“It Is Not Some Little Kitty Pulling..”- Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Once Hilariously Rejected Michael Phelps Special Request

It is a fact that Michael Phelps is the best swimmer in the world. Not just that, he is the GOAT of the Olympics. Phelps has a total of 28 Olympic medals, out of which 23 are Gold medals. The champion swimmer, however, retired in 2016 after the Rio Olympics.

Being an elite athlete, he gets his own share of commercials and ads. Famous of them is his 2017 Baywatch commercial. Baywatch is a 2017 film, which followed the life of lifeguards at a beach. The commercial actually garnered a lot of attention because of not just Phelps but also the popular actor, The Rock, features in it.

Throwback to when Michael Phelps featured in a Baywatch ad

The ad was released back in May 2017 as part of the marketing strategy for the movie. The movie follows The Rock in the lead role as the lifeguard, who butts heads with a new recruit; Zac Efron.

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The ad in itself is hilarious. Michael Phelps comes in and says “I want in on Baywatch.” However, the Olympic legend is not allowed easy access to the team because of his medals.

“No no no no this is not some little kitty pulling real Mike, this is the beach and you got to earn this,” says Dwayne.

The Rock then proceeds to lead him through a rigorous training process to qualify as a lifeguard. Phelps is out through multiple tests where #LifeguardTese 21 is a test of holding his breath in. While Dwayne Johnson points at the chart, Phelps points toward the medals on his chest.

Another scene features Phelps blowing air into a balloon dolphin, a lifesaving act while The Rock motivates him from behind constantly, pointing out that the dolphin is dying. This is #Lifeguard Test 525, named the Orca CPR.

In the end, Rock awards him with the popular red Baywatch shorts. In the final scene, Phelps is spotted running alongside Alexandria Daddario, Kelly Rohrbach, and other members of the cast.

Baywatch sees average success in the US, does well internationally

However, the movie did not do as well as expected in the US. It was anticipated that the movie would open with  $40 million gross in the US. Unfortunately, it only made  $18.5  in the first few days. Moreover, the final collection stood at $57.6 million.

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On the other hand, the movie actually was more popular in other countries. In Germany, the movie grossed more than $16 million. All in all, Baywatch garnered over $100 million internationally.