| The Rock | |
|---|---|
 Johnson at the Tribeca Film Festival, April 25, 2009. | |
| Ring name(s) | Flex Kavana[1] Rocky Maivia[1] The Rock[1] Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson[2] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[3] |
| Billed weight | 260 lb (120 kg)[3] |
| Born | May 2, 1972 [4] Hayward, California |
| Resides | Los Angeles[citation needed] |
| Billed from | Miami, Florida[3] |
| Trained by | Rocky Johnson[5] Pat Patterson[5] |
| Debut | 1996[5] |
Johnson was a college football player. In 1991, he was part of the University of Miami's national championship team. He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, and was cut two months into the 1995 season.[9] This led to his decision to become a professional wrestler like his grandfather, Peter Maivia, and his father, Rocky Johnson. He gained mainstream fame as a wrestler in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1996 to 2004, and was the first third-generation superstar in the company's history. Johnson was quickly given a push as a heroic character in the WWF, originally billed as "Rocky Maivia", and then as "The Rock". He would subsequently turn into a villain as a member of the Nation of Domination in 1997. Two years after he joined the WWF, Johnson won the WWF Championship, and became one of the most popular wrestlers within the company's history for his engaging interviews and promos. Johnson is regarded by many as the most charismatic professional wrestler ever and among the greatest talkers in professional wrestling history. [10][11]
Johnson is widely considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.[12][13] He won a total of 16 championships in WWF/E. This included nine World Heavyweight Championships (the WWF/E Championship seven times and the WCW/World Championship twice), two WWF Intercontinental Championships, and five times as co-holder of the WWF Tag Team Championships. He was the sixth WWF/E Triple Crown Champion, and the winner of the 2000 Royal Rumble.
Johnson's autobiography co-written with Joe Layden, The Rock Says..., was released in 2000. It debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list, and remained on the list for several weeks.[citation needed] Johnson's first leading role as an actor was in The Scorpion King in 2002. For this film, he received the highest salary for an actor in his first starring role, earning $5.5 million.[14] He has since appeared in several blockbuster movies such as The Rundown, Be Cool, Walking Tall, Gridiron Gang, The Game Plan, Get Smart, Race to Witch Mountain, Planet 51, Tooth Fairy, Doom, The Other Guys, Faster, and most recently Fast Five starring opposite Vin Diesel and Paul Walker.
Early life
Dwayne Johnson, the son of Ata Johnson (née Maivia) and Rocky Johnson, was born in Hayward, California.[4] His maternal grandfather, "High Chief" Peter Maivia, was also a professional wrestler. His maternal grandmother, Lia Maivia, ran Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling from 1982 until 1988, following her husband's death, becoming one of wrestling's few female professional promoters.[15][16] His father is of Black Nova Scotian (Canadian) origin and his mother is of Samoan heritage.[17][18] For a brief period, Johnson lived in Auckland, New Zealand, with his mother's family.[19] During this time his mother Ata ensured Johnson was exposed to one of the urban Polynesian cultural strongholds of the southern hemisphere.[19] Johnson attended Richmond Road Primary School before returning to the United States with his parents.[19]He spent 10th grade at President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. As he entered 11th grade, Johnson's father's job required his relocation to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the state's Lehigh Valley region. He began playing football at Bethlehem's Freedom High School in the highly competitive East Penn Conference.[18] In addition to playing football at Freedom High School, he also was a member of the high school's track and field and wrestling teams.[18]
On April 17, 2009, changes to Canadian nationality law came into effect, which made all children born in the first generation abroad to Canadian-born parents automatically (and retroactively to date of birth) Canadian citizens. Since Johnson's father was born in Canada and Johnson was born in the first generation abroad, he automatically received Canadian citizenship.[20]
Education
Johnson was heavily recruited by many Division I collegiate programs but ultimately accepted a full scholarship from the University of Miami to play defensive tackle. In 1991, he was part of the Miami Hurricanes' national championship team.[21] After an injury kept him sidelined, Johnson was replaced by fellow Hurricane and future National Football League (NFL) star Warren Sapp.[18]While attending Miami, Johnson met his future wife, Dany Garcia. Garcia, who graduated from the university in 1992, is a member of its Board of Trustees,[22] and the founder of a Miami-based wealth management firm. The two have remained close to their alma mater, giving a $2-million donation in 2006 to build a living room at the University's Newman Alumni Center. Johnson graduated from Miami in 1995 with a Bachelor of General Studies[23] degree in criminology and physiology. Johnson continued his football career in 1995, joining the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League after being passed over by the NFL, but he was cut two months into the season.[9][18] On November 10, 2007, he returned to the Orange Bowl in Miami to participate in the festivities surrounding the University of Miami's last home football game at the stadium. Johnson has two nephews who play football. Kaluka Maiava played football at USC and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2009, while Kaluka's brother Kai Maiava currently plays at UCLA.
Professional wrestling career
Training (1995–1996)
Along with his father and grandfather, several members of Johnson's family are current and former professional wrestlers, including his uncles, the Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika Anoa'i) and cousins, such as Manu, Yokozuna, Rikishi, Rosey, and Umaga.[19] When he declared his intention to join the family business, his father resisted, but agreed to train his son himself, warning him that he would not go easy on him.[18] With help from veteran wrestler Pat Patterson, Johnson had several tryout matches with the WWF in 1996; he defeated The Brooklyn Brawler at a house show under his real name, Dwayne Johnson,[24] and lost the others to Chris Candido and Owen Hart.[19] Impressed by his talent and charisma, Johnson was signed to a contract after wrestling at Jerry Lawler's United States Wrestling Association, where he wrestled under the ring name "Flex Kavana".[5] While there, he won the USWA World Tag Team Championship twice with Bart Sawyer in the summer of 1996.World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (1996–2004)
Early WWF run (1996–1997)
Johnson made his WWF debut as Rocky Maivia, which combined his father and grandfather's ring names; Johnson was initially reluctant to the idea, but was persuaded to go ahead with the name by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross.[16][25] In addition to taking on the nickname "The Blue Chipper," the WWF played up his connection to his father and grandfather, calling him the company's first third-generation wrestler.[3]Johnson, who was first portrayed as a clean-cut face character (fan favorite), was pushed heavily from the start despite his lack of in-ring experience. He debuted at Survivor Series in November 1996 and was the sole survivor,[26] and he won the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Hunter Hearst Helmsley on Raw on February 13, 1997, after only three months in the company.[27][28][29] He scored a notable victory, albeit by disqualification, over Bret Hart in a title defense on the March 31 episode of Raw.[30] Fans, however, quickly grew sick of the one-dimensional good guy character, thanks in part to the increasing popularity of Stone Cold Steve Austin.[1] As a result, a regular occurrence during Johnson's matches was the fans' angry chants of "Die Rocky Die!" and "Rocky Sucks!"[1][5][16]
Nation of Domination (1997–1998)
Main article: Nation of Domination
Johnson was soon recognized for cutting arguably the best promos in the industry. In his 2000 autobiography, Johnson attributed this skill to his exceptional performance in speech communications classes at Miami, in which he earned "A" grades. At In Your House: D-Generation X, Austin defeated The Rock in less than six minutes to retain the Intercontinental Championship.[33] The following night on Raw is War, Austin was ordered by Mr. McMahon to defend the Intercontinental Championship in a rematch, but Austin decided to forfeit it instead, and handed the championship over to The Rock before performing the Stone Cold Stunner on him.[34][35] Rock spent the end of 1997 and the beginning of 1998 feuding with both Austin and Ken Shamrock.[36][37]
The Rock next feuded with Faarooq, who was angry at him for usurping his position. The two had a title match at Over the Edge, where the Rock retained the Intercontinental Championship.[38] The Rock then moved into a feud with Triple H and D-Generation X. Nation members fought DX while the Rock fought Triple H over the Intercontinental Championship. They first had a two out of three falls match at Fully Loaded for the Rock's title, where the Rock retained the title in controversial fashion.[39] This led to a ladder match at SummerSlam where the Rock lost the belt.[40] At Breakdown, the Rock defeated Ken Shamrock and Mankind in a triple threat steel cage match to become the number one contender to the WWF Championship before feuding with fellow Nation member Mark Henry, effectively disbanding the Nation.[41][42]
The Corporation (1998–1999)
Main article: The Corporation
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With the plan coming to fruition, the Rock turned into a villain again and sided with Vince and Shane McMahon as the crown jewel of The Corporation stable.[43] This was also a start of a double turn, as Mankind became a fan favorite.[45] Later, The Rock had his own pay-per view, Rock Bottom: In Your House, where he had a rematch against Mankind for the WWF Championship. Mankind won the match by knocking the Rock out with Mr. Socko and the mandible claw, but Mr. McMahon said that The Rock did not tap out and therefore The Rock would retain his title.[45][46] The Rock began a feud with Mankind over the WWF Championship, during which the title changed hands back and forth between the two, first during the main event of the January 4, 1999 episode of Raw is War, when Mankind defeated The Rock with the help of Stone Cold Steve Austin.[47] The Rock captured his second WWF Championship in an "I Quit" match at Royal Rumble on January 24, 1999,[48][49] when a pre-recorded sample of Mankind saying "I quit" from an interview segment was played over the sound system. This second reign did not last long, however. In a match that counter-programmed the Super Bowl halftime show on January 31, 1999, Mankind pinned The Rock using a forklift truck in an Empty Arena Match where the competitors used everything from bags of popcorn to garbage to punish each other.[50] This feud continued until the February 15 episode of Raw is War, when The Rock won his third WWF Championship in a ladder match after newly debuted The Big Show chokeslammed Mankind off a ladder.[51][52]
With Mankind out of the way, The Rock had to defend his WWF Championship at WrestleMania XV, but lost the belt to Austin.[53] The Rock lost the title rematch to Austin at Backlash: In Your House.[54] Despite him being a villain, WWF fans had begun to cheer The Rock due to his comedic interviews, promos, and segments, which mocked wrestlers and announcers. The Rock transitioned into a face character again after being betrayed by Shane McMahon, and established a feud with Triple H, The Undertaker, and the Corporate Ministry. During this feud, he sometimes found himself fighting alongside Steve Austin. The Rock defeated Triple H at Over the Edge, and then lost to WWF Champion The Undertaker at King of the Ring.[55][56] During mid-1999 he continued his rivalry with Triple H, losing to him in a number one contender's match at Fully Loaded following interference from Mr. Ass.[57] Due to this, as well as feuding with Triple H, The Rock commenced a feud with Mr. Ass, including defeating him in a "Kiss My Ass" match at SummerSlam.[58]
The Rock 'n' Sock Connection (1999)
Main article: Rock 'n' Sock Connection
Towards the latter part of 1999 The Rock found himself in several singles and tag team championship opportunities. He teamed with former enemy Mankind to create the Rock 'n' Sock Connection, after The Rock challenged the team of The Undertaker and The Big Show, which led to Mankind offering his help.[59] The Rock accepted, and they went on to win the WWF Tag Team Championship three times.[60][61][62] Aside from the championships, the team was regarded as one of the most entertaining teams in history, as Mankind imitated The Rock, who ignored Mankind, with both wrestlers having support from the crowd. The team was also involved in a segment which occurred on Raw is War called "This Is Your Life", in which Mankind brought out people from The Rock's past, such as his high school girlfriend and his high school football coach. The segment earned an 8.4 Nielsen rating and is, to this day, one of the single highest rated segments in terms of viewership in Raw history.[60][63]Feuds for the WWF Championship (2000–2001)
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Over the next couple of months The Rock feuded with Triple H over the WWF Championship. A month after the match at WrestleMania 2000, The Rock had a rematch with Triple H at Backlash in which The Rock won his fourth WWF Championship, after Stone Cold Steve Austin made a brief return and intervened on The Rock's behalf.[70][71][72] Later, at Judgment Day, the two had an Iron Man match with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee, that saw The Undertaker return.[73] The Rock got disqualified and lost the title, as a result of The Undertaker attacking Triple H.[73] The following night on Raw is War, The Rock got his revenge, taking out the entire McMahon-Helmsley Faction with the help of The Undertaker.[74] He later won his fifth WWF Championship at King of the Ring in a tag team match, which saw him team up with Kane and The Undertaker to fight Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and Triple H.[75][76] He successfully defended the championship against superstars such as Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Triple H, Kane, The Undertaker, and Shane McMahon.[71][77][78]
The Rock later lost the WWF Championship to Angle at No Mercy in October.[71][79] During this time, he feuded with Rikishi and defeated him at Survivor Series.[71][80] He also participated in a six-man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon for the WWF Championship, in which Kurt Angle retained the title.[71][81] Around that same time, Rock held the WWF Tag Team Championship with The Undertaker and the duo exchanged the titles with Edge and Christian.[71][82]
In 2001, The Rock continued his feud with Angle over the WWF Championship, which they eventually settled at No Way Out. After a battle that saw both wrestlers kick out of each other's finishers, The Rock finally came out on top and won the WWF Championship for the sixth time.[71][83][84] Afterwards, he feuded with the Royal Rumble winner, Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Rock went into WrestleMania X-Seven as the WWF Champion, but he was defeated after Austin used Mr. McMahon to win the title.[71][85] During a Steel Cage match with Austin in a rematch for the WWF Championship on the following night's Raw is War, Triple H came down to the ring with a sledgehammer. Many thought he was coming to aid The Rock, due to the hatred between Austin and Triple H (and an argument with Vince earlier in the night), but it transpired that he had joined the Austin/McMahon partnership by hitting The Rock instead.[86] Austin and Triple H became a tag team called "The Two-Man Power Trip",[87] while according to the storyline The Rock was indefinitely suspended, during which time he acted in the movie "The Mummy Returns".[5]
The Invasion (2001)
Main article: The Invasion
The Rock defeated Jericho on November 5 episode of Raw for his second WCW Championship.[92] Continuing with the WWF's battle against The Alliance, The Rock was involved in a "Winner Takes All" match at Survivor Series, which saw him end up one on one with Steve Austin who had joined The Alliance. The Rock seemed to be superior to Austin, until Chris Jericho, who was also a member of team WWF and was eliminated a few minutes before that point, came inside the ring and attacked The Rock. Austin took advantage of that and tried to defeat The Rock, but Kurt Angle, a supposed Alliance teammate of Austin, proved to be a mole planted by Vince McMahon and hit Austin in the head with a title belt. This allowed The Rock to eliminate him, and destroyed The Alliance once and for all.[71][93]
Undisputed WWE Champion, final storylines (2001–2003)
The Rock closed out the year losing the WCW Championship to Chris Jericho at Vengeance, when Jericho won both the WCW and WWF titles to become the first Undisputed WWF Champion.[94]In early 2002, Rock feuded with Jericho and challenged him for the Undisputed Championship at Royal Rumble, but lost the match.[95] After losing to Jericho, Rock defeated The Undertaker at No Way Out,[96] before issuing a challenge to the newly returned Hollywood Hulk Hogan on Raw for a match at WrestleMania X8. He then engaged in a feud with Hogan and the re-formed New World Order (nWo); Rock defeated Hogan at WrestleMania in an "Icon vs Icon" match,[97] but fan reaction resulted in Hogan again becoming a fan favorite, with the two befriending each other after the match and occasionally teaming against the nWo.[98] On July 21, The Rock won his record-breaking seventh and final WWE Championship, which was known as the Undisputed WWE Championship at the time.[99] He defeated Kurt Angle and The Undertaker in a match at Vengeance, after he hit the Rock Bottom on Angle.[99][100] The Rock successfully defended the title at Global Warning against Triple H and Brock Lesnar by pinning Triple H, who then saved The Rock after Lesnar tried to ambush him after the match.[101] Johnson finally dropped the Undisputed WWE Championship to Lesnar at SummerSlam, ending his final championship reign, and making Lesnar the youngest WWE Champion in history, a record previously held by The Rock.[102] The Rock then went on an extended hiatus from WWE.[71]
When Stone Cold Steve Austin returned, they again feuded, and The Rock defeated Austin at WrestleMania XIX, which was Austin's last major appearance in a wrestling role.[71][106] The Rock then had a feud with Bill Goldberg, to whom Rock lost at Backlash.[71][107] The Rock then turned into a fan favorite once more by engaging in a one night feud against Chris Jericho and Christian.[108] During his previous villainous turn, he had declared Christian as his favorite wrestler, leading Christian to begin calling himself the "new people's champion" and referring to his fans as "his peeps."[108][109]
Part–time appearances (2004–2009)
The Rock made occasional wrestling appearances up to 2004's WrestleMania XX, when the storyline revolving around Mick Foley had him brought back to help in his feud with Evolution (Ric Flair, Randy Orton, Triple H and Batista).[3] One humorous in-ring segment involved The Rock hosting his own version of "This Is Your Life" for Foley on the March 8, 2004 episode of Raw.[71][110] Rock reunited with Foley after five years, as the Rock 'n' Sock Connection. The duo went on to lose to Orton, Flair and Batista at WrestleMania XX in a handicap match when Orton pinned Foley with an RKO.[71][111]He made sporadic appearances in WWE following WrestleMania, including standing up for Eugene, making a cameo appearance in his hometown of Miami and helping Foley turn back La Résistance.[1] In 2004, he hosted a "Pie-Eating Contest" during the WWE Diva Search and ended the segment by giving Jonathan Coachman a spinebuster and a People's Elbow.[1] After this appearance, Johnson reported in several interviews that he was no longer under contract with WWE.[1] He also reported that the reason he was able to continue using the name "The Rock" was part of a dual ownership between him and WWE.[112]
On March 12, 2007, The Rock made an appearance on WWE after a near three year absence, appearing on Raw via a pre-taped segment on the TitanTron. He correctly "predicted" that Bobby Lashley would defeat Umaga at WrestleMania 23 in Donald Trump and Vince McMahon's "Battle of the Billionaires" match.[113]
On March 29, 2008, The Rock inducted his father, Rocky Johnson, and his grandfather, Peter Maivia into the WWE Hall of Fame. During his induction speech he roasted WWE superstars such as John Cena, Santino Marella, Chris Jericho, Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels, and Steve Austin.[114]
In September 2009, Johnson appeared at a World Xtreme Wrestling show in order to support the debut of Sarona Snuka (daughter of longtime friend and mentor Jimmy Snuka, later known as "Tamina") in professional wrestling.[115] On October 2, 2009, on the 10th anniversary of SmackDown, The Rock made a special appearance in a pre-recorded video.
Return to WWE (2011–present)
After numerous appearances via satellite, the Rock made a live appearance on Raw to confront Cena, whom he had been feuding with through social networking. At the beginning of the Rock's live promo, he again made fun of Cena's accessories, calling him a "homeless power ranger" and "Vanilla Ice". After an exchange of words with Cena, the Miz and Alex Riley appeared and attacked the Rock. the Rock fended off Miz and Riley, but Cena then blindsided the Rock with the Attitude Adjustment.[117]
At WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, the Rock opened the show by cutting a promo. After numerous backstage segments that aired on camera, the Rock appeared during the main event between Cena and the Miz to restart the match that ended in a draw, making it a No Disqualifications match. However, in response to the Attitude Adjustment that Cena performed on the Rock on Raw,the Rock hit Cena with his finisher, the Rock Bottom, this allowed The Miz to pin and retain his title. However, Rock then nailed The Miz with The People's Elbow right after The Miz retained his title.[118]
On September 16, WWE announced that the Rock was confirmed to take part in a traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series tag team match alongside his WrestleMania 28 opponent John Cena at the 25th anniversary of Survivor Series on November 20.[121] This stipulation was changed on the October 24 episode of Raw, when Cena chose the Rock as his tag team partner in a standard tag team match against Awesome Truth, an alliance formed by the Miz and R-Truth. The following week, the Rock accepted Cena's offer albeit the hyped tension between them. On the November 14 episode of Raw, the Rock made a live appearance, delivering Rock Bottoms to Awesome Truth and Mick Foley, the latter who had been hosting a "This Is Your Life" segment for Cena.[122] At Survivor Series, despite the hatred between the Rock and Cena, they defeated Awesome Truth when the Rock pinned the Miz with "The People's Elbow". Following the match, the Rock gave Cena a Rock Bottom.
At WrestleMania XXVIII, the Rock faced Cena in the main event match which had been building for a year and that was billed as "once in a lifetime". The climax of the match came when Cena made the mistake of attempting the People's Elbow on the Rock, as the Rock countered with a Rock Bottom to seal the victory.[123] The next night on Raw, the Rock announced that it was just the beginning and that he intends to become WWE Champion one more time.
Television and film career
| Dwayne Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Johnson photographed by Jerry Avenaim for Vanity Fair in 2001. | |
| Born | Dwayne Douglas Johnson May 2, 1972 Hayward, California, US |
| Other names | The Rock, Rocky Maivia |
| Occupation | Actor, wrestler, philantropist |
| Years active | 1995–2004; 2011–present (wrestler) 1999–present (actor) |
| Spouse | Dany Garcia (1997–07) |
Johnson filmed guest roles on Star Trek: Voyager, where he played an alien wrestler that used Johnson's famous moves,[129] and That '70s Show, where he played his father, Rocky Johnson. His motion picture debut was a brief appearance as The Scorpion King in the opening sequence of The Mummy Returns. His character later appears in the climax as a CGI Character.[3][126] The film's financial success led to his first leading role starring in the follow-up, The Scorpion King.[3] He was considered for the lead in a feature-length Johnny Bravo film, but it was canceled during production.[19]
Since his last WWE match in 2004, he had quit wrestling and focused solely on acting.[130] He also continued to make television appearances, including Disney Channel's hit show Cory in the House, in the episode entitled “Never the Dwayne Shall Meet.”[131] When Johnson was not active with WWE, the company continued to sell "The Rock" merchandise, and Johnson continued to be featured prominently in the opening montages of their television programming.[19] The Rock has continued to show a multitude of his acting/talent skills including film roles like the cocky famous football player Joe Kingman in The Game Plan, and in Get Smart where he played Agent 23.
Johnson was featured in the 2007 Guinness Book of World Records for having the highest salary as an actor in his first starring role, receiving US$5.5 million.[132][133] He appeared at the 80th Academy Awards on February 24, 2008 as a presenter for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.[134] He was nominated for Favorite Movie Actor at the 2008 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for his role in The Game Plan, but lost out to Johnny Depp, who won for his performance in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.[135][136] He then had a supporting role in the Steve Carell action comedy Get Smart.
In 2010, Johnson headlined the family comedy Tooth Fairy. Johnson also made an uncredited cameo in the 2010 film Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? as a handsome psychiatrist who asks out the recently widowed Patricia Agnew (Janet Jackson). He had a brief appearance in the Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg film The Other Guys as an action seeking detective along with Samuel L. Jackson. He made his return to action films after a string of family films and supporting roles with Faster.
In 2011, Johnson appeared in the fourth sequel in The Fast and the Furious film series, Fast Five , as Luke Hobbs, a Diplomatic Security Service agent assigned to hunt down the series' protagonists, played by Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. Johnson was cast in the role after Diesel had read comments and feedback from fans, one of whom wanted to see Diesel and Johnson in a movie together. Additionally, Johnson, a fan of the franchise, had wanted to work with Universal again after they had given him his first film roles. Critics and audiences alike considered Johnson's involvement a welcome addition to the franchise and plans are to have him return for future installments. The film grossed at over $86 million its opening weekend, making it the best opening for a 'Fast & Furious' film, the biggest opening for an April release,[138] and Johnson's best opening weekend.[139]
In 2012, Johnson appearred in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, and will play Roadblock in G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
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