The Rock says ... he is very thankful for the help of the Iron Sheik.

When Dwayne Johnson was just breaking into professional wrestling, he learned some valuable lessons listening to the Iron Sheik, a former WWE champion.

"His impact on my career has really been profound," Johnson says in the new documentary The Sheik. "The wrestling business has always been a cutthroat business. There weren't always a lot of guys at that time who took the time to bring me under their wings and share their insight and wisdom with me."

One word that became a fixture in the The Rock's lexicon -- jabroni -- was the product of a conversation on a long plane ride with the Sheik, whose real name is Khosrow Vaziri.

"Now the word jabroni is connected to me," Johnson says. "When a lot of people think, 'oh, jabroni, oh, yeah, yeah, it's The Rock's word.' No, no, no, no. It's not my word. It's the Iron Sheik's word."

Here's an exclusive clip from the film of Johnson talking about the Iron Sheik:

The documentary, which will be released Dec. 2 on VOD and digital platforms, covers the story of how the Sheik grew up in Iran, immigrated to the U.S. and became one of wrestling's most hated villains. But it also reveals the personal tragedy of his oldest daughter being killed by a boyfriend when she was 27. Wrestling stars interviewed in the movie include Bret Hart, Mick Foley, Jimmy Snuka, Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Hulk Hogan. Here's the official trailer: