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Top 10 Facts about Dwayne Johnson ‘the Rock’

Dwayne Douglas Johnson, also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American-Canadian actor, producer, businessman, former football player and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the development and success of the WWE during the Attitude Era, an industry boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Dwayne Johnson first rose to fame as “The Rock,” a popular wrestling personality. He then became a box-office star, appearing in films including ‘The Scorpion King,’ ‘Hercules’ and ‘The Fast and the Furious’ franchise.

He  was born into a professional wrestling family in 1972. An injury ended his college football career, so he entered the ring with the WWE. As “The Rock,” he famously feuded with wrestler Steve Austin and won the WWE Heavyweight title numerous times.

He made his wrestling debut in the USWA under the name Flex Kavanah where he won the tag team championship with Brett Sawyer. In 1996, Dwayne joined the WWE and became Rocky Maivia where he joined a group known as “The Nation of Domination” and turned heel. Rocky eventually took over leadership of the “Nation” and began taking the persona of The Rock.

After the “Nation” split, The Rock joined another elite group of wrestlers known as the “Corporation” and began a memorable feud with Steve Austin. Soon the Rock was kicked out of the “Corporation”. He turned face and became known as “The Peoples Champion.鈥� Top 10 Facts about Dwayne Johnson ‘the Rock’

1. Dwayne Johnson was Paid $5 Million for his first Leading Role

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After appearing in The Mummy Returns in 2001, Johnson got his first shot at a starring role in the prequel film 鈥楾he Scorpion King鈥� which grossed almost $180M worldwide. He was paid more than $5 million for the role.

The Mummy Returns is a 2001 American action-adventure fantasy film  written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Vel谩squez, Freddie Boath, Alun Armstrong, and Dwayne Johnson in his film acting debut. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film The Mummy and was distributed by Universal Pictures.

The Mummy Returns inspired the 2002 prequel film The Scorpion King, a spin-off that is set 5,000 years prior and whose eponymous character, played by Dwayne Johnson (The Rock), was introduced in this film. The Mummy Returns was a commercial success despite mixed reviews.

2. He was a Collegiate Football National Champ 

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Before 鈥淭he Rock鈥� became a professional wrestler and one of the WWE鈥檚 biggest stars, eventually transitioning to acting and becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, he got his start as a member of the 1991 national champion Miami Hurricanes football team. Johnson served as a backup defensive tackle behind Warren Sapp and Pat Riley before graduating in 1995.

After a high school teacher encouraged him to try playing football, he found that he had a knack on the field, quickly excelling and earning a full scholarship to the top football college, the University of Miami. Johnson played football at the University of Miami as a defensive lineman.

Some of his teammates included Warren Sapp and Ray Lewis. As he did in high school in Pennsylvania, Johnson continued to play defensive tackle at the University of Miami. He was a member of Miami’s 1991 national championship team in his freshman year.

After suffering injuries, he says, 鈥淚 struggled and I got depressed.鈥� He played for the Calgary Stampeders but was cut from the team two months later during his first season.

Get to know interesting facts about Miami Beach.

3. 鈥楾he Rock鈥� was Born into a Family of Wrestlers

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Both Johnson鈥檚 father and grandfather were professional wrestlers and his grandmother was a pioneer of Polynesian Pro Wrestling. His grandmother was a strong-willed businesswoman who was one of the first female promoters of the Polynesian Pro Wrestling.

The older dad generation will remember Rocky Johnson, Dwayne鈥檚 dad, and maybe even Peter Maivia, Dwayne鈥檚 gramps. Both wrestled for WWF, making the Rock the first third-generation wrestler in WWF history. Will there be a first fourth-generation wrestler in the family? Read on and find out.

The WWE programme Smackdown was inspired by The Rock鈥檚 catchphrase: 鈥渓ay the smackdown!鈥� 鈥淭he SmackDown鈥� was used by him in the Thursday night special of WWE. The smackdown was a lethal blow that he landed on various parts of the opponent鈥檚 body. Soon it became the show of Rock himself. Smackdown show debuted in April 1999 in WWE and finally, the show originated as one of the main events.

The word 鈥渟mackdown鈥� was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary database in 2007.

4.  Is he Canadian or American?

Dwayne Johnson was born in the U.S.  but did you know his dad was born in Canada, apparently, Canada changed its citizenship laws in 2009 to allow for dual citizenship.

His father, Rocky Johnson is of black Nova Scotian origin, while his mother is of Samoan origin. Dwayne Johnson’s family is rich in multicultural heritage, he is actually from an African-American descendant, who left the United States with the British after the end of the American revolution.

He also has some Irish ancestry from his father鈥檚 side. His paternal grandparents, Lilian and James Bowles were both of African origin, while his maternal grandparents, Ofelia Fuataga and Fanene Pita Maivia were Samoan with wrestling backgrounds.

Dwayne Johnson’s ethnicity is widely diversified and his incredible wrestling talent is inherited from both sides of his family.

5. Dwayne Johnson wasn鈥檛 Always 鈥楾he Rock鈥�

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Although everyone now has the classic 鈥楻ock鈥� image in their mind, it wasn鈥檛 like this from the start when he joined WWF.

Dwayne Johnson is known by his famous name 鈥淭he Rock鈥�. But, before adopting that name, he went by two other names, 鈥淔lex Kavana鈥� and 鈥淩ocky Maivia鈥�. He dropped Flex Kavana as WWE felt that it was not a suitable name for the world stage of wrestling. Then he moved to 鈥淩ocky Maivia鈥�, combining his father’s and grandfather鈥檚 names. His grandfather, 鈥淗igh Chief鈥� Peter Maivia was a professional wrestler, which made the Rock the first third-generation wrestler in WWE.

His dad, Rocky Johnson was the first black tag team champion in WWE.  He again decided to drop the name as he disliked it and also did not enjoy the good guy role he was assigned.  An early knee injury allowed him the time to convince WWF management to change him to a heel persona called 鈥楾he Rock鈥� instead

However, in a 2006 interview with Entertainment Magazine, he expressed his desire to be known only by his real name. As he is now a serious movie actor and not part of the wrestling scene, he considers 鈥楾he Rock鈥� name part of his past. Interestingly though, he still owns the rights to it!

More facts on wrestling.

6. He is a High Net worth Individual

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As well as the amount of money he made through wrestling, 鈥楾he Rock鈥� has amassed a healthy fortune through acting also.

In 2016, it was reported he earnt $64.5 million Forbes. This made him the highest-paid actor of the year. His mixture of charm, power and muscle still continues to make him a favourite with the general public.

It is believed that The Rock gets close to a million US dollars per movie nowadays. From a lean wrestler who would smack down opponents with minimal effort to flexing acting muscles with the likes of Zac Effron and David Hasselhoff, he has made huge strides.

7.  鈥楾he Rock鈥� is a Recorded Artist

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Fugees member Wyclef Jean covered classic-rock band Pink Floyd and collaborated with professional wrestler The Rock on his second solo album,The Ecleftic 鈥� 2 Sides II a Book.

He’s no Lauryn Hill, but The Rock provided some funny vocals on their track. Johnson appeared in Wyclef Jean鈥檚 2000 single It Doesn鈥檛 Matter to shout his wrestling catchphrase, and he was the subject of 鈥淧ie鈥� on WWF: The Music, Vol. 5, which gave us poetic turns of phrase such as, 鈥淚t鈥檚 tough to be the Rock (oh yes) / No no no NO, it really is.鈥�

In 2021 he dropped his first rap song, which he features on Tech N9ne鈥檚 new single 鈥淔ace Off,鈥� alongside Joey Cool and King Iso.

The actor penned his own energetic verse, which closes out the track and includes lyrics like 鈥淏lack and Samoan in my veins, my culture bangin鈥� with Strange / I change the game so what鈥檚 my motherfuckin鈥� name (Rock).鈥� he described 鈥淔ace Off鈥� as his 鈥渉istoric rap debut鈥�.

American rap Music

8. His Autobiography is a Best Seller

Dwayne Johnson co-wrote an autobiography, titled 鈥淭he Rock Says鈥︹��, which was published in 2000. It is a fact that the book went to no. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list and continued for several weeks. The Rock biography is based on Dwayne Johnson’s family legacy of wrestling. His struggles and rise in professional wrestling are also focused in the book.

The book went viral to all WWE fans. In fact, the book paved the way for him to be is an unquestionable superstar in WWE and later in his life.

Since it came out in 2000, The Rock Says doesn鈥檛 cover The Rock鈥檚 Hollywood career. We don鈥檛 get to find out about hanging out with Vin Diesel, Rock-Bottoming Jason Statham, or miming Taylor Swift on that game show. It doesn鈥檛 even cover his era-defining Wrestlemania match against Hulk Hogan. But it gives us an insight to the man behind the legend.

9.  鈥楾he Rock鈥檚鈥� Charities

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Dwayne Johnson seems to be a the toughest and strongest wrestler with extreme physique in WWE. He used to give a verbal smackdown to his every opponent in the ring. The other side of the rock is totally different.

Outside the ring, he is a celebrity with a golden heart, who always shows his affection towards charity. Dwayne Johnson has donated $2 million to the University of Miami for the construction of Robert and Judi Prokop Newman Alumni Center.

He also founded 鈥淒wayne Johnson Rock Foundation鈥� in 2006 to serve the high-risk and severely ill children. He is indeed a tough man with soft heart.

10. Dwayne Johnson鈥檚 Distinctive Cultural Tatoo

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In 2003, Johnson took a trip to Hawaii to get his family heritage inked on his body by a Tahitian tattoo artist Po鈥檕ini Yrondi, Before getting started, Johnson and Yrondi chatted for hours and said a prayer.

The tattoo itself took 60 hours divided into three 20-hour sessions and the elaborate design represents “all the things that are important to me, that I love and that I鈥檓 passionate about,” he said.

Among the symbolism are coconut leaves representing a Samoan chief warrior, the sun for good fortune, two eyes of ancestors looking over him and a tortoiseshell to fend off evil spirits.

Also part of the design is a symbol showing three people in one, to show the bond between him, his then-wife and his daughter.