Dwayne Douglas Johnson born May 2, 1972 also known by his ring name the Rock, is an American-Canadian actor, producer, businessman, retired professional wrestler, and former American football and Canadian football player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) for eight years prior to pursuing an acting career. His films have grossed over $3.5 billion in North America and over $10.5 billion worldwide, making him one of the world’s highest-grossing actors.
Johnson was a college football player for the University of Miami, with whom he won a national championship in 1991. He aspired to a professional career in football and entered the 1995 NFL Draft, but went undrafted. He signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL), but was cut from the team in his first season. Shortly after, he began training as a professional wrestler.
In 1996, Johnson secured a contract with the WWF and was promoted as the first third-generation wrestler in WWF history, as he is the son of Rocky Johnson and grandson of Peter Maivia. He rose to prominence after developing the charismatic, boastful, trash-talking Rock persona. He won his first WWF Championship in 1998 and helped usher in the Attitude Era, an industry boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2004, he left the WWE to pursue an acting career. He returned in 2011 as a part-time performer until 2013, and made sporadic appearances until retiring in 2019.
Considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers and biggest wrestling draws of all time, Johnson headlined the most-bought professional wrestling pay-per-view event ever (WrestleMania XXVIII) and was featured among the most watched episodes of WWE’s two flagship television shows (Raw and SmackDown). He is a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time tag team champion, a 10-time world champion, a Royal Rumble match winner, and WWE’s sixth Triple Crown champion.
Johnson’s first leading film role was in The Scorpion King (2002). He has since starred in many successful films, including 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, Moana (both 2016), Rampage, and Skyscraper (both 2018). His role as Luke Hobbs in Fast & Furious, beginning with Fast Five (2011), helped it become one of the highest-grossing film franchises. Johnson also stars in the Jumanji franchise, appearing in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019).
Johnson produced and starred in the HBO series Ballers (2015–2019), which ran for five seasons and was ranked as HBO’s most-watched comedy in six years. He has also attained success as a television host. In 2000, he released the autobiography The Rock Says, a New York Times bestseller. 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 May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California, the son of Ata Johnson (née Maivia; born 1948) and former professional wrestler Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles; 1944–2020). Growing up, Johnson lived briefly in New Zealand with his mother’s family, where he played rugby and attended Richmond Road Primary School in Grey Lynn before returning to the United States. He then attended 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. Johnson spent his high school years at President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, Glencliff High School and McGavock High School in Nashville, Tennessee, and Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was arrested multiple times for fighting, theft, and check fraud before the age of 17. Johnson also began playing sports, joining his high schools’ gridiron football, track and field and wrestling teams.
Johnson is half-Black Nova Scotian (African) and half-Samoan (Polynesian). His father was a Black Canadian, from Nova Scotia, with part-Irish ancestry, and part of the first Black tag team champions in WWE history along with Tony Atlas. His mother is Samoan and the adopted daughter of Peter Maivia, who was also a pro wrestler. Maivia’s wife, Lia, was the first female pro wrestling promoter, taking 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.
Football career
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| Position | Defensive tackle |
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| High school | Freedom (PA) |
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| Born: | May 2, 1972 (age 48) Hayward, California |
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