Dwayne Johnson

The Rock
Born	(1972-05-02) May 2, 1972 Hayward, California, USA
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Flex Cavana Pidlaoan Rock Rocky Maivia The Rock
Billed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Billed weight
Billed from	Miami, Florida
Trained by	Rocky Johnson Pat Patterson
Debut	1995

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2 1972) better known by his former ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. Wrestling under different ring names, Johnson gained mainstream fame as a standout in the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) from the late 1990s to 2003. Since 2001, he has expanded his movie career, taking on roles in action and comedy films such as The Scorpion King, The Game Plan, The Rundown, Doom, The Mummy Returns, Walking Tall and Southland Tales. He still makes occasional WWE appearances for promotional purposes. As such, he is often billed outside the wrestling industry as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Johnson was a nine-time world champion in his professional wrestling career: a two-time WCW Champion and a seven-time WWE Champion; his last reign was as WWE Undisputed Champion. He also was the winner of the 2000 Royal Rumble.

Biography

Early life

Dwayne Johnson, the son of Ata (née Maivia) and professional wrestler [Rocky Johnson], was born in Hayward, California. His maternal grandfather, Peter Maivia, was also a professional wrestler. Johnson travelled around frequently with his parents and watched his father perform in the ring. He went to such schools as President William McKinley High School in Hawaii. As he entered 11th grade, Johnson's father's job required his relocation to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the state's Lehigh Valley region. For Johnson, the Lehigh Valley proved a huge cultural shift from the world he had known and seen in the San Francisco Bay Area in his early youth. But Johnson welcomed the change and assimilated quickly in the new area. In Bethlehem, Johnson began to cultivate an intense athleticism, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He began playing football at Bethlehem's Freedom High School, a member of what was then known as the East Penn Conference (recently renamed the Lehigh Valley Conference).

He had always been rowdy and baseball and football allowed him to translate the negative energy he had from fighting and hurting whomever he fought. That toughness carried to his football play, where Johnson began, for the first time, to face high quality players and began to excel amidst the area's extraordinary athletic competitiveness. He would later credit the high level of athletic competitiveness he encountered in the Lehigh Valley with building the foundation for his life-long passion for winning and embracing challenge. In addition to playing football at Freedom High School, he also was a member of the high school's track and field team.

For a brief period Johnson also spent some time living in Auckland, New Zealand, with his mother's family, the Maivia, Perese, Schmidt, and Purcell families. During this time his mother Ata ensured Johnson was exposed to one of the urban Polynesian cultural strongholds of the Southern Hemisphere in Auckland. Johnson stayed between Westmere Grey Lynn and West Auckland. As fate would have it, his grandfather and father would end up wrestling extensively in Auckland with American promoter Steve Rickards. Rickards staged a show and televised program during the late 1970s and early 1980s called On The Mat, which became a household phenomena for the years it was aired. Many American superstars such as Harley Race, and Johnson's grandfather and father appeared on the program weekly. While in New Zealand, Johnson attended Richmond Road Primary School, and was to attend St. Paul's College Catholic School, but returned to the U.S. with his parents. Even at a young age Johnson left his mark on family he has there, and has stayed in touch throughout the years. His family in New Zealand has been publicly vocal in their praise for Johnson.

Education

Johnson received collegiate football scholarship offers from several universities and settled on the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, one of the ten top football programs in the nation. While the University of Miami football program did not openly recruit Johnson, he entered try-outs as a "walk on" for the program and made the team, playing defensive tackle. In 1991, he was part of the Miami Hurricanes' National Championship team. After an injury kept him sideline, Johnson was replaced by Warren Sapp, who went on to be drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and is now with the Oakland Raiders. Baltimore Ravens Linebacker and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Ray Lewis also played with Johnson on the Miami Hurricanes.

While a student at the University of Miami, Johnson met his future wife Dany Garcia, who also was a University of Miami student at the time. Garcia, who graduated from the University of Miami in 1992, is 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 alumni center for visiting alumni. Additionally, Dany is a member of the University of Miami's Board of Trustees. Johnson continued his football career by joining the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League, after being passed over by the NFL. Johnson's career ended when he was cut by the Stampeders two months later.

Johnson graduated from the University of Miami in 1995 with a degree in criminology.

Family life

Johnson married Dany Garcia on May 3 1997, 24 hours after his 25th birthday. Johnson and Garcia originally met while both were students at the University of Miami. Garcia is founder and CEO of a wealth-management firm, JDM Partners, in Miami. His best man at the wedding was fellow wrestler and long-time family friend Tonga "Haku" Fifita. On June 1 2007, Johnson and Dany announced that they would be splitting up after 10 years of marriage. They indicated that their parting was amicable and that they would spend the rest of their lives together as best friends.

Johnson also previously resided in Grey Lynn, New Zealand with his family before leaving for the United States of America.

Johnson and Dany have a daughter, Simone Alexandra, who was born August 14 2002 in Davie, Florida

Politics

In 2000, Johnson delivered a speech at the Republican National Convention. Because his mother, Ata Maivia, had royal blood, Samoan King Malietoa Tanumafili II bestowed Johnson with the noble title Seiuli during his visit to Samoa in July 2004. His connection with Samoa is also signified by his support of the Samoa national rugby union team, as the team's web site during the run-up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup showed him holding a personalized Manu Samoa jersey with 'The Rock' emblazoned at the back.

Philanthropy

In 2006, Johnson started up The Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation that is known for its charitable work with at-risk and terminally ill children.

On October 2 2007, Johnson and his wife donated $1M US to the University of Miami to support the university's athletics department. The funds were given to the football facilities renovation fund and were noted as the largest donation ever given to the university's athletics department by former students. The Miami Hurricanes' football locker room will be renamed in Dwayne Johnson's honor.

Tattoos

Johnson has two tattoos: His trademark, the Brahma Bull on his upper biceps, and a Samoan design tattoo on the left side of his chest finishing his upper biceps, which he got in Hawaii from his cousin before coming back as a third time WWE heel (2003).

Professional wrestling

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

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 the former WWF Tag Team Champion and WWF Intercontinental Champion Rikishi, former WWE World Tag Team Champion Rosey and former two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion Umaga. 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. With help from former WWF executive and veteran wrestler Pat Patterson, Johnson secured a tryout with the WWF. Impressed by his talent and charisma, he was signed to a deal with the WWF after a short stint for "seasoning" in Jerry Lawler's USWA, where he wrestled under the ring names of Flex Cavana and Pidlaoan Rock. Johnson had a tryout match with the WWF in 1996 in a house show where he defeated Brooklyn Brawler. He later had tryout matches where he lost to Chris Candido and then Owen Hart.

1996–1997

Johnson first wrestled in the WWF as Rocky Maivia, a combination of his father and grandfather's ring names. The WWF played up his connection to his father and grandfather, calling him the company's first third-generation wrestler. He made his wrestling debut for the WWF at the 1996 Survivor Series, becoming the sole survivor and thus making his team the winning one. Johnson was first portrayed as a clean-cut babyface, and gained early success, winning the WWF Intercontinental Championship after only three months in the company. However, fans quickly grew sick of the one-dimensional good guy character, thanks in part to the exploded popularity of Stone Cold Steve Austin. Despite often being loudly booed and jeered with chants of "Die Rocky Die!" and "Rocky Sucks!" from the crowd, Johnson was forced to go to the ring and smile, as if the crowd were cheering as they were "supposed to". After losing the Intercontinental title to Owen Hart and returning from an injury, Johnson was allowed to turn heel and joined the Nation of Domination. In the process, he decided to change his ring name. As Ric Flair had before borrowed the nickname of legendary wrestler "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, Johnson chose to borrow the nickname of Don Muraco, and became The Rock. During that time, Johnson attacked and insulted the fans in his promos.

1998

The Rock was a charismatic bully, eventually driving out the Nation's leader Faarooq. He spent the end of 1997 and the beginning of 1998 feuding with both Stone Cold Steve Austin and Ken Shamrock. At In Your House: D-Generation X, Austin, then reigning Intercontinental Champion, defeated the Rock in less than six minutes to retain the title. The following night, Austin was ordered by Vince McMahon to forfeit the title. Austin simply handed the title to The Rock before hitting the Stone Cold Stunner to him. At WrestleMania XIV, Gennifer Flowers interviewed The Rock. When she asked him a question about how he would conduct affairs as the President of the United States, he responded by stating that the title “ruler” would sound better than “president” and he would transform the White House into a palace.

In essence, his new character was a reversal of his Rocky Maivia character, where he was cheered instead of being booed as he was "supposed to be." The Rock also referred to himself in the third person, starting many sentences with "The Rock...,". The promos he cut at that period marked the beginning of an era, during which Johnson would be well-known for cutting arguably the best promos in the entire wrestling industry. In his autobiography, "The Rock Says...", Johnson attributed this skill from his exceptional performance in Speech Communication classes during his days at the University of Miami, passing with a grade of 'A'.

Johnson's popularity as The Rock propelled him to the WWF Championship. At the 1998 Survivor Series 1998 he defeated the then-heel Mankind in the finals and became the first world champion of African American descent in WWF's history, and the youngest WWF world champion at the time. The match was won when Johnson locked Mankind in the Sharpshooter and although Mankind did not tap out, Vince McMahon, referencing the Montreal Screwjob, ordered for The Rock to be declared the winner. During the championship reign, however, The Rock turned heel again and sided with Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon as the crown jewel of the Corporation stable. This was also a start of a double turn, as Mankind was kicked out of the Corporation and made his second to latest WWE face turn.

1999

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, when Mankind defeated The Rock with the help of Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Rock once again captured the WWF title in an "I Quit" match at the 1999 Royal Rumble that saw The Rock hit Mankind in the head with a chair about ten times, as opposed to the agreed upon three times, knocking him unconscious. His backstage allies, then, used a tape recording of Mankind saying "I quit!" to trick the referee, who believed that Mankind had really quit, as The Rock held a microphone near his opponent's mouth. This latest 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 in a memorable Empty Arena Match which saw the competitors use everything from bags of popcorn to fruit to punish each other. This feud lasted until the February 15 1999 edition of RAW, where The Rock regained the WWF title in a Ladder match after The Big Show chokeslammed Mankind off a ladder.

With Mankind out of the way, The Rock had to defend his World Wrestling Federation Championship at WrestleMania XV, against Steve Austin. The Rock lost the WWF title to Austin at that event, and continued his feud with Austin until May 1999. WWF fans began to cheer The Rock despite him being a heel, due to his comedic interviews, promos and segments which mocked wrestlers and announcers and made him popular. However, Johnson eventually made his second face turn after he betrayed Vince McMahon and established a feud with The Undertaker and the Corporate Ministry, and would sometimes find himself fighting alongside Steve Austin. His feud with Undertaker ended with a defeat at the 1999 King of the Ring event, where the Undertaker retained the WWF Championship which he held at the time.

Later on, still as a face, The Rock feuded with Mr. Ass over the summer of 1999, including an infamous "Kiss My Ass" match at that year's SummerSlam. In the fall of the same year, The Rock found himself in several championship opportunities, both in singles and tag. He teamed with, now former, enemy Mankind to create The Rock 'n' Sock Connection and won the WWF Tag Team Championship. Aside from the championships, the team was regarded as one of the most entertaining teams in history, where Mankind would imitate The Rock, while The Rock would mostly ignore Mankind and with both wrestlers having support from the crowd. The team was also involved in a segment which occurred on RAW called "This Is Your Life", in which Mankind brought out people from The Rock's past, such as his high school girlfriend and gym teacher. 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. As a singles competitor, The Rock participated in a Six-Pack Match at Unforgiven 1999, in which Triple H pinned him to win the vacant WWF Championship.

2000

In January 2000, The Rock entered in the WWF's annual Royal Rumble match and lasted until he and The Big Show were the final two men. In a scripted move, the Big Show was seemingly going to dump the Rock over the top rope in a running powerslam-like position, but when they got to the apron the Rock reversed the throw, sending the Big Show to the outside floor and then came back up. However, The Rock's feet hit the floor first, although those watching the event did not see that. The Big Show attempted to prove to the audience and to others, like Triple H, that the Rock's feet, not his, touched the ground first. He did manage to prove it, by providing video footage showing that he was the rightful winner. Despite that, the decision that The Rock had won the Rumble match could not be reversed, so a number one contendership match for the WWF Championship at No Way Out 2000 was held, which saw the Big Show come out on top after Shane McMahon interfered, knocking The Rock in the head with a steel chair as he attempted to finish off his opponent with a People's Elbow. The Rock later defeated The Big Show on March 13 2000 to regain the right to face the WWF Champion, Triple H, at WrestleMania 2000 in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination Match where The Big Show and Mick Foley competed as well. Each competitor had a McMahon in their corner; for Triple H, his on-screen wife and then off-screen then girlfriend (now wife off-screen as well) Stephanie McMahon; for Mick Foley, the matriarch Linda McMahon; for The Rock, Vince McMahon; and in Big Show's corner, Shane McMahon. Triple H retained the title when Vince turned on The Rock, giving him two vicious chair shots, allowing Triple H to pin The Rock for the three-count.

Over the next couple of months The Rock feuded with Triple H over the WWF Championship and had several classic matches. A month after the match at WrestleMania 2000, The Rock had a rematch with Triple H at Backlash 2000 in which The Rock won the WWF Championship, after Stone Cold Steve Austin made a brief return and intervened on The Rock's behalf. Later, at Judgment Day 2000 the two had an Iron Man match with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee, that saw The Undertaker return. The Rock got disqualified and lost the title, as a result of The Undertaker attacking Triple H. The following night on RAW, The Rock would get his revenge, taking out the entire McMahon-Helmsley Faction with the help of The Undertaker, while he would later win the WWF Championship back again at King of the Ring 2000 in a tag team match, which saw him team up with Kane and The Undertaker to fight Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and Triple H. He would then go on to successfully defend the championship against superstars such as Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Triple H, Kane, The Undertaker, and Shane McMahon.

The Rock later lost the WWF Championship to Kurt Angle at WWF No Mercy 2000 in October. During this time, he feuded with Rikishi and defeated him at [[Survivor Series (2000)|Survivor Series 2000]'. He also participated in a six-man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon 2000 for the WWF Championship, in which Kurt Angle retained the title. Before the match, The Rock cut one of his most successful promos ever, making fun of the other five competitors. It is notable that in that particular match The Rock was the only man not to climb to the top of the cell.

2001

In 2001, The Rock continued his feud with Kurt Angle over the WWF Championship, and eventually settled it at No Way Out. After a dramatic battle that saw both wrestlers kick out of each other's finishers, The Rock finally came on top and regained the WWF Championship. Afterwards, he feuded with the Royal Rumble 2001 winner, Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Rock went into WrestleMania X-Seven as the WWF Champion, but he was defeated after a shocking turn from Austin, who used Vince McMahon to win the title. After losing to Austin in a rematch on the following night's RAW, he went on to film the movie "The Scorpion King" after a storyline suspension from Mr. McMahon.

He returned, however, in late July 2001 and had to decide which side of the World Wrestling Federtation vs. The Alliance during The Invasion he would align himself with, eventually he sided with the WWF. At SummerSlam 2001, The Rock defeated Booker T to win the WCW Championship. He lost the WCW title to Chris Jericho, with whom he won the WWF Tag Team Championship around the same time, at No Mercy of the same year, only to win it back a few weeks later on RAW.

The Rock ultimately decided to join the WWF in it's battle against The Alliance and was involved in a "Winner Takes All" match at Survivor Series 2001, which saw him end up one on one with Steve Austin. The Rock seemed to be superior than 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 teammate of Austin, proved out to be a mole planted by Vince McMahon and hit Austin in the head with a title belt, allowing The Rock to eliminate him, destroying The Alliance once and for all.

The Rock closed out the year losing the WCW Championship to Chris Jericho at Vengeance as Jericho became WWF Undisputed Champion.

2002

The Rock performing at WrestleMania X8.

As 2002 came along, Vince McMahon introduced the nWo, and The Rock began a feud with Hollywood Hulk Hogan, which ended with a victory at WrestleMania X8. The match was billed as "Icon vs. Icon," saw the Toronto fans audibly cheer for Hogan (who returned to wrestle at WrestleMania for the first time since WrestleMania IX), who was the heel, after every move. Roughly half of the fans in attendance booed The Rock, being face in the match, despite the WWF's best efforts to make Hogan a despicable character before the match, including an angle where Hogan drove a big rig into the ambulance holding the Rock.

On July 21 2002, The Rock would win his record-breaking seventh and final WWF Championship, which was then under the name "WWF Undisputed Championship", as it was recently merged with the WCW Championship. He defeated Kurt Angle and The Undertaker in a match at Vengeance 2002, after he hit the Rock Bottom on Kurt Angle. The Rock successfully defended the title at Global Warming against Triple H and Brock Lesnar, by pinning Triple H. Triple H would then save The Rock after Brock Lesnar tried to ambush him after the match. Johnson finally dropped the WWF Undisputed Championship to Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2002, ending his final championship reign.

2003

The Rock's last heel turn began on SmackDown! in February 2003, where he publicly criticized Hulk Hogan. Their WrestleMania X8 rematch at No Way Out ended with The Rock claiming victory again, with assistance from Vince McMahon and Sylvain Grenier. It is widely speculated that this heel turn was due to The Rock's growing Hollywood stardom, giving the appearance of having "sold out" his wrestling roots.

The Rock later drafted himself to RAW and started a feud with The Hurricane and other babyfaces. He also had a comical gimmick, where he played the guitar and sang songs mocking the host city for the event, which culminated in a "Rock concert" that took place during the main event of the March 24 2003 edition of RAW, where The Rock mocked host city Sacramento because of the Sacramento Kings' inability to beat the Los Angeles Lakers. After putting down the city of Sacramento and singing about how he intended to leave as soon as possible, he concluded the song with, "|I'll be sure to come back when the Lakers beat the Kings in May!". The crowd booed him vociferously. The Rock also slammed Canada in a song as well, saying "Canadians have no class, that's why they can kiss the People's Ass!"

When Stone Cold Steve Austin returned, they once again feuded and the Rock defeating Austin at WrestleMania XIX; this was the first time the Rock defeated Austin at WrestleMania, and Austin's last major appearance in a wrestling role. The Rock then had a feud with former WCW star Bill Goldberg, losing at Backlash. In this match, both superstars received a mixed reaction from the fans. The Rock then turned face once more by betraying Chris Jericho and Christian. Despite that, he declared Christian his favorite wrestler and Christian began calling himself the "new people's champion" and referring to his fans as "his peeps."

2004

The Rock made occasional wrestling appearances up to 2004's WrestleMania XX, with the storyline revolving around Mick Foley bringing him back to help in his feud with Evolution and Randy Orton. One humorous in-ring segment involved The Rock hosting his own version of "This is Your Life" for Foley on an edition of RAW. Johnson and Foley went on to lose to Orton, Ric Flair, and Batista at WrestleMania when Orton pinned Foley in The Rock's last match ever in WWE. He made sporadic appearances in WWE following WrestleMania, including standing up for Eugene, making a cameo appearance in his home-town of Miami and helping Foley turn back La Résistance. His second-to-last appearance in WWE was hosting a "Pie-Eating Contest" during the Diva Search 2004. He ended the segment by giving Jonathan Coachman a Rock Bottom and a People's Elbow.

After his last appearance in 2004, Johnson reported in several interviews that he was no longer under contract with WWE. 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.

2007

On March 12 2007, The Rock made his most recent appearance on WWE, after a near three year absence when he appeared on RAW via a pre-taped segment on the titantron and correctly predicted that Bobby Lashley and Donald Trump would defeat Umaga and Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 23 in their "Battle of the Billionaires" match.

The Rock has been in talks at making his return to WWE at the No Way Out PPV.

Wrestling facts

• Finishing and signature moves
  • As The Rock
    • Rock Bottom (Lifting side slam / Leg hook lifting side slam)
    • People's Elbow / Corporate Elbow (Feint leg drop into an elbow drop to the chest, with theatrics)
    • People's DDT (Flowing snap DDT, occasionally proceeded by an arm twist)
    • People's Spinebuster (Double leg takedown spinebuster)
    • Layin' the Smackdown! / Layin' the Corporate Smackdown! (A few punches followed into a hand-spitting motion or theatrics finished with another, more powerful punch or slap, which typically levels the opponent or knocks them out of the ring)
    • Float-over DDT - Innovated
    • Flying clothesline
    • Sharpshooter, often transitioned from a dragon screw legwhip or a double leg takedown - Used as a tribute to Owen Hart
    • Samoan drop
    • Scoop slam
    • Irish whip to the ring ropes followed into a snap overhead belly to belly suplex
    • Low blow
    • Kip-up
  • As Rocky Maivia
    • Diving crossbody
    • Shoulderbreaker
    • Maivia Hurricane (Float-over DDT) - Innovated
    • Crossbody
    • Samoan drop
    • Side slam
    • Arm wrench inside cradle pin
    • Elbow drop to the chest

• Signature taunts & catchphrases
  • The People's Eyebrow (The Rock raises his right eyebrow to the opponent / crowd)
  • Just Bring It! (Hand motion telling the opponent to come)
  • Raising his hand to imitate a back hand slap threat.
  • "Finally, The Rock has come back to... -name of the city he is currently in-"
  • Ready for the Rock Bottom / Stalking his opponent (Puts his hands on his knees and starts to wait until his opponent turns around, occasionally jumping around behind them)
  • "It doesn't matter..." (The Rock would ask a question on someone and cutting them off before they can answer completely)
  • "Laying the Smackdown!" / "Layeth the Smacketh Down!"
  • "If ya smell (often using rolling Ls) what The Rock is cooking!" / "Do you smell what The Rock is cooking?"
  • Refers to the crowd as "the millions and millions of The Rock's fans"
  • Jabroni (A slang The Rock uses to mock other people)
  • "Going one on one with The Great One!"
  • "The trail-blazing, eyebrow-raising, Jabroni-beating, pie-eating, heart-stopping, elbow-dropping People's Champ, The Rock!" (Based on a similar catchphrase used by Ric Flair)
  • Makes innuendos to genitals as "strudel" (male) and "pie" (female)
  • "Take -an object-, turn it sideways, shine it up real' nice and stick it straight up your candy ass!" (Many variations depending on situation)
  • "Know-Your-Role boulevard", "Jabroni drive", "Smackdown hotel", "Candy ass lane"
  • "Know your role and shut your mouth!"
  • "Who / what in the blue hell are you / was that?!"
  • "Get your monkey ass outta here!"
  • "You sick freak!" (often directed at The Coach)
  • "Sweet cream on an ice cream sandwich!"
  • "Rhoody Pooh Candy Ass"
  • "The Rock says this..."

• Nicknames
  • The People's Champion / The People's Champ
  • The Brahma Bull
  • The Corporate Champ
  • The Great One
  • The most electrifying man in sports entertainment
  • Rocky

• Managers
  • Debra
  • Vince McMahon
  • Shane McMahon

Relatives in wrestling

Main article: Anoa'i family

• "High Chief" Peter Maivia - Grandfather
• "Soulman" Rocky Johnson - Father
• The Wild Samoans Afa & Sika - Uncles
• Samu - Cousin
• Yokozuna - Cousin
• Rikishi - Cousin
• Rosey - Cousin
• Umaga - Cousin
• Orlando Jordan - Cousin

Championships and accomplishments

• United States Wrestling Association
  • USWA Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bart Sawyer
• World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment
  • WCW Championship (2 times)¹
  • WWF/E Championship (7 times)²
  • 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

¹Won during The Invasion
²Final reign was as WWE Undisputed Champion

Movie career

Johnson eventually crossed over into mainstream popularity, such as with a guest appearance on hip hop musician Wyclef Jean's track "It Doesn't Matter" and the accompanying video. While still wrestling full-time, Johnson made an appearance as host of the popular sketch comedy TV series Saturday Night Live in 2000. The episode was very popular, and it showcased Johnson's acting and comedic ability favorably. It was after this appearance, Johnson says, that he began receiving offers to do more in Hollywood.

After this, Johnson started to get offers from Hollywood for a multitude of different projects. He was a guest star on Star Trek: Voyager and That '70s Show. In the latter, he played the role of his father. He also hosted an episode of SNL (along with Triple H, Mankind, and The Big Show). The episode was considered a major success, and helped get his acting career started. The Rock's first role in a major film was a limited appearance as The Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns, and his natural charisma translated well to the silver screen. The success of this movie, to which his performance contributed, led to his first leading role starring in the follow-up to The Mummy Returns, titled The Scorpion King. He was at one time cast as the lead in a Johnny Bravo film which ended up being canceled during production.

Since his last in-ring appearance in WWE in 2004, he has focused solely on acting, and starred in several popular movies such as The Rundown, Walking Tall, Be Cool and Gridiron Gang. The Game Plan was The Rock's first appearance for Disney. He has stated several times, when asked on talk shows and in the media, that he is done with wrestling. WWE continues to sell "The Rock" gear and merchandise, however, and he is featured prominently on the company's montage before all shows.

Johnson was featured in the 2007 Guinness Book of World Records for having the highest salary as an actor in their first starring role.

It was recently announced that he was going to host his third SNL on November 10 2007 with musical guest Amy Winehouse, but has been canceled due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America Strike.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Gross Revenue
1999	Beyond the Mat	Himself		$2,047,570 USD
	That '70s Show (TV series)	Rocky Johnson	Episode: "That Wrestling Show"
	The Net (TV series)	Brody	Episode: "Last Man Standing"
2000	Longshot	The Mugger
	Star Trek: Voyager (TV series)	The Champion	Episode: "Tsunkatse"
2001	The Mummy Returns	Mathayus the Scorpion King		$202,007,640 USD
2002	The Scorpion King	Mathayus the Scorpion King	Salary $5,500,000 USD	$90,341,670 USD
2003	The Rundown	Beck	Salary $12,500,000 USD	$47,592,825 USD
2004	Walking Tall	Chris Vaughn	Salary $15,000,000 USD	$45,860,039 USD
2005	Be Cool	Elliot Wilhelm	Salary $4,500,000 USD	$55,808,744 USD
	Doom	Sarge	Salary $4,500,000 USD	$28,031,250 USD
2006	Gridiron Gang	Sean Porter		$38,432,823 USD
2007	Cory in the House/Hannah Montana	Himself	Part of the Rock Block
	The Game Plan	Joe Kingman		$103,214,103 USD
	Southland Tales	Boxer Santaros	Released November 14 2007
2008	Get Smart	Agent 23	set for release June 20, 2008
2009	Witch Mountain		pre-production
	Shazam!	Black Adam	In talks

External links

• WWE Alumni Profile
• Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at IMDb