their lives and do something extraordinary.”Earlier this year on The Tonight Show, Johnson explained that he took direct inspiration from the American Ninja Warrior series while creating The Titan Games and even partnered with the show’s producers to help create his concept. This is The Rock’s third attempt at an inspirational reality TV series, following early cancelations of his shows The Hero (2013) and Wake Up Call (2014). The Titan Games draws on aspects of both and premieres January 3, 2019 on NBC.Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of VICE delivered to your inbox daily.Follow Sean Neumann on Twitter.