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Dwayne Johnson Profile |
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Birth Date: May 2, 1972
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Birth Place: Hayward, California, USA
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Birth Name: Dwayne Douglas Johnson
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Height: 6'5"
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Dwayne Johnson Wallpapers |
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Biography |
Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), better known by
his stage name The Rock, is an American actor and currently
inactive professional wrestler. He has starred in such
motion pictures as Be Cool, Walking Tall, The Mummy Returns,
The Rundown, The Scorpion King, and Doom.
Johnson first gained mainstream fame as a standout in the
World Wrestling Federation (now "World Wrestling
Entertainment"). Before becoming The Rock, he was known as
Rocky Maivia, in homage to his father, Rocky Johnson, and
his maternal grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia (both of
whom were also wrestlers, making Johnson the first third
generation wrestler in the history of the WWF). After
largely retiring from the ring to begin his acting career in
2001, Johnson retained the name "The Rock".
Johnson was born in Hayward, California to a family of
diverse backgrounds and heritage. His father was the Black
Canadian professional wrestler Rocky Johnson, a former WWF
Tag Team Champion. Johnson's mother Ata Maivia, hails from
Samoa. Johnson's maternal grandfather, Peter Maivia, was
given the family chief title and was respected as an elder.
Peter Maivia was also a professional wrestler, known for his
tattoos that covered the lower half of his body (the Samoan
pe'a). In keeping with this tradition, Johnson has a similar
tattoo called, prominent on his left shoulder and upper
chest, which represents the history of his family.
Johnson spent his early childhood living near his maternal
grandfather and grandmother in Honolulu. He attended local
public schools, including Washington Intermediate School and
President William McKinley High School, both near Ala Moana
and Waikiki. He also lived in Hamden, Connecticut and
attended Shepherd Glen Elementary and Hamden Middle School.
As a high school junior, Johnson's father's career led them
to relocate to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Johnson assimilated
quickly in the new area. In Bethlehem, Johnson cultivated
and developed 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 the
East Penn Conference (now known as the Lehigh Valley
Conference) in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. It was and
continues to be one of the most competitive high school
football conferences in the United States.
Known for its blue collar ruggedness, the Lehigh Valley
proved a hand-in-glove match for Johnson, who fit in well
with the area's street toughness. That toughness carried to
his football play, where Johnson began to excel amidst the
area's high level of athletic competitiveness.
Johnson received athletic scholarship offers from several
universities before choosing to attend the University of
Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The University of Miami
football program did not openly recruit Johnson; he had to
face try-outs to join the program, which motivated him to
take part in it. In 1991, he was part of the Hurricanes'
National Championship team. Johnson played defensive tackle,
backing up future NFL star Warren Sapp.
Considered a candidate for the NFL, Johnson's hopes of a
football career was challenged by a severe back injury.
After college, Johnson signed a three-year contract with the
CFL's Calgary Stampeders instead. However, he was cut from
the team after a year. It was then that Johnson decided to
follow in his father's and grandfather's footsteps by
pursuing a professional wrestling career.
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 Anoai), and cousins such as the late former WWF
Champion Yokozuna and former WWF Tag Team Champion Rikishi,
current wrestler Umaga, and former wrestler Rosey. When he
declared his intention to join the family business, his
father, the elder Johnson resisted, but agreed to train his
son himself, warning him that he would not go easy on him.
With help from former WWE executive and veteran wrestler Pat
Patterson, Johnson secured a tryout with the WWF. Impressed
by his talent and charisma, he was signed to a WWF deal
after a short stint for "seasoning" in Jerry Lawler's USWA,
where he wrestled under the stage names of Flex Kavana and
Pidlaoan Rock.
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 first third-generation superstar to wrestle
for the company. Johnson was first portrayed as a clean-cut
babyface, and gained early success, winning the prestigious
Intercontinental Championship after only three months. He
was the first Intercontinental champion of Samoan descent.
However, wrestling had changed since Hulk Hogan's heyday in
the mid 80s, and fans quickly grew sick of the
two-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 was
cheering (like they were "supposed to").
Eventually, Johnson was allowed to turn heel and joined the
Nation of Domination (wrestling's version of the Nation of
Islam), spewing venom at the fans for turning on him,
influenced by Johnson's real-life feelings toward the WWF
audience. Now allowed to be more or less himself (Johnson
has often said in interviews that The Rock is merely Dwayne
Johnson with "the volume turned way up"), Rocky Maivia
became The Rock, a cocky and charismatic bully who even
drove out the Nation's leader Faarooq. At WrestleMania XIV,
Gennifer Flowers was made a special guest interviewer,
interviewing the Rock. Where the Rock was posed a question
about how he would conduct affairs as the President of the
United States. In turn the Rock stated to her that the title
“Ruler” would sound better than “President” and he would
transform the White House into a Palatial Palace. Regardless
of this display of arrogance, The Rock became wildly
popular, establishing several much-quoted catchphrases
including "If ya smell what The Rock is cookin'", "Layeth
the Smacketh down", "Take that (object) shine it up real
nice, turn that sum-bitch sideways, and stick it up your
candy ass!", "It Doesn't Matter What Your Name Is!", "Know
Your Role and Shut Your Mouth!", "Shut your mouth, you
thong-wearing fatty!" and "Just Bring It". In essence, it
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 became famous for referring to himself in the
third person, starting many sentences with "The Rock
says...", "Finally...The rock has come back to..city name",
and occasionally following up statements with "... or so The
Rock has heard." He would later turn face again by leaving
the Nation.
Johnson's popularity as The Rock propelled him to the WWF
Championship at the 1998 Survivor Series at age 26. At the
time, he was the second youngest WWF Champion in history
(Yokozuna was the youngest), turning heel again and siding
with Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon as the crown jewel of
their "Corporation" stable. The Rock would begin to feud
with Mankind over the WWF Championship in which the title
would change back and forth between the two, first during
the main event of the January 4, 1999 episode of RAW, when
Mankind pinned The Rock with the help of "Stone Cold" Steve
Austin. The Rock would once again capture the WWF Title in a
bloody "I Quit" match at the 1999 Royal Rumble that saw The
Rock hit Mankind in the head with a chair seventeen times,
knocking him unconscious and using a tape recording of
Mankind saying "I quit" to trick the referee. This latest
reign didn't last for long, however, because in a match that
counter-programmed the Super Bowl halftime show on January
31, 1999, Mankind pinned The Rock using a forklift in a
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 WWF
Championship at WrestleMania XV, against "Stone Cold" Steve
Austin. The Rock would lose 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 being a bad guy,
due to his hilarious interviews and segments which mocked
wrestlers and announcers. Johnson eventually made his second
face turn after he betrayed Vince McMahon and established a
feud with the then heel, Undertaker and the Corporate
Ministry, and would sometimes find himself fighting
alongside Stone Cold Steve Austin. His feud with the
Undertaker ended with a defeat at the King of the Ring.
The Rock, now a face, feuded with "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn over
the summer of 1999, including an infamous "Kiss My Ass"
match at that year's SummerSlam. In the fall the Rock found
himself in several WWF 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 Titles. Aside from the championships, the team was one
of the most entertaining teams in recent memory, where
Mankind would imitate The Rock, while The Rock would mostly
ignore Mankind. The team was also involved in a segment
which occurred on RAW called "This Is Your Life" where
Mankind brought out people from The Rock's past such as his
high school girlfriend and gym teacher, which to this day is
the single highest rated segment in terms of viewership in
RAW history. As a singles competitor, The Rock participated
in a six-pack challenge match at WWF Unforgiven 1999.
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 controversial yet scripted move, the Big
Show was going to seemingly dump the Rock over the top rope
in a running powerslam-like position, and when they got to
the apron, the Rock reversed it on the Show, sending the
Show to the outside floor and then coming back up with the
rest of his body. Those watching the event on PPV did not
see The Rock's feet hit the floor. The Big Show attempted to
prove to the audience and to others, like Triple H, that the
Rock's feet, not his, touched the mat first. He did manage
to prove it, by providing video footage showing that he was
the rightful winner. The decision that The Rock had won the
Rumble match could not be reversed, so a number one
contendership match 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 the People's
Elbow.
The Rock was able to defeat The Big Show on March 13, 2000
to regain the right to face the WWF Champion at WrestleMania
2000.
The Rock, The Big Show, Mick Foley and Triple H competed in
a fatal four-way elimination match for the WWF Championship
at WrestleMania 2000. Each competitor had a McMahon in their
corner--for Triple H, his on-screen wife (in actual fact was
Triple H's real girlfriend before they married in 2003)
Stephanie McMahon; for Mick Foley, the matriarch Linda
McMahon; for The Rock, Vince McMahon, and lastly but
certainly not least, 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 year The Rock feuded with Triple H over the
Championship, having several classic matches, such as an
Iron Man match against The Game at WWF Judgment Day 2000,
which starred Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee
and saw the return of The Undertaker, The Rock would lose
the title as a result of Undertaker's interference attacking
Triple H. Rock would later win the WWF Championship again at
King of The Ring 2000 against Triple H in a Tag Team
matching pitting himself, Kane, and Undertaker versus Vince
McMahon, Shane McMahon and Triple H. The Rock would go on to
defend the Championship against Superstars such as Chris
Benoit, Kurt Angle, Triple H, Kane, The Undertaker, and
Shane McMahon.
Rock would later lose the WWF Championship to Kurt Angle at
No Mercy in October of 2000. In 2001, The Rock feuded with
Olympian Kurt Angle over the WWF Championship and Stone Cold
Steve Austin for the second time. The Rock went into
WrestleMania X-Seven as the WWF Champion, but was defeated
again by Austin with the help of Vince McMahon. After losing
to Austin in a rematch on the following night's RAW, he went
on hiatus to film the movie "The Scorpion King" after a
kayfabe suspension from Mr. McMahon. The Rock would return
in July 2001 and would decide which side of the WWF/Alliance
wars he would align himself with. He turned to shake Vince
McMahon's hand but drew him in and told him "The Rock never
forgets" and delivered a Rock Bottom. This caused the crowd
to think he had turned to the Alliance. He then delivered
the spinebuster and People's Elbow to Shane McMahon and
proclaimed he had returned to the WWF. This caused a feud
with WCW Champion Booker T. The Rock would beat Booker T at
SummerSlam 2001 to become WCW Champion for the first time.
The Rock would lose and later regain the title feuding with
Chris Jericho, until December 9, 2001, where he lost his WCW
Championship for the final time to Jericho at Vengeance
2001. By that time the title had been renamed the "World
Championship" due to the WCW's earlier defeat at Survivor
Series basically ending the entire Invasion storyline.
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. This match, one of the
most memorable matches of all time pitting "Icon vs. Icon",
saw the Toronto fans audibly cheer for Hogan, who was the
heel, after every move (including hellish moves like raking
the back - "the back rake of doom"). The fans also clearly
booed The Rock, the supposed face in the match, despite the
WWF's best efforts to make Hogan a despicable character
before the match.
The Rock would win his seventh and final WWE Championship.
He defeated Kurt Angle and The Undertaker on July 21, 2002
at Vengeance after he hit a Rock Bottom on Kurt Angle. He
would lose it to Brock Lesnar in SummerSlam after a month
long reign.
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. 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" which 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, the city The Rock now
thought of as home. He sings, "Well, I'll be sure to come
back when the Lakers beat the Kings in May!" The Rock would
also tease Canada in a song as well, saying "Canadians have
no class... that's why they can kiss the People's Ass"
(basically referring to the fact that they booed him at
WrestleMania X8, despite being the "good guy").
When Steve Austin returned, they once again feuded, with 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. After that, The Rock turned face once more by
betraying Chris Jericho and Christian. This was specifically
when Christian (who was the WWE Intercontinental Champion at
the time) labelled himself as the New People's champion
(based around the fact that Christian was labelled by The
Rock as his "favorite wrestler". This would eventually lead
to Christian labelling his fans as "his peeps"). The Rock,
with the help of then RAW star and then babyface, Booker T
defeated Chris Jericho and Christian, and even did his
version of the "spinaroonie".
Fueled by the star power of The Rock and other stars such as
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Chyna and Mankind, the WWF
experienced a massive surge in popularity not seen since
Hulk Hogan's reign in the '80s. In particular, Johnson's
extremely entertaining interviews and storylines made WWF
programming a must-see for wrestling fans. From 1998 to
2002, The Rock feuded against the WWF's top stars, winning
the WWF/E Championship seven times during his career, and
eventually crossed over into mainstream popularity, such as
with a guest appearance on R&B singer 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. The
episode was very popular, and showcased Johnson's acting and
comedic ability favorably. 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.
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.
He made occasional wrestling appearances up to 2004's
WrestleMania XX, but has since devoted himself to acting
full-time.
At WrestleMania XX, the Rock had his current last match with
WWE. In March of 2004, Mick Foley was facing seemingly
overwhelming odds against Ric Flair, Batista, and Randy
Orton, the stable collectively known as Evolution. The Rock
returned to aid his old friend and the match was made for
WMXX to feature Mick & the Rock against Flair, Batista and
Orton. Evolution emerged victorious after Orton nailed Foley
with an RKO and scored the pinfall. The Rock would later
participate in numerous antics over the summer of 2004 with
the Diva Search contestants and Eugene. He has not made a
live appearance on WWE television since, although his bio
continues to be listed on WWE.com as a "RAW Superstar".
In interviews conducted in 2005, Johnson revealed that his
contract with World Wrestling Entertainment expired at the
end of 2004. He also stated that he is able to continue
using his stage name The Rock as part of a dual-ownership
agreement with WWE. Pro Wrestling Insider has since reported
that Johnson and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon are back on good
terms, and he will continue to appear sporadically for the
company, as he did after becoming a successful actor.
Announcer Jim Ross' Happy Birthday announcement to The Rock
on RAW's May 2 2005 broadcast seemed to confirm this, as
Ross stated that The Rock is looking forward to future
appearances in WWE. It is unknown whether Johnson has signed
a new contract, but it is extremely unlikely that he will
ever return to wrestling full-time as long as his Hollywood
career continues with success. In May 2006 in an interview
on WWE.com, The Rock stated that he would show up on Raw and
Smackdown " when you least expect it."
The Rock was spotted at a UFC 60 event named Hughes vs.
Gracie. The Rock had a new hair style and was interviewed
many times.
After The Rock's first role in The Mummy Returns, he
reprised his role as The Scorpion King in the 2002 movie of
the same name. The movie was generally panned by critics,
but was a box-office success, taking in more than $90
million. His five million dollar paycheck for The Scorpion
King earned The Rock a listing in the Guinness Book of
Records for the highest salary for an actor receiving top
billing for the first time. His next role was in The
Rundown, a formulaic action/comedy which earned generally
favorable reviews from critics initially skeptical of the
grappler-turned-actor, but was less successful financially.
In 2004, The Rock starred in a remake of Walking Tall, as
war hero-turned-sheriff Chris Vaughn (loosely based on
Buford Pusser, the real-life inspiration for the original),
who returns to the town where he grew up and rids it of
corruption with his trusty four-by-four.
In 2005, The Rock saw more exposure on the big screen as he
starred alongside John Travolta and Uma Thurman in Be Cool
(where he was Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher's crew members by
blowing his trailer up into pieces, while shooting the
movie) as a put upon gay bodyguard trying to find success as
an actor, the sequel to Get Shorty. He will star in Spy
Hunter, a movie based on the popular video game. He has been
approached to play the role of Duke Nukem in a live action
Duke Nukem movie, and starred as the character "Sarge" in
the movie based on the popular Doom video game series - the
film was his first film to receive an "R" rating in the
United States. Johnson will also star in the live-action
movie adaptation of the Cartoon Network series Johnny Bravo
(to which he considers a great honor). He co-starred in
Richard Kelly's Southland Tales as an amnesiac action film
star, Boxer Santaros.
One of The Rock's most anticipated personal projects is the
role of Kamehameha I, the warrior chief that united the
Hawaiian Islands and governed them as the Kingdom of Hawaii.
A former Honolulu resident, The Rock developed an admiration
for the king who became known as the Napoleon of the Pacific
for his skills in warcraft and diplomacy. The Rock signed to
create the movie with Columbia Pictures. Its preliminary
title will be King Kamehameha and began the first stages of
production in Hawaii in 2003.
The Rock was considered for the role of Willy Wonka in
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He, on multiple
occasions, had expressed great interest in playing it. Not
because of the success of the movie Willy Wonka And The
Chocolate Factory, but because the book Charlie And The
Chocolate Factory is his daughter's favorite book. One of
the pages that was set in the chocolate room was the first
bit of writing his daughter ever read to him. When The Rock
was told he wasn't one of the final three contenders for the
role, his daughter was the first person he told, despite him
having to wait 2 days before he could see her.
There has been some speculation of his taking over for
Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Terminator and Conan film
series.
In 2006, The Rock seems to be establishing himself as a bona
fide serious actor. It was announced that Southland Tales
was one of the 18 films selected for screening at the
prestigious Cannes Film Festival, the the film received a
very poor reaction from the festival-goers. This film is
also notable for the fact that his real name, Dwayne
Johnson, and not solely his more famous stage name, appears
in the credits, as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. |
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Other Information |
Wrestling finisher: The People's Elbow
Always refers to himself in the third person.
Takes off his right elbow pad just before delivering the
People's Elbow (and his left if he has to do it again)
Trademark move: Spine on the Pine (modified Spinebuster)
Trademark move: Three Open Handed Punches, followed by a
hand spitting motion, followed by a fourth punch which
typically levels the opponent
Trademark move: Flowing DDT
Trademark move: Floatover DDT
Trademark move: Sharpshooter
Trademark move: Samoan Drop
Trademark move: Charging Double Leg Spinebuster
Finishing move: Rock Bottom (Side Slam)
Finishing move: The People's Elbow (Feint Leg Drop into an
Elbow Drop) |
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