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Dwayne Johnson can not only smell what The Rock is cooking… but now he can also monetize it.
Last month, WWE owner TKO Group Holdings added Johnson to its board of directors. Along with that move, the company also granted Johnson the copyright and trademark rights to his WWE stage name: The Rock.
However, a new filing from TKO shows that Johnson received more than just the rights to his alter ego, he also received a host of intellectual property rights and trademarks, from nicknames to catchphrases.
That includes The Rock, of course, as well as his signature catchphrase: “If you smell what the rock’s cooking.” But it also includes other nicknames, such as “The Brahma Bull,” “The People’s Champion,” and “The Samoan Sensation,” as well as the names of some of his signature finishing moves: “Rock Bottom” and “People’s Elbow.”
And interestingly, the deal also gives Johnson intellectual property rights to some of The Rock’s infamous in-ring insults.
According to a copy of the Intellectual Property Transfer Agreement that TKO and Johnson signed (it was including in TKO’s latest 10-K), Johnson now owns the intellectual property rights to slogans including: “Jabroni,” “Candy Ass,” “Roody Poo,” and “Know Your Role and Shut Your Mouth.”
Johnson joined TKO’s board of directors in January, just days before Vince McMahon resigned from the company, somewhat overshadowing the news. TKO also granted Johnson an equity award valued at $30 million in connection with the deal, which will vest over time. Johnson will also be able to continue collecting royalties in connection with sales of products bearing Rock’s trademarks (including, presumably, jabroni and candy ass).
According to a source, WWE has been granted a license to use The Rock’s intellectual property for certain categories and products for 10 years, and during that period Johnson cannot license intellectual property to companies that compete with TKO.
Additionally, Johnson was granted “other nicknames, caricatures, voices, signatures, mannerisms, routines, costumes or costume parts, accessories (and) crowns” associated with his character in WWE.
You can see a full list of the intellectual property rights and trademarks that WWE and TKO granted to Johnson below, in an excerpt from the presentation.
“’Rock IP’ means any and all intellectual property rights throughout the world at any time owned by the TKO Group Parties, or any of their respective Affiliates, whether registered or unregistered, relating to (a) the following ring names and slogans: ‘The Rock’, ‘Rocky Maivia’, ‘Team Corporate’, ‘Rock Nation’, ‘The Nation’, ‘Roody Poo’, ‘Candy Ass’, ‘Jabroni’, ‘If you smell What The Rock is Cooking’, ‘The Samoan Sensation’, ‘The Blue Chipper’, ‘The Brahma Bull’, ‘The People’s Champion’, ‘The Great One’, ‘Know Your Role and Shut Your Mouth’, ‘The team bring it’, ‘The Rock Just Brought It’, ‘The People’s Elbow’, ‘Rock Bottom’, ‘Finally, The Rock’s Back to…’, ‘No Matter What…’, ‘Blue Hell’ ‘The millions… (and millions)’, ‘Rockpocalypse’, ‘Project Rock’ and ‘The most electrifying man in sports and entertainment’.”