History of Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Douglas Johnson was born on May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California, to Ata Johnson (née Maivia; born 1948) and former professional wrestler Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles; 1944).

Johnson briefly lived in New Zealand with his mother's family, where he attended Richmond Road Primary School in Grey Lynn before returning to the United States.

Johnson attended Montclaire Elementary School in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Johnson moved to Hamden, Connecticut, where he spent a couple of years at Shepherd Glen Elementary School and Hamden Middle School.

Johnson spent his high school at President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Johnson spent his high school at Glencliff High School and McGavock High School in Nashville, Tennessee.

Johnson spent his high school at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Johnson was arrested multiple times for fighting, theft, and check fraud before the age of 17.

Johnson began playing sports, joining his high schools' gridiron football, track and field and wrestling teams.

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.

Johnson graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of General Studies in criminology and physiology.

In 1995, Johnson 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.

Under his real name, Johnson defeated The Brooklyn Brawler at a house show on March 10, 1996. and lost matches to Chris Candido and Owen Hart.

Johnson debuted on Monday Night Raw as a member of Marc Mero's entourage on November 4, 1996.

His first match came at Survivor Series, on November 17,1996, in an eight-man elimination tag match; he was the sole survivor and eliminated the final two members of the opposing team, Crush and Goldust.

Johnson decided to pursue a career as a professional wrestler. Veteran wrestler Pat Patterson got Johnson several tryout matches with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1996.

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.

Johnson made his WWF debut as Rocky Maivia, a combination of his father and grandfather's ring names, although his real name was acknowledged by the announcers. He was initially reluctant to take this ring name but was persuaded by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross. He was given the nickname "The Blue Chipper" and his lineage was played to 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 February 13, 1997, Johnson won the Intercontinental Championship from Hunter Hearst Helmsley on Monday Night Raw.

Johnson defeated Bret Hart by disqualification in a title defense on the March 31, 1997, 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, 1997, at In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker, he 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.

Johnson lost the Intercontinental Championship to Owen Hart on the April 28, 1997 episode of Raw Is War.

Johnson married Dany García on May 3, 1997. They have one child.

Johnson suffered a legitimate knee injury in a match against Mankind, Maivia returned in August 1997 and turned heel for the first time in his career by lashing out at fans who had been booing him and joining Faarooq, D'Lo Brown and Kama in the stable called the Nation of Domination.

At D-Generation X: In Your House, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock in under six minutes to retain the Intercontinental Championship. The next night on Raw Is War, Austin was ordered by Mr. McMahon to defend the title in a rematch, but forfeited it to The Rock instead, handing him the title belt before hitting him with the Stone Cold Stunner. 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.

The Rock and The Nation then 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 and lost to rival Ken Shamrock in the final.

On March 29, at WrestleMania XIV, Johnson defeated Shamrock by disqualification once again to retain the title.

On Raw is War, The Rock debuted a new Intercontinental Championship design and would later overthrow Faarooq as leader of the Nation of Domination to spark a feud between the two.

Johnson successfully defended the Intercontinental title against Faarooq at Over the Edge: In Your House on May 31. The stable would then refer to themselves as simply "The Nation".

The Rock resumed his feud with Triple H, as the two had a two out of three falls match at Fully Loaded: In Your House for the Intercontinental title, which The Rock retained in controversial fashion.

The Rock saw a big uptick in fan support during this time, causing him to be booked in a feud with fellow Nation members Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown, turning babyface in the process. Henry defeated him at Judgment Day: In Your House, after interference from Brown, effectively breaking up the stable.

The Rock was then entered into the "Deadly Game" tournament for the vacant WWF Championship. The finals occurred at Survivor Series, where The Rock defeated Vince McMahon's associate, Mankind, to win his first WWF Championship.

He then refused to acknowledge the Rocky Maivia name, instead referring to himself in the third person as The Rock, though he would still be billed as Rocky "The Rock" Maivia until 1998. The Rock would then regularly insult the audience, WWF performers, and interviewers in his promos.

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 ruled that since The Rock did not tap out, he retained his title.

The Rock continued to feud with Mankind over the WWF Championship, which was traded back and forth between them. First, in the main event of the January 4, 1999 episode of Raw Is War, Mankind defeated The Rock after interference from Stone Cold Steve Austin.

In an "I Quit" match at Royal Rumble on January 24, The Rock regained the title, when a recording of Mankind saying "I quit" from an earlier interview was played over the PA system.

On January 31, during an episode of Sunday Night Heat, Mankind pinned The Rock using a forklift truck in an Empty Arena match to win the WWF title. This match was referred to as "Halftime Heat" as it was televised during halftime of that year's Super Bowl.

Mankind and The Rock faced off again, at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House, in a Last Man Standing match which ended in a draw, meaning Mankind retained the title.

Their feud ended on the February 15 Raw Is War, when The Rock won his third WWF Championship in a Ladder Match after Big Show interfered on his behalf.

The Rock lost the WWF Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XV.

The Rock's popularity continued to grow and audiences still cheered for him even though he was a heel. He then lost the title rematch against Stone Cold Steve Austin at Backlash: In Your House after he was betrayed by Shane McMahon, turning him face again and starting a feud 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.

Shortly after SummerSlam, The Rock began teaming with former opponent Mankind and the two became known as The Rock 'n' Sock Connection.

The Rock defeated Gunn in a Kiss My Ass match at SummerSlam.

The Rock 'n' Sock Connection became WWF Tag Team Champions for the first time after defeating The Undertaker and Big Show for the titles on the August 30, 1999 episode of Raw is War.

The Rock 'n' Sock Connection lost the titles back to Undertaker and Big Show on the September 7, 1999 episode of SmackDown!.

The Rock 'n' Sock Connection won back from Undertaker and Big Show on the September 20, 1999 episode of Raw is War.

Rock and Mankind then lost the titles to The New Age Outlaws on the very next episode SmackDown!.

Rock and Mankind would win the tag titles for the third and final time after beating the New Age Outlaws on the October 12, 1999 episode of SmackDown!.

Rock and Mankind lost the titles for last time to The Holly Cousins on the October 18, 1999 episode of Raw is War.

Johnson began his acting career on television while wrestling. In his first television acting job, in 1999, Johnson played his own father in an episode of That '70s Show called "That Wrestling Show".

At Royal Rumble, on January 23, 2000, The Rock entered the Royal Rumble match and was one of the final two remaining, 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 powerslam-like position, before The Rock countered the move on the ring apron, sending Big Show to the floor before re-entering the ring as the winner.

The Rock then defeated Big Show, on the March 13 episode of Raw Is War, to regain the right to face the WWF Champion, Triple H, at WrestleMania 2000 in a Fatal Four-way elimination match, also including Big Show and Mick Foley.

In the following weeks, The Rock continued his feud with Triple H and eventually won his fourth WWF Championship, which he won on April 30, at Backlash, after Stone Cold Steve Austin intervened on his behalf.

The following night on Raw, Johnson 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. With the score tied at five falls each, and with seconds left on the time limit, The Rock was disqualified when The Undertaker attacked Triple H, thus giving Triple H the 6–5 win and the title.

The Rock won the WWF Championship for a fifth time at King of the Ring on June 25 by scoring 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.

The Rock successfully defended the championship against Chris Benoit, on July 23, at Fully Loaded.

The next month, The Rock successfully defended his title against Kurt Angle and Triple H at SummerSlam.

The Rock had another successful title defense against Benoit, Kane and The Undertaker, on September 24, at Unforgiven.

The Rock lost the WWF Championship to Kurt Angle, at No Mercy, in October.

The Rock feuded with Rikishi and defeated him at Survivor Series.

The Rock wrestled a six-man Hell in a Cell match for the WWF Championship, at Armageddon, which Angle won to retain the title.

On the December 18 episode of Raw, The Rock won the WWF Tag Team Championship with The Undertaker, defeating Edge and Christian, before losing it back to them the next night at a SmackDown!.

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 2000, he hosted Saturday Night Live (SNL) for the first time. 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 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 a sixth time.

The Rock 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 next night's Raw Is War, during a steel cage title rematch, Triple H attacked The Rock, allying with McMahon and Austin and helping Austin retain the championship. Austin and Triple H then formed a tag team called The Power Trip, while The Rock was indefinitely suspended in storyline. Johnson used this time off to act in The Scorpion King.

Johnson began his theatrical career in The Mummy Returns (2001).

The Rock returned in late July 2001, when the WWF was feuding with rival promotions, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), during what's known as The Invasion storyline. In reality, WCW and ECW were purchased by Vince McMahon and the WWF.

The Rock defeated Booker T, at SummerSlam, to win the WCW Championship for the first time.

The Rock lost the title ( WCW Championship) to Chris Jericho at No Mercy.

The next night on Raw, The Rock teamed with Jericho to win the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Dudley Boyz.

The Rock and Jericho 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's battle against The Alliance, The Rock wrestled in a "winner takes all" five-on-five elimination tag team match at Survivor Series where the losing team's company would be dissolved in storyline. He was a member of Team WWF along with Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, and Big Show. The Alliance's team consisted of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Shane McMahon. In the end, it came down to a one-on-one between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. 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 unsuccessfully challenged Jericho for the now Undisputed WWF Championship at Royal Rumble.

At the next pay-per-view, No Way Out, The Rock defeated The Undertaker in a singles match. 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. This later led to a match between The Rock and Hogan at WrestleMania X8.

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.

Johnson played his first lead role in the spin-off The Scorpion King (2002).

The Rock made a surprise return on a June episode of Raw before going to his assigned brand of SmackDown.

The Rock 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.

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.

The Rock successfully defended the title at the Global Warning event in Melbourne, Australia, against Triple H and Brock Lesnar after pinning Triple H.

The Rock returned on the January 30, 2003 episode of SmackDown! to set up another match with Hulk Hogan at No Way Out.

The Rock defeated Hogan at No Way Out before assigning himself to the Raw brand.

After failing to win a number one contendership for the World Heavyweight Championship, The Rock went into another program with Stone Cold Steve Austin. This led to a match at WrestleMania XIX, which called back to their previous two WrestleMania encounters, both of which Austin had won.

The next night, Raw was billed as "The Rock Appreciation Night", in honor of his victory over Austin. That night, he was attacked by a debuting Goldberg.

At Backlash, Goldberg defeated The Rock, who then briefly left WWE to film Walking Tall.

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.

In recognition of his service to the Samoan people, and because he is a descendant of Samoan chiefs, Johnson had the noble title of Seiuli bestowed upon him by Malietoa Tanumafili II during his visit there in July 2004.

In 2004, The Rock aided Mick Foley in his feud against Evolution, leading to a reunion of The Rock 'n' Sock Connection.

Later in 2004, The Rock 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.

In 2006, Johnson founded the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation, a charity working with at-risk and terminally ill children.

On March 12, 2007, The Rock appeared on a WWE show after nearly three years, via a pre-taped promo shown during Raw. He correctly 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 June 1, 2007, Johnson and Dany García announced they were splitting up amicably.

On October 2, 2007, Johnson 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 honor.

Johnson began dating Lauren Hashian, daughter of Boston drummer Sib Hashian.

On March 29, 2008, Johnson appeared to induct his father and grandfather Peter Maivia and Rocky Johnson into the WWE Hall of Fame.

In 2009, Johnson gained citizenship in Canada in honor of his father's background.

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 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.

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.

Johnson first appeared as the character in Fast Five (2011) and helped catapult the film series into one of the top-grossing movie franchises in history.

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.

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 live, 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.

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 XXVIII, The Rock beat Cena in the main event after countering Cena's attempt at a People's Elbow into a Rock Bottom.

The following night on Raw, The Rock praised Cena, calling their match "an honor". He then 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.

In 2012, Johnson founded the entertainment production company Seven Bucks Productions, which has since produced several films.

On the January 7, 2013 episode of Raw, The Rock returned to confront his Rumble opponent CM Punk.

On January 11, The Rock 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 center plate and removable customizable side-plates which had his "Brahma Bull" logo.

On April 7, at WrestleMania 29, Rock lost the WWE Championship to Cena, ending his reign at 70 days.

Johnson starred in Pain & Gain film in 2013.

Johnson underwent surgery on April 23, 2013 to reattach the torn tendons.

Johnson starred in the sequels, Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), and The Fate of the Furious (2017).

In 2013, Johnson hosted and produced the TNT reality competition series The Hero.

In April 6, 2014, The Rock appeared in the opening segment of WrestleMania XXX along with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan.

On the October 6 episode of Raw, The Rock made a surprise appearance to confront Rusev and Lana; this resulted in the Rock clearing Rusev from the ring.

As of 2014, Johnson has a home in Southwest Ranches, Florida.

The Rock appeared at the 2015 Royal Rumble event during the main event match, where 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 appeared at WrestleMania 31 alongside Ronda Rousey, getting into an in-ring altercation with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Rock and Rousey prevailed after he attacked Triple H and she overpowered McMahon.

Johnson starred in the HBO series Ballers starting in 2015. The show ran for five seasons and was ranked as HBO's most watched comedy in six years.

On June 27, The Rock appeared at a live event in Boston where he confronted Bo Dallas and gave him a Rock Bottom.

On the January 25, 2016, episode of Raw, The Rock was 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 being interrupted by The Wyatt Family. The Rock got into a verbal back-and-forth with Bray Wyatt before having an impromptu match with Wyatt Family member Erick Rowan. The Rock won after giving Rowan a Rock Bottom and pinning him in six seconds, which set the record for the fastest win in WrestleMania history.

In 2016, Johnson co-starred with Kevin Hart in the action-comedy Central Intelligence.

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.

Consistently ranked among the world's highest paid actors, Johnson made the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World list in 2016.

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.

Another notable franchise starring Johnson is the Jumanji franchise, as he has starred in the successful films, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

In 2018, Johnson starred in two action films, Rampage and Skyscraper.

In 2019, Johnson started hosting an NBC competition series called The Titan Games.

On August 3, 2019, The Rock officially announced his retirement from professional wrestling.

Johnson and Hashian were married on August 18, 2019, in Hawaii. They have two children.

On September 30, 2019, after weeks of speculation, The Rock announced that he would be making an appearance on SmackDown's 20th Anniversary on October 4, marking his first appearance on SmackDown since October 2014 and his first televised appearance since April 2016.

At WWE SmackDown's 20th Anniversary, Johnson 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.

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

On September 27, 2020, Johnson endorsed Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election.