Dan Lambert Made The Rock Cry Over A Title Belt He Once Held

Dan Lambert made a name for himself in the world of mixed martial arts as the founder of American Top Team, whose fighters proceeded to compete in promotions such as UFC, PRIDE Fighting Championships, K-1, and Bellator just to name a handful. Over the course of his career, Lambert has come into contact with plenty of professional wrestlers as well, including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. On "Talk Is Jericho" this week, Lambert spoke of the time he moved the superstar to tears.

"I actually had the first title The Rock ever held for a while, which was the USWA Tag Title," Lambert said. "And he came to our gym to film some reality show he was doing — MMA-related — and I actually gave him that belt. And he was like in tears getting that first belt. It meant that much to him."

In the summer of 1996, The Rock was performing under the name Flex Kavana for Jerry Lawler's Memphis-based United States Wrestling Association. There, he won the USWA Tag Team Championships on two occasions with Bart Sawyer. He signed his first WWF contract soon after and won his first championship with the promotion in February 1997 by defeating Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Triple H) for the Intercontinental Championship.

 The Rock went on to become an eight-time WWE Champion, two-time WCW Champion, and five-time WWE Tag Team Champion. But it all started with those USWA tag titles.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Talk Is Jericho" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.