'Many moons ago', as he puts it, YouTuber Isaiah Photo got left on 'read' by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson himself. From that point on, he made his mission to prove his dominance over the WWE star.
The Rock might not actually be aware of his beef with Isaiah, but it began after the YouTuber asked Johnson whether he could be in one of his movies, to which Johnson replied: "Only if you become more acrobatic."
Isaiah responded to this with a video proving he'd achieved this demand, only to be completely ghosted by the actor. It was then that he called upon YouTube users to help him defeat the Rock, first and foremost by overtaking him in subscribers.
With the help of a life-size cardboard cutout of Johnson, Isaiah repeatedly called upon viewers to help him with this challenge while simultaneously entertaining them by completing bizarre tasks and finding answers to questions you'd never previously thought of, like 'how many licks does it take to finish an ice cream?'
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Speaking to UNILAD about his mission, Isaiah said 'actually defeating' the Rock seemed like an 'impossible task' when he started out, noting he had only one million subscribers at the time. In comparison, Johnson had a staggering 6,050,000
"It just seemed like, this is never going to happen," Isaiah said. "We put out a couple of videos, just sort of toying with it, and the audience received it so well. So many people were like, 'Yeah, you do have to beat him'."
Viewers rallied around Isaiah and his mission, with thousands upon thousands hitting the subscribe button to help him creep ever closer to the six million mark. "We had an audience that got behind it and really wanted to see it happen," Isaiah said. "Which led to the billboard."
'The billboard' relates to a stunt Isaiah shared last month, when he took his task of getting the Rock's attention to a whole new scale. To settle his beef with the Jumanji actor Isaiah wants to take him on in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, so the YouTuber plastered his face on a billboard in New York and officially challenged Johnson.
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The arrival of the billboard was timed for when Johnson was in New York, meaning there was a strong possibility he'd see the message it contained; "Isaiah chooses paper. Your move, Rock."
His 'dream scenario', Isaiah explained, would be that he and Johnson face off in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to 'settle the beef once and for all'.
About four months after he first set out to prove his dominance, Isaiah and his followers, dubbed the 'too easy army', successfully achieved what Isaiah had thought would be 'impossible' and surpassed the Rock in subscribers. Isaiah's YouTube channel currently holds 6.76 million subscribers, while Johnson has a measly 6.15m.
However, with Johnson failing to take Isaiah up on his Rock, Paper, Scissors challenge, the beef isn't over just yet.
As any Rock, Paper, Scissors player will know, one move always beats the other. Isaiah already gave away his move of Paper on the billboard, so I asked the obvious question - what happens if the Rock plays Scissors?
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"He might," Isaiah responded. But he continued: "If he does, that's potentially, maybe career ruining for him. Because he's the Rock. I don't know if he can play anything else. So I think we both know what each other is gonna play, it will ultimately be the demise of one or the other."
The YouTuber's determination to prove his dominance over the Rock has been months in the making, so to 'finish it off' would be 'so impactful', he said.
"I also think it would be so impactful for the audience. Fans of the Rock or fans of me, it doesn't matter. I think for anyone who's seen it, I think it would be a huge payoff. I think it's bigger than myself at this point, which I didn't realise at the beginning, but it has built up to be this monumental thing that so many people want to see happen."
Isaiah admitted the scale of his beef with Johnson 'blows his mind', because it's 'quite literally millions of people' who are following his YouTube page to see a conclusion. "So I think it'd be really, really exciting," he said.
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He noted his content shifted 'here and there' as he sought to get more subscribers, but explained: "Actually having dominance over the Rock, which I do think we ultimately proved... helped build the content."
Following his stunt with the billboard, Isaiah is now putting his beef on the back-burner to 'see what happens', saying: "Maybe he comes around."
If he doesn't, the YouTuber said he 'definitely' could see the beef lasting into the future, when they might have to rely on a 'new idea' to get his attention.
For now, though, we know that he chooses Paper. So it's your move, Rock.
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Topics: YouTube, Celebrity, Dwayne Johnson, Viral