--- --- # Watch The Rock Bring the Heat in an Old _Star Trek: Voyager_ Episode  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 8, 2016 8:12 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 8, 2016 8:12 PM UTC Way before he was [Hollywood’s highest-paid actor](http://time.com/4466075/the-rock-highest-paid-actors/?iid=sr-link1) — before he was even the [Scorpion King](http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/15/from-wrestler-to-actor-and-back-the-rock-returns-to-the-wwe-for-wrestlemania/?iid=sr-link2) — Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was just a champion WWE wrestler… and a [champion alien fighter](http://www.startrek.com/database%5Farticle/johnson) on _Star Trek: Voyager._ Today marks the [iconic _Star Trek_‘s 50th anniversary](http://time.com/4482775/5-things-star-trek/?iid=sr-link3), so it’s only fitting to take a look back through the archive and get a glimpse of The Rock’s breakout role as the unnamed “champion” in the 1999 episode titled “Tsunkatse.” It was one of his first acting appearances ever, predating his climb to Hollywood stardom. “To everybody’s surprise, he was wonderful,” says executive producer Rick Berman in the footage. “We had never really seen him do any acting other than playing The Rock.” In the scene, The Rock wears a forehead prosthetic and a gold lamé harness while facing off against prisoner Seven of Nine in an arena fight. Accustomed to crowds of tens of thousands at his WWE performances, The Rock didn’t seem phased by the change in venue. “For the most part, it basically comes down to entertainment. Same thing,” he says of the acting gig. Watch the clip for behind-the-scenes footage of fight choreography and The Rock’s charming-as-ever early commentary. Watch Dwayne The Rock Johnson Fight in Star Trek Video ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4484402/the-rock-star-trek-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4484402/the-rock-star-trek-video/"},"headline":"Watch The Rock Bring the Heat in an Old Star Trek: Voyager Episode","datePublished":"2016-09-08T20:12:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:36:19.340Z","description":"\"To everybody's surprise, he was wonderful.\"","url":"https://time.com/4484402/the-rock-star-trek-video/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Television","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4484402/the-rock-star-trek-video/","name":"Watch The Rock Bring the Heat in an Old Star Trek: Voyager Episode"}}]}] ```