Whether he’s asking if you “smell what ‘The Rock’ is cooking” from the middle of a wrestling ring, saving beautiful women on the big screen in Baywatch, helping athletes navigate their careers in Ballers, or crushing it in the gym and posting it to Instagram, Johnson knows how to get an audience to love him.
For as much as Johnson has flexed his massive muscles throughout his career, he’s also shown he has some major comedic chops, especially in films like Central Intelligence, Get Smart, The Other Guys, and Be Cool.
All that is why Johnson makes for a fantastic host of Saturday Night Live.
Here, Johnson looks back at his favorite sketches from his past gigs:
All that is why Johnson makes for a fantastic host of Saturday Night Live.
Johnson will host SNL for the fifth time when he takes the stage on Saturday, May 20, joining stars like Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, Bill Murray, Justin Timberlake, Melissa McCarthy, and Scarlett Johansson in the sort of late-night Hall of Fame of the “Five-Timers Club.” Johnson has put together some of SNL’s most memorable sketches over the years, and now he’ll get the chance to add a few more to his stable.
Here are five of his best sketches from his previous hosting gigs.
5. “Anniversary date”
Decked out in a garish, loud wardrobe that his WWE alter-ego would be proud of, a meathead-type Johnson and his British bombshell girlfriend (Cecily Strong) crash the anniversary date of a couple (Vanessa Bayer and Kenan Thompson). Johnson orders 200 onion rings, knocks out the waiter, and drops a bevy of great one-liners:
4. “WWE promo shoot”
Jumping back into his past life as a WWE superstar, Johnson and Bobby Moynihan team up for a “promo shoot” for an upcoming event. The ridiculously named wrestlers, Koko WatchOut (Johnson) and Trashyard Mutt (Moynihan), go back and forth with personal insults and name-calling, taking things way too far by the end of it:
3. “New Disney movie”
Taking aim at all the live-action Disney movies coming out based on old classics (Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Maleficent), Johnson stars in this trailer for a remake of Bambi. Alongside Fast & Furious pals Vin Diesel (Taran Killam), Tyrese Gibson (Jay Pharoah), and Michelle Rodriguez (Cecily Strong), the group turns the heartwarming story into a dramatic, action-packed, revenge film with Johnson as the cigar-smoking, gun-toting Bambi. The movie even has a tie-in song by Ludacris (Pharoah again) to top the soundtrack:
2. “The Rock Obama”
One of Johnson’s most well-known sketches had President Obama (Jay Pharoah), speaking with Rep. John Boehner (Taran Killam), Sen. Ted Cruz (Bobby Moynihan), and Sen. Tom Cotton (Kyle Mooney) in the Oval Office. As Obama starts to get angry at the actions and statements of the Congressmen, he goes through a transformation much like the Hulk, ripping through his suit to reveal “The Rock Obama,” the furious alter-ego of President Obama:
1. “Franchise Viagra”
As part of his opening monologue from his fourth time hosting the show, Johnson poked fun at his seemingly ubiquitous presence in Hollywood franchise films. Johnson talks about adding his “oomph” to franchises like Fast & Furious, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and G.I. Joe, before belting out a hilarious song, joined by backup singers Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Sasheer Zamata, and Aidy Bryant:
