WATCH | First look at The Rock's insane athletic competition show

Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? Well, yes - thanks to several television appearances by wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson. It turns out he is cooking up an insanely extreme reality TV show called The Titan Games.

According to Johnson, the show will combine two of his favourite pursuits – flexing his oversized muscles and putting contestants through their paces as they perform stupidly nutty feats of strength based on his own workout regimen.

Judging by the trailer, competitors are not just your average weekend workouters and will be required to wield hammers straight out of Thor, dodge fireballs and smash concrete pillars with their bare hands.

WATCH | The trailer for The Titan Games

In an interview on The Tonight Show, Johnson said the show was influenced by the American Ninja Warrior and American Gladiator series. He said physical fitness had transformed his life, getting him “off the streets when I was getting arrested” and later getting him through depression.

He hoped the show would provide “a platform to give everyday people the opportunity to change their lives and do something extraordinary”.

This is The Rock’s third foray into reality TV, following the unsuccessful The Hero (2013) and Wake Up Call (2014). The Titan Games is set to premier on NBC on January 2 2019.