The Rock

Dubbed as ‘The Great One’, ‘The People’s Champion’ and ‘The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment’ Dwayne Douglas Johnson, or the famous The Rock, is an American actor, producer, businessman and retired professional wrestler.

He is also the former American football and Canadian football player. Johnson has wrestled for the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) for eight years before he pursued the acting career. Even as an actor, Johnson has thrived with his films grossing over $3.5 billion in North America and over $10.5 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.

He played football during his college time as he played for the University of Miami, winning a national championship in 1991. Aspiring to become a professional footballer, Johnson entered in the 1995 NFL Draft but went undrafted. He then signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL), however, was cut from the team in his first season.

Nevertheless, the first third-generation Superstar in WWE history (being the son of Rocky Johnson and grandson of Peter Maivia) – Johnson was destined for the sports-entertainment. He made his debut in professional wrestling as a grinning good guy at the 1996 Survivor Series. He rose to prominence after developing the charismatic, boastful, trash-talking Rock persona and won his first WWF Championship in 1998. Johnson helped usher the WWF into the Attitude Era, a boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers, Johnson headlined the most-bought professional wrestling pay-per-view event ever – WrestleMania XXVIII.

He was also featured among the most-watched episodes of WWE’s two flagship television shows – Raw and SmackDown. Dwayne Johnson left WWE in 2004 to pursue an acting career while he returning in 2011 as a part-time performer until 2013. He made sporadic appearances until retiring in 2019.

The Brahma Bull is a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time tag team champion, and a 10-time world champion He was also a Royal Rumble match winner and WWE’s sixth Triple Crown champion. Johnson has also hosted a “Saturday Night Live,” written a New York Times bestselling autobiography – The Rock Says (2012), top-billed the popular HBO series “Ballers” while he starred in big Hollywood films such as “Fast Five” and “The Game Plan,” literally grossing over billions of dollars.

Johnson’s first leading film role came in 2002 in The Scorpion King. Since then he starred in a number of successful films: The Game Plan (2007), Tooth Fairy (2010), Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), Hercules (2014), San Andreas (2015), Central Intelligence (2016), Moana (2016), Rampage (2018), and Skyscraper (2018). His role as Luke Hobbs in the Fast & Furious series, beginning with Fast Five (2011), made it to be one of the highest-grossing film franchises in world. Johnson also stars in the Jumanji franchise, appearing in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), and its sequel Jumanji: The Next Level.

Johnson produced and starred in the HBO series Ballers (2015–2019) that ran for five seasons, ranking as HBO’s most-watched comedy in six years. He has also attained success as a television host and autobiography author. In 2012, he founded the production company Seven Bucks Productions, which has produced several films and other entertainment projects. Consistently ranked among the world’s highest-paid actors, Johnson made the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World list in 2016 and 2019, and is the co-owner of the American football league, the XFL.

Early Life

Dwayne Douglas Johnson was born on 2^nd May 1972, in Hayward, California, to Ata Johnson and the former professional wrestler Rocky Johnson. Johnson lived briefly with his mother’s family in New Zealand during his childhood. There he played rugby and attended Richmond Road Primary School in Grey Lynn before he returned to the United States. Johnson briefly attended the Montclaire Elementary School in Charlotte, North Carolina before moving to Hamden, Connecticut, where he spent a couple of years at Shepherd Glen Elementary School and Hamden Middle School. He had changed several schools attending President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, then going to Glencliff High School and McGavock High School in Nashville, Tennessee, and then to Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. During his teenage time, Johnson was arrested multiple times for fighting, theft, and check fraud till he turned 17. Meanwhile, he also started playing sports and joined his high schools’ gridiron football, track and field and wrestling teams.

Johnson’s father was a Black Canadian from Nova Scotia, being part of the first Black tag team champions in WWE history along with Tony Atlas. Meanwhile, his mother is Samoan and the adopted daughter of Peter Maivia (a professional wrestler) and his wife – Lia (the first female pro wrestling promoter who also took over Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling after her husband’s death in 1982, until 1988). Through his grandfather Maivia, Johnson is considered a non-blood relative to the Anoa’i wrestling family. In 2008, Johnson inducted his father and grandfather into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Personal Life

Johnson married Dany Garcia on 3 May 1997 and had a daughter named Simone on August 14, 2001. The two of them split up on 1^st June 2007. After his divorce, Johnson started dating Lauren Hashian, daughter of Boston drummer Sib Hashian. They first met in 2006 when Johnson was filming The Game Plan. On 18^th August 2019, Hashian and Johnson got married in Hawaii and now have two children.

Meanwhile, Johnson has a home in Southwest Ranches in Florida, as well as Los Angeles, California and a farm in Virginia. In 2009, he gained Canadian citizenship through his father. Even though he was previously registered as a Republican, he voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 United States presidential elections. However, he did not vote in the 2016 U.S. election and is an independent voter since 2017.

Being the descendant of the Samoan chiefs and in recognition of his service to the Samoan people, Johnson had the noble title of Seiuli bestowed upon him by Malietoa Tanumafili II during his visit there in July 2004. He received a partial Samoan pe’a tattoo on his left side in 2003, and in 2017, had the small “Brahma bull” tattoo on his right arm covered with a larger half-sleeve tattoo of a bull’s skull.

In February 2020, the WWE announced that Johnson’s daughter Simone had started training at the WWE Performance Center, making her the first fourth-generation WWE Superstar. On May 16, Johnson announced she had signed a contract with WWE.

On 2^nd September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson announced on Instagram that he, his wife, and their two daughters had all been tested positive for COVID-19, which he said they contracted from family friends, but had made a full recovery.

Professional Wrestling Career

Early career (1996)

Following his football career, Johnson decided to pursue a career as a professional wrestler. The veteran wrestler Pat Patterson got Johnson several tryout matches with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1996. Using his real name, Johnson defeated The Brooklyn Brawler at a house show on March 10, while also losing to Chris Candido and Owen Hart. After wrestling at Jerry Lawler’s United States Wrestling Association as Flex Kavana and winning the USWA World Tag Team Championship twice with Bart Sawyer in the summer of 1996, Johnson signed a WWF contract. He received additional training from Tom Prichard, alongside Achim Albrecht and Mark Henry.

World Wrestling Federation – WWF (now known as WWE)

Debut and Intercontinental Champion (1996–1997)

Although being acknowledged by his real names by the announcers, Johnson made his WWF debut as Rocky Maivia, using the combination of his father and grandfather’s ring names. He was initially reluctant to take this ring name but was persuaded by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross. Initially, Johnson was nicknamed as “The Blue Chipper” while his lineage was played on TV, where he was hyped as the WWF’s first third-generation wrestler. Maivia, a clean-cut face character, was pushed heavily from the start despite his wrestling inexperience. ON 4^th November 1996, Johnson debuted on Monday Night Raw as a member of Marc Mero’s entourage. He played his first match at Survivor Series, on November 17, in an eight-man elimination tag match.

Maivia was the sole survivor in the match, eliminating the final two members of the opposing team, Crush and Goldust. On February 13, 1997, Maivia won the Intercontinental Championship from Hunter Hearst Helmsley on Monday Night Raw. He then went on to successfully defend the title against Helmsley at In Your House 13: Final Four.

He played his first WrestleMania match at WrestleMania 13 where he defeated The Sultan and winning the Intercontinental Championship. However, WWF fans started to reject his character and push from the company. He defeated Bret Hart by disqualification in a title defense on the March 31 episode of Raw is War. Behind the scenes, Hart mentored Johnson for his first year in WWF and refused to be booked to take the title from him. On April 20, at In Your House 14: Revenge of the ‘Taker, Maivia lost to Savio Vega by countout but retained the title. Audiences became increasingly hostile toward Maivia, with chants of “die, Rocky, die” and “Rocky sucks” being heard during his matches.

The Nation of Domination (1997–1998)

After losing the Intercontinental Championship to Owen Hart on the April 28, 1997 episode of Raw Is War while suffering a legitimate knee injury in a match against Mankind, Maivia returned in August 1997. And for the first time in his wrestling career, Maivia turned heel as he lashed out at fans who had been booing him, joining Faarooq, D’Lo Brown and Kama in the stable called the Nation of Domination. After this, he refused to acknowledge Rocky Maivia as his ring name, instead referring to himself in the third person as ‘The Rock’, but was billed as “The Rock” Rocky Maivia until 1998. The Rock would then regularly insult the audience, WWF performers, and interviewers in his promos.

At D-Generation X: In Your House, The Rock was defeated by Stone Cold Steve Austin within six minutes to retain the Intercontinental Championship. The following night on Raw Is War, Mr. McMahon ordered Austin to defend the title in a rematch. Austin handed over the title belt to The Rock before hitting him with the Stone Cold Stunner and he forfeited it to the Rock. The Rock feuded with Austin and Ken Shamrock through the end of 1997 and beginning of 1998. On January 19, 1998, at Royal Rumble, the Rock defeated Shamrock by disqualification to retain the Intercontinental title. Later that night, he entered the Royal Rumble match and lasted until the final two before he was eliminated by Stone Cold Steve Austin.

On March 29, he defeated Shamrock by disqualification once again to retain the title at WrestleMania XIV. The following night on Raw is War, The Rock debuted a new Intercontinental Championship design, later he overthrew Faarooq as the leader of the Nation of Domination to spark a feud between the two. He went on to successfully defend the Intercontinental title against Faarooq at Over the Edge: In Your House on May 31. The stable then referred to them as simply “The Nation”.

The Rock and The Nation then together feuded with Triple H and D-Generation X, with the two stable leaders first meeting in the quarter-final of the 1998 King of the Ring tournament, which the Rock won. At King of the Ring, the Rock defeated Dan Severn in the semi-final match but lost the final to rival Ken Shamrock.

He resumed his feud with Triple H, having two out of the three falls match with each other at Fully Loaded: In Your House for the Intercontinental title which The Rock retained in controversial fashion. This led to a ladder match at SummerSlam, where the Rock lost the title.

However, during this time period, The Rock saw a big uptick in his fan support that caused him to be booked in a feud with fellow Nation members – Mark Henry and D’Lo Brown, turning babyface in the process. After the interference from Brown (which ended up breaking the stable), The Rock was defeated by Henry at Judgment Day: In Your House.

WWF Champion and rise to superstardom (1998–2000)

Following the disbanding of the stable, The Rock entered into the “Deadly Game” tournament for the vacant WWF Championship. He defeated Vince McMahon’s associate – Mankind in the finals at Survivor Series, claiming his first WWF Championship. Following the title loss, the McMahon’s betrayed Mankind and both Vince and Shane McMahon allied with The Rock painting him as the crown jewel of their table. However, after allying with the McMahons, a “double turn” occurred as the Rock once again turned heel. On December 13, 1998, at the pay-per-view named after him, Rock Bottom: In Your House, The Rock had a rematch with Mankind for the WWF Championship. Mankind appeared to win the match when the Rock passed out to the Mandible Claw submission move. But Vince McMahon decided to play by the rules book, saying that since the Rock did not tap out, he retained his title.

The Rock continued to feud with Mankind, as the WWF Championship was traded back and forth between them. Mankind defeated The Rock, after interference from Stone Cold Steve, in the main event of the January 4, 1999 episode of Raw Is War. Then, at the Royal Rumble on January 24, The Rock regained the title in a brutal “I Quit” match, where the match comes to an end when one of the combatants says “I quit” on a microphone. This match had intended to show a vicious mean streak in The Rock’s character. However, everything went horribly wrong as at the end of the match the Rock hit Mankind in the head with a steel chair 11 times instead of the scripted five, five shots already being a risky amount (most wrestling matches in the Attitude Era involving steel chairs had at most 2 or 3 shots to the head). After the 5th shot by The Rock, Mankind was still at the ringside instead of being two-thirds up the entrance ramp where he was supposed to be. And then, after the eleventh shot that knocked a bloodied Mankind out, a recording of Mankind saying “I Quit” from an earlier interview was played over the PA system.

A week later, on January 31, during an episode of Sunday Night Heat, the Rock and Mankind participated in an Empty Arena match. The match took place in an arena with 22,000 empty seats and any part of the facility was allowed to be used by the participants in the contest. After 20 minutes of chaotic brawling in the ring, the stands, a kitchen, the catering area, an office, the arena corridors and finally a basement loading area, Mankind had pinned The Rock using a forklift truck to win the WWF title. This match was referred to as “Halftime Heat” because it was televised during halftime of that year’s Super Bowl. The two rivals faced off again, at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre: In Your House, in the Last Man Standing match which ended in a draw and Mankind retained the title. However, on the 15^th February episode of Raw is War, Rock won his third WWF Championship in a Ladder match after the debuting Big show interfered on Rock’s behalf. Not only did he win the title back, but the on-going feud between The Rock and Mankind also ended with this match. The Rock then lost the WWF Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XV.

Even as a heel, The Rock’s popularity continued to grow with the audiences cheering for him in every match. He lost the title rematch against Stone Cold Steve Austin at Backlash: In Your House after he was betrayed by Shane McMahon. This had The Rock turning his face again who then started feuding with Triple H, The Undertaker and The Corporate Ministry. On April 29, 1999, WWF aired the pilot episode of SmackDown, a term derived from one of the Rock’s catchphrases. In the episode, the Rock continued his feud with The Corporate Ministry. This led to a match with Triple H, at Over the Edge, which The Rock won and a match for the WWF Championship against The Undertaker, at King of the Ring, which the Rock lost. The Rock then lost a number one contender’s match to Triple H, at Fully Loaded, after interference from “Mr. Ass” Billy Gunn. The Rock then defeated Gunn in a Kiss My Ass match at SummerSlam. The Rock was also given the privilege of having his own signature match such as – The Undertaker with the Buried Alive match, Kane with the Inferno Match and Mankind with the Boiler Room Brawl: the Brahma Bullrope match. A variant of a strap match was a normal singles match where the components are tied together with a rope used for cattle farming, and the rope and its attached cowbell could both be used as weapons. The Rock contested this match twice, both times in Texas (vs Triple H in Dallas, and vs Al Snow in Houston).

The Rock’s popularity was fueled by his charisma and speaking abilities, which led to many catchphrases and merchandising opportunities

Shortly after SummerSlam, The Rock started teaming with his former opponent Mankind, gaining popularity as the Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection. The two of them defeated The Undertaker and Big Show on the 30^th August 1999 episode of Raw is War after which together they became a WWF Tag Team Champions for the first time in WWF. Both of them performed a number of critically acclaimed comedic skits together, including one called “This Is Your Life” where Mankind would bring parody versions of people from the Rock’s past on television, such as his high school girlfriend and his high school football coach, only to have The Rock insult them. The segment earned an 8.4 Nielsen rating, one of the highest ratings ever for a Raw segment. In the meantime, the two lost the titles back to The Undertaker and Big Show on the September 7, 1999, episode of SmackDown only to win them back from them on the September 20, 1999, episode of Raw is War. The Rock and Mankind then lost the titles to The New Age Outlaws on the very next episode SmackDown.

After beating the New Age Outlaws on the 12^th October 1999 episode of SmackDown, The Rock and Mankind won the tag titles for the third and final time before losing the titles to The Holly Cousins on the October 18, 1999 episode of Raw is War.

On 23^rd January 2000, at Royal Rumble, the Rock entered the Royal Rumble match and ended up being the one of the final two remainings, along with Big Show. In an attempt at a “false finish”, Big Show intended to throw the Rock over the top rope in a running power slam-like position. However, the Rock countered the move on the ring apron, sending Big Show to the floor before re-entering the ring as the winner. However, the Rock’s feet accidentally hit the floor during his reversal attempt but those watching the event on TV could not see that. This was played up in the storyline as Big Show provided additional video footage as proof and claimed to be the rightful winner. This resulted in the Rock’s number one contendership for the WWF Championship being put on the line against Big Show at No Way Out which was ultimately won by Big Show after the interference from Shane McMahon. The Rock defeated Big Show on the March 13 episode of Raw Is War and regained the right to face the WWF Champion, Triple H, at WrestleMania 2000 in a Fatal Four-way elimination match, which also included Big Show and Mick Foley. Each wrestler had a McMahon in his corner:

Triple H had his wife, Stephanie, Foley had Linda, the Rock had Vince and Big Show had Shane. The Rock lasted until the final two but then Vince betrayed him by hitting with a chair, resulting in Rock getting eliminated by the then-reigning champion Triple H.

Record-breaking world champion (2000–2002)

In the following weeks, the Rock continued his feud with Triple H, going on to win his fourth WWF Championship on April 30, at Backlash, after Stone Cold Steve Austin intervened on his behalf. The following night on Raw, he successfully defended his title against Shane McMahon in a Steel Cage match. On May 21, at Judgment Day, the Rock faced Triple H in an Iron Man match with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. The scores were tied at five falls each and there were just a few seconds left on the time limit, but The Undertaker attacked Triple H which resulted in The Rock being disqualified and Triple H winning the title and the match by 6-5.

At the King of the Ring held on 25^th June, The Rock won the WWF Championship for a fifth time as he scored the winning pin in a six-man tag team match, teaming with Kane and The Undertaker against Shane McMahon, Triple H and Vince McMahon, whom he pinned. He went on to defend the championship against Chris Benoit, on July 23, at Fully Loaded. The next month, he successfully defended his title against Kurt Angle and Triple H at SummerSlam. The Rock had another successful title defence against Benoit, Kane and The Undertaker, on September 24, at Unforgiven.

At No Mercy in October, The Rock lost the WWF Championship to Kurt Angle. The following month, the Rock feuded with Rikishi, defeating him at Survivor Series. The Rock wrestled in a six-man Hell in a Cell Match for the WWF Championship, at Armageddon, which was won by Kurt Angle.

On the December 18 episode of Raw, the Rock and The Undertaker together defeated Edge and Christian to win the WWF Tag Team Championship before losing it back to them the following night at a SmackDown taping. In 2001, the Rock continued to feud with Angle over the WWF Championship, culminating at No Way Out in February, where he pinned Angle to win the WWF Championship for the sixth time.

He also feuded with the Royal Rumble winner, Stone Cold Steve Austin, whom he lost the title to at WrestleMania X-Seven after Austin allied with Vince McMahon, who interfered on his behalf. On the following night at Raw Is War, in a steel cage title rematch, Triple H turned and attacked The Rock, allying with McMahon and Austin and helping them to retain the championship. Then, Triple H formed a tag team called The Power Trip with Austin, while the Rock was indefinitely suspended in the storyline. Johnson used this time off to act in The Scorpion King.

The Rock returned during The Invasion storyline in late July 2001, the time when the WWF was feuding with rival promotions – World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). In reality, however, WCW was purchased by Vince McMahon and the WWF, and ECW had gone out of business in early 2001. Many former WCW and ECW wrestlers were then brought onto WWF television, forming The Alliance to compete with WWF in the storyline. After this, both – The Alliance and Vince McMahon, attempted to persuade the Rock to join their team. The Rock then aligned himself with McMahon and the WWF. The next month, the Rock defeated Booker T at SummerSlam, winning his first WCW Championship, although he lost the title to Chris Jericho at No Mercy. The next night on Raw, he teamed with Jericho to win the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Dudley Boyz. The duo lost the tag titles to Booker T and Test on the November 1, 2001 episode of SmackDown. The Rock defeated Jericho on the November 5 episode of Raw for his second WCW Championship.

As part of the WWF team against The Alliance, the Rock wrestled in a “winner takes all” five-on-five elimination tag team match at Survivor Series with the speculation of the losing team’s company to be dissolved in the storyline. The WWF team included the members – Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, and Big Show, while The Alliance’s team consisted of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Shane McMahon. By the end of the match, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were up for a one-on-one between them. Initially, The Rock seemed to have the upper hand, but his teammate Jericho entered the ring and attacked the Rock. Austin tried to capitalize on this by pinning The Rock, but Kurt Angle revealed his true allegiance by attacking Austin. The Rock then pinned Austin, giving Team WWF the victory and forcing The Alliance to disband. The Rock’s WCW Championship was renamed the unbranded “World Championship” following the Alliance’s loss. At the next pay-per-view, Vengeance, the Rock lost the World Championship to Jericho, who would then unify the WWF and World titles later that night. The Rock then unsuccessfully challenged Jericho for the now Undisputed WWF Championship at Royal Rumble.

The Rock went on to defeat The Undertaker in a singles match at the next pay-per-view, No Way Out. The event also saw the WWF debut of the famed WCW faction New World Order, which at the time consisted of “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall which led to a match taking place between the Rock and Hogan at WrestleMania X8. The match was billed as “icon versus icon” at WrestleMania X8 where both the men represented the top tier of the two generations of wrestling, The Rock ultimately pinning Hogan. Despite the Rock portraying a heroic character and Hogan a villain, a portion of the crowd attending the SkyDome was rooting heavily for Hogan. In an interview in 2013, Hogan claimed that he and the Rock have changed the style of the match on the fly judging by response from the crowd. After the introduction of the first-ever brand extension, the WWF held a “draft lottery” on the March 25, 2002, episode of Raw. The Rock was the number one overall pick, going to the SmackDown brand before taking a sabbatical from wrestling.

A June episode of Raw marked a surprise return of The Rock, who later was assigned to the SmackDown brand. There, he was named the number one contender for the WWE Undisputed Championship, which he won for a record-setting seventh time at Vengeance, on July 21, by defeating Kurt Angle and then-champion The Undertaker in a Triple Threat match. The Rock successfully defended the title at the Global Warning event in Melbourne, Australia, against Triple H and Brock Lesnar after pinning Triple H. On August 25, at SummerSlam, after interference from Lesnar’s manager Paul Heyman, the Rock lost the WWE Undisputed Championship to Lesnar along with the record for the youngest WWE Champion, which he had set in 1998. In 2018, writing for ESPN.com, Sean Coyle noted in a retrospective review of the event, that following his victory over Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8, the Rock “started to see a dip in fan support” and “that dip turned into a plunge” by the time Rock had his match with Lesnar at SummerSlam because fans knew he was leaving WWE to pursue an acting career. This was evident by the fact that he was met with a negative crowd response during his match against Lesnar. After the event ended, the Rock was visibly angry at the crowd reaction. When he tried to do a post-show speech for the crowd, the fans attending the Nassau Coliseum would still boo him. The Rock then took time off to kickstart his acting career.

Final feuds and first retirement (2003–2004)

The Rock returned on the January 30, 2003 episode of SmackDown to set up another match with his former rival – Hulk Hogan, at No Way Out. However, with the negative fan reaction because of his skyrocketing acting career, The Rock turned heel again and defeated Hogan at No Way Out before he assigned himself to the Raw brand. With the Raw brand, he indulged in several small feuds, including the one with the Hurricane. Meanwhile, he also began performing “Rock Concerts”, segments in which he played the guitar and mocked WWE performers and fans in song.

The Rock failed to win a number one contendership for the World Heavyweight Championship after which he went into another program with his former rival and stablemate – Stone Cold Steve Austin. This eventually led to a match at WrestleMania XIX, which was called back to their previous two WrestleMania encounters, Austin winning both of them. The Rock delivered three consecutive Rock Bottoms (his signature manoeuvre) and won the match, ending their long-running rivalry in what turned out to be was Austin’s final match. The following night, Raw was billed as “The Rock Appreciation Night”, in honour of his victory over Austin. That night, he was attacked by a debuting Goldberg who then went on to defeat The Rock at Backlash. After this, The Rock left WWE briefly for the shooting of his upcoming – Walking Tall.

He made occasional appearances throughout the remaining year, reverting to a face character. In 2004, the Rock aided Mick Foley in his feud against The Evolution, which led to a reunion of the Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection. They lost against Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista in a handicap match at WrestleMania XX, when Orton pinned Foley after an RKO. This would be Johnson’s final wrestling match until November 2011. The Rock appeared in WWE sporadically following WrestleMania XX. He made returns to provide support for Eugene against Jonathan Coachman, and made a cameo in his hometown of Miami and helped Mick Foley against La Résistance. Later in 2004, he hosted a pie-eating contest, as part of the WWE Diva Search, and ended the segment by giving Coachman a People’s Elbow. The Rock’s contract with WWE then ended and he started his full-time acting career.

Return to WWE

non-wrestling appearances (2007–2009)

On March 12, 2007, after nearly three years, the Rock appeared on a WWE show, via a pre-taped promo shown during Raw. He accurately predicted that Bobby Lashley would defeat Umaga at WrestleMania 23 in Donald Trump and Vince McMahon’s “Battle of the Billionaires” Hair vs Hair match. On March 29, 2008, Johnson appeared to induct his father Peter Maivia and grandfather Rocky Johnson into the WWE Hall of Fame. Johnson’s next appearance was through a pre-taped promo on October 2, 2009, during the Decade of SmackDown.

Feud with John Cena (2011–2013)

On February 14, 2011, the Rock was revealed as the host of WrestleMania XXVII, appearing live on Raw for the first time in almost seven years. During a lengthy promo, he addressed the fans and started a feud with John Cena. After numerous appearances via satellite, the Rock appeared live on the Raw before WrestleMania XXVII to confront Cena. After he and Cena exchanged insults, The Miz and Alex Riley appeared and attacked the Rock; he fended off Miz and Riley, only for Cena to blindside him with an Attitude Adjustment.

On April 3, at WrestleMania XXVII, the Rock opened the show by cutting a promo. After appearing in numerous backstage segments, the Rock came to ringside to restart the main event between Cena and The Miz as a No Disqualification match, after it had ended in a draw. As revenge for the Attitude Adjustment Cena had given him on Raw, Rock hit Cena with the Rock Bottom, allowing The Miz to pin him and retain the WWE Championship. After the match, Rock attacked Miz and hit him with the People’s Elbow. The following night on Raw, the Rock and Cena agreed to a match at WrestleMania XXVIII the next year. They then worked together to fend off an attack by The Corre, which at the time consisted of Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, and Ezekiel Jackson.

The Rock appeared live on Raw in his hometown of Miami to celebrate his 39th birthday. On September 16, WWE announced the Rock would wrestle in a traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series tag team match, teaming with Cena at Survivor Series in November. However, on the October 24 episode of Raw, Cena instead suggested the Rock be his partner in a standard tag team match against The Miz and R-Truth, a team called Awesome Truth, which Rock agreed to the following week. On November 14, during the special Raw Gets Rocked, the Rock appeared life, delivering Rock Bottoms to Mick Foley, who had been hosting a “This Is Your Life”-style segment for Cena, and later both members of Awesome Truth. The Rock and Cena defeated Awesome Truth on November 20 at Survivor Series, when the Rock pinned The Miz. After the match, the Rock gave Cena a Rock Bottom.

Leading up to WrestleMania, the Rock and Cena had several verbal confrontations on Raw. On the March 12, 2012, episode of Raw, the Rock hosted his first “Rock Concert” segment since 2004, mocking Cena in his songs. On April 1, at WrestleMania XXVII, the Rock beat Cena in the main event after countering Cena’s attempt at a People’s Elbow into a Rock Bottom. This event broke the record for biggest professional wrestling pay-per-view buyrate. The following night on Raw, the Rock praised Cena as he called their match “an honour” and vowed to once again become WWE Champion.

On July 23, at Raw 1000, the Rock announced he would wrestle for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. During the show, he encountered then-reigning WWE Champion CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena, all of whom expressed a desire to face him. The Rock later saved Cena from an assault by Big Show, only to be laid out by CM Punk. On the January 7, 2013, episode of Raw, the Rock returned to confront his Rumble opponent CM Punk. On January 11, he made his first SmackDown appearance in ten years, getting into an altercation with Team Rhodes Scholars, resulting in him delivering a Rock Bottom to Damien Sandow and a People’s Elbow to Cody Rhodes. The Rock closed out the 20th-anniversary episode of Raw, on January 14, with one of his “Rock Concerts”, leading to a brawl with CM Punk. The following week on Raw, the Rock was attacked by The Shield. Vince McMahon then asserted that if The Shield attacked the Rock in his title match with CM Punk, Punk would be stripped of the WWE Championship.

On January 27, at Royal Rumble, CM Punk would seemingly defeat the Rock after the arena lights went out and someone attacked the Rock. Vince McMahon then came out and was about to strip Punk of the championship, however, at the Rock’s request, he instead restarted the match. This culminated in the Rock defeating Punk to win his eighth WWE Championship. Punk received a title rematch with the Rock, at Elimination Chamber, with the added stipulation that if the Rock was disqualified or counted out, he would still lose the WWE Championship. The Rock would pin Punk to retain the championship. The following night on Raw, the Rock unveiled a new WWE Championship design, with a different centre plate and removable customizable side-plates which had his “Brahma Bull” logo. The Rock then resumed his rivalry with John Cena, who won that year’s Royal Rumble to set up a rematch of the previous WrestleMania match between the two at WrestleMania 29, only this time with the WWE Championship on the line.

On April 7, at WrestleMania 29, Rock lost the WWE Championship to Cena, ending his reign at 70 days. After WrestleMania, The Rock was advertised to still be entitled to a rematch for the WWE Championship for the Raw brand. However, he did not appear in the title match because of a legitimate injury sustained during his match with Cena, in which his abdominal and adductor tendons tore from his pelvis. Johnson underwent surgery on April 23 to reattach the torn tendons.

Sporadic appearances (2014–present)

• In April 2014, The Rock appeared in the opening segment of WrestleMania XXX along with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan.
• Few months later, on the October 6 episode of Raw, The Rock made a surprise appearance to confront Rusev and Lana in which The Rock ended up clearing Rusev from the ring.
• The Rock appeared at the 2015 Royal Rumble event during the main event match. He helped his relative Roman Reigns fend off Big Show and Kane after Reigns eliminated them from the match. Reigns then won the match and The Rock endorsed him in the ring.
• The Rock again appeared at WrestleMania 31 alongside Ronda Rousey, getting into an in-ring altercation with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. He attacked Triple H while Rousey overpowered McMahon, the two of them prevailing after this partnership.
• On June 27, The Rock appeared at a live event in Boston where he confronted Bo Dallas and gave him a Rock Bottom.
• On January 25, 2016, episode of Raw, The Rock was featured in a segment that saw him converse with The Miz, Big Show, Lana and Rusev before he and his relatives – The Usos, got into an altercation with then-WWE Tag Team Champions, The New Day.
• The Rock appeared at WrestleMania 32 where he announced that WWE had broken the all-time WrestleMania attendance record before he was interrupted by The Wyatt Family. This saw The Rock engaging in a verbal back-and-forth with Bray Wyatt before he had an impromptu match with Wyatt Family member Erick Rowan. The Rock won as he gave Rowan a Rock Bottom and pinned him within six seconds, setting the record for the fastest win in WrestleMania history. The Rock was then aided by a returning John Cena to fend off Wyatt, Rowan and Braun Strowman.
• On the February 20, 2017 episode of Raw, The Rock made an untelevised appearance after the broadcast had gone off the air, where he promoted and filmed a scene for his then-upcoming film – Fighting with My Family.
• The Rock officially announced his retirement from professional wrestling on August 3, 2019.
• After weeks of speculation, on September 30, 2019, The Rock announced that he would be appearing on the 20^th Anniversary of SmackDown on October 4, which would mark his first appearance on SmackDown since October 2014 and his first televised appearance since April 2016. At the event, he would cut a promo with Becky Lynch before they were interrupted by King Corbin. After attacking Corbin, The Rock and Lynch celebrated in the ring.

Independent circuit (2009)

On September 30, 2009, The Rock appeared at a World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) show to support the professional wrestling debut of Sarona Snuka, the daughter of his long-time friend and mentor Jimmy Snuka.

Mainstream crossover

• The Rock appeared on Wyclef Jean’s 2000 single “It Doesn’t Matter” and in its music video. He also recorded “Pie” with Slick Rick for WWF The Music, Vol. 5.
• In 1999, Johnson appeared on That ’70s Show as his father, Rocky Johnson. The next year, he was on Star Trek: Voyager as an alien wrestler that used The Rock’s famous moves.
• In 2000, he hosted Saturday Night Live (SNL) for the first time with the fellow wrestlers – Triple H, The Big Show, and Mick Foley also appearing on the show. Johnson has stated the success of that episode is the reason he began receiving offers from Hollywood studios. He has since hosted SNL another four times.
• In 1999, The Rock was listed No. 5 on Entertainment Weekly’s Top 12 Entertainers of the Year. In 2000, Access Hollywood ranked him number six in their list of the Top 10 Celebrities of 2000. That year, Rock was also listed in the Forbes Celebrity 100 and People Magazine’s 25 Most Intriguing People.
• The Rock was listed Entertainment Weekly’s 101 Most Influential People in both 2000 and 2001. In 2001, he was also listed on E!’s 20 Top Entertainers while the following year in 2002, The Rock was listed on E!’s 25 Toughest Stars. In 2003, he was listed in VH1’s 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons and was No. 13 in People Magazine’s 50 Favorite TV Stars.
• The Rock made a surprise appearance at the official Xbox unveiling during Bill Gates’s keynote speech at the ongoing Computer Electronics Show in 2001.
• Johnson’s motion picture debut was as The Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns (2001). The movie broke a two-year record for the highest-grossing single day in film history by earning US$28,594,667. The movie’s financial success led to Johnson’s first leading role, in the spin-off The Scorpion King (2002). He received US$5.5 million for the role and Guinness World Records named him the record-holder for highest-paid actor in their first leading role.
• The Rock has appeared on the covers of many magazines, including Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, and TV Guide. He has also appeared in, and been the cover athlete for, several video games.
• As of September 2019, his Instagram account became the fourth most-followed in the world.

Legacy and career assessment

The Rock has been listed as one of the all-time greatest professional wrestlers as well as one of the top draws in the wrestling history. Several fans also have placed The Rock on their “Mount Rushmore of Pro Wrestling”, including Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and John Cena. In “Cable Visions: Television Beyond Broadcasting”, The Rock was described as “for a long time, the WWE’s biggest star and probably held the greatest international appeal”. R. D. Reynolds stated in his book “The WrestleCrap Book of Lists” that The Rock was “the biggest star for WWE from 1999 until 2004”. The Rock main-event the most bought pay-per-view worldwide in WWE history (WrestleMania XXVIII), the most bought pay-per-view domestically in WWE history (WrestleMania X-Seven), the highest-rated Raw in history, the highest-rated SmackDown in history, and was part of the highest-rated segment in WWE history.

Meanwhile, his return in 2001 did a 7.1 rating which was the highest-rated segment of the entire year. The Rock was also part of the highest-rated match of the 21st century. His WWF Championship defence, on May 1, 2000, against Shane McMahon did an 8.3 rating on the regular time and a 9.1 on the overrun making this match the second most-watched professional wrestling match in the United States of this millennium, only behind a 12-minute long match between The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin which drew a rating of 9.5 which is the highest-rated segment in Raw history. In 2011, The Rock’s return to an episode of Raw generated an average of 4.7 million viewers in the United States, with 7.4 million tuning in during his promo. Raw 1000 was the highest-rated Raw episode of 2012 and his segment with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan was the highest rated segment of the show. In 2013, the night after The Rock won the WWE Championship for the first time in over a decade (at Royal Rumble) Raw got its highest rating of that year.

Derived from one of his catchphrases “lay the smackdown”, WWE introduced its second flagship program WWE SmackDown in 1999 which later became television’s second-longest-running weekly episodic program in history. The term “smackdown” was instituted in Merriam-Webster dictionaries since 2007. The Rock holds the record for most Raw shows main-evented in one year (38 in 2000), most SmackDown shows main-event in one year (36 in 2000) and tied with Stone Cold Steve Austin (in 2001) for most PPV shows main evented in one year (12 in 2000).

Other Ventures

Football career

Johnson was a promising football prospect and received offers from many Division I collegiate programs. He decided on a full scholarship from the University of Miami where he mostly played defensive tackle. In 1991 he was on the Miami Hurricanes’ national championship team. After suffering a number of injuries, he was later replaced in the starting lineup by future Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp.

After Johnson graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of General Studies in criminology and physiology, he signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League as a linebacker. He was assigned to the practice roster but was cut two months into the season.

Film Career

Dwayne Johnson’s acting career started during his wrestling career when he appeared on television for various wrestling shows. In his first television acting job, in 1999, he played his own father in an episode of That ’70s Show called “That Wrestling Show”. Nearly a year later, he appeared in the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Tsunkatse” as an alien wrestler who fought popular character Seven of Nine. While Johnson was away from WWE, the company continued to sell “The Rock” merchandise, and he continued to be featured prominently in the opening montages of their television shows. Since then, he has become one of the highest-paid and most successful actors in Hollywood.

Johnson started his theatrical gig in The Mummy Returns (2001), The Scorpion King (2002) the action-comedy The Rundown (2003) and the Walking Tall (2004). He played a supporting role in Be Cool (2005) and was the primary antagonist in Doom (2005). He also had roles in Gridiron Gang (2006) Reno 911!: Miami (2007) and Southland Tales (2006). He played a cocky famous American football player in The Game Plan (2007) and Agent 23 in Get Smart (2008). He presented the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 80th Academy Awards.

Johnson became known for reinvigorating film franchises after portraying Marvin F. Hinton / Roadblock in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and reprising his role as Luke Hobbs in Fast & Furious 6. He also starred in true-story films Pain & Gain and Empire State (all released in 2013). That same year, he hosted and produced the TNT reality competition series The Hero, and won the Favourite Male Buttkicker Award at the 2013 Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards. In May 2013, it was announced that he would executive produce and star in Ballers, an HBO comedy-drama series about NFL players living in Miami, Florida. By December of that year, Forbes named Johnson the top-grossing actor of 2013, with his films bringing in $1.3 billion worldwide for the year. Forbes credited the success of Fast & Furious 6, which grossed $789 million globally, and Johnson’s frequent acting work as primary reasons for topping the list.

Johnson starred as the title character in Hercules (2014) and reprised his role as Luke Hobbs in Furious 7 (2015). He hosted another reality series for TNT in 2014, entitled Wake Up Call, which saw him “lending a helping hand to everyday people who were facing enormous challenges in their lives” alongside guest experts such as Rocco DiSpirito, Jillian Michaels, and Josh Shipp. It was announced that he would executive produce and star in the horror film Seal Team 666, and is set to play Nick Schuyler in the drama film Not Without Hope. In 2016, Johnson co-starred with Kevin Hart in the action-comedy Central Intelligence and had a lead voice role in the Disney animated film Moana, in which he voiced the Polynesian demigod Maui. He reprised his role as Luke Hobbs in The Fate of the Furious, which was released in 2017. Johnson starred in two other blockbuster movies that year, Baywatch and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle as Mitchell “Mitch” Buchannon and Dr. Smolder Bravestone, respectively. In 2018, he starred in two action films, Rampage and Skyscraper.

In 2019, he produced and appeared as himself in Fighting with My Family, a comedy-drama about WWE superstar Paige and her family, who are also professional wrestlers. Johnson’s role within The Fast and the Furious franchise continued with Fast & Furious Presents Hobbs & Shaw, co-starring Johnson and Jason Statham. David Leitch directed the project from a script co-written by franchise-writer Chris Morgan, and Drew Pearce. The film began principal photography in September 2018 and was released on July 26, 2019. Though initially believed to be a part of Fast & Furious 9, Johnson has since stated that he will not appear in the film; instead, opting to begin development on a sequel to Hobbs & Shaw. Johnson reprised his role as Bravestone, in Jumanji: The Next Level. With the critical and financial success of Welcome to the Jungle, production on the movie began in early-2019, released on December 13, 2019.

Johnson will star in Netflix’s upcoming Red Notice, written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. It will be the third time the two collaborate, following Central Intelligence and Skyscraper. The film co-starring Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds began production in fall of 2019. Production on Black Adam is slated to follow thereafter, in mid-to-late 2020. A film centred around Teth-Adam / Black Adam, a part of the DC Extended Universe, was announced to be in development January 2017. Originally cast in the role as early as September 2014 as the antagonist, in a film centred around the superhero Billy Batson / Shazam, his villainous role for Shazam was re-worked into two separate films. Though Johnson would not appear in Shazam, he served as a producer and his likeness was used through special effects in flashback scenes. Johnson will co-star with Emily Blunt in The Walt Disney Company’s Jungle Cruise, as Frank and Lily Houghton, respectively. Cast in the role in August 2015, the film was announced to be based on the theme park ride of the same name. Jaume Collet-Serra serves as director, with a script by Michael Green from a previous co-written by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. In addition to his work on the film, Johnson assisted with re-designing the titular ride for all Disney theme parks. Jungle Cruise is scheduled to be released on July 30, 2021.

Noted for his busy schedule and for developing multiple projects at once, a sequel to the box-office hit San Andreas was announced to be in the pre-production stage with director of the first film, Brad Peyton returning as director along with the main cast (marking it as the 4^th collaboration between the actor and filmmaker following Journey 2, San Andreas, and Rampage respectively). Though originally attached as producer and star, Johnson will now serve solely as the former on a film adaptation of The Janson Directive. John Cena will fill the leading role, with Akiva Goldsman attached as screenwriter. Additionally, he will produce and star in a Netflix exclusive film titled John Henry & The Statesmen, as the titular folklore hero. The film will be directed by Jake Kasdan, from a script co-written by Kasdan and Tom Wheeler. With the first official teaser trailer released in October 2018, the project marks Kasdan and Johnson’s third collaboration, following Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level.

Johnson will co-produce and star in The King, a film about king Kamehameha Kūnuiākea, founder and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawai’i. The project will be directed by Robert Zemeckis from a script written by Randall Wallace. The movie will be comparable to Braveheart in tone, given Wallace’s work on both films, and will depict the king’s role in resolving the wars among the islands of Hawai’i. The King will begin production in 2020. Johnson is also attached to produce/star in a sequel to Big Trouble in Little China, as well as project under development with Shane Black focusing on a new interpretation of Doc Savage. In April 2018, he announced that he is working on a film that will include Chris Pratt as his co-star. On November 14, 2019, Johnson announced a December 22, 2021 release date for the standalone Black Adam film.

Other Works

• In 2000, Johnson published his autobiography, titled The Rock Says…, which he co-wrote with Joe Layden. It debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list and remained on the list for several weeks. In 2012, Johnson founded his production company, Seven Bucks Productions.
• In 2013, Johnson hosted and produced the TNT reality competition series The Hero. In 2014, he hosted another TNT reality series entitled Wake Up Call. In 2019, Johnson started hosting an NBC competition series called The Titan Games.
• In March 2016, Johnson partnered with the American fitness apparel manufacturer Under Armour to release “Project Rock”, with the first item in his partnership with Under Armour – a gym bag, sold out within a couple of days. His second item, a black T-shirt sporting his signature “Brahma bull” sold out after he wore it at WrestleMania 32. Johnson also released an alarm clock app as part of “Project Rock” that received more than one million downloads in its first week of release. Since then, they have released sneakers, headphones, and other apparel.
• In 2016, Johnson started a YouTube channel titled “The Rock” with the help of online personality Lilly Singh. His first video was called “The YouTube Factory” and featured several internet stars.
• In 2019, Johnson made an announcement to launch his own competitive bodybuilding show, alongside business partner and ex-wife Dany Garcia, called “Athleticon”. The show is set to rival other long-standing bodybuilding shows such as The Arnold Classic and Joe Weider’s Mr. Olympia. The show is set to debut October 9–11, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Activism and philanthropy

Johnson attended the 2000 Democratic National Convention as part of WWE’s non-partisan “Smackdown Your Vote” campaign, which aimed to influence young people to vote. He also had a speaking role at the 2000 Republican National Convention that same year.

In 2006, Johnson founded the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation, a charity working with at-risk and terminally ill children. On October 2, 2007, he and his ex-wife donated $1 million to the University of Miami to support the renovation of its football facilities. The University of Miami renamed the Hurricanes’ locker room in Johnson’s honour. In 2015, Johnson donated $1,500 to a GoFundMe to pay for an abandoned dog’s surgery. In 2017, he donated $25,000 to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. In 2018, Johnson donated a gym to a military base in Oahu, Hawaii. After the 2018 Hawaii floods, he worked with Malama Kauai, a nonprofit organization, to help repair damages caused by the floods. Johnson has also worked with Make-A-Wish Foundation on a number of occasions.

Championships and Accomplishments

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• Match of the Year (1999) vs. Mankind in an “I Quit” match at Royal Rumble
• Match of the Year (2002) vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8
• Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1999, 2000)
• Wrestler of the Year (2000)
• Ranked No. 2 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2000

United States Wrestling Association

• USWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bart Sawyer

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• Best Box Office Draw (2000, 2011, 2012)
• Best Gimmick (1999)
• Best on Interviews (1999, 2000)
• Most Charismatic (1999–2002, 2011, 2012)
• Most Improved (1998)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)

WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment/Federation

• WCW Championship[a] (2 times)
• WWE Championship[b] (8 times)
• WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)
• WWF Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Mankind (3), The Undertaker (1), and Chris Jericho (1)
• Royal Rumble (2000)
• Sixth Triple Crown Champion
• Deadly Games WWF Championship Tournament (1998)
• Slammy Award (9 times)
  • Best Actor (2014)
  • Game Changer of the Year (2011) – with John Cena
  • Guess Who’s Back or: Return of the Year (2011)
  • LOL! Moment of the Year (2012, 2013) – insulting John Cena using the history of Boston, Massachusetts, Rock Concert on the 20th-anniversary episode of Raw
  • Match of the Year (2013) – vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29
  • New Sensation (1997)
  • “Tell Me You Didn’t Just Say That” Insult of the Year (2014) – insulting Rusev and Lana
  • “This is Awesome” Moment of the Year (2015) – with Ronda Rousey