As one of the biggest acts Hollywood has ever seen, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is well-known throughout the world. Johnson has worked extremely hard and traveled a great distance to get here.
The Hollywood megastar recently developed the comedy hit series Young Rock with NBC and his own Seven Bucks Production. Take a trip down memory lane with Dwayne Johnson’s career with the NBC sitcom Young Rock. The comedy series delves at the WWE Superstar’s early years and the rise to prominence of his father, Rocky Johnson, in the wrestling industry.
A journey back to Dwayne Johnson’s early years!
In Hayward, California, on May 2, 1972, Dwayne Johnson was born to parents Rocky and Ata Johnson. In the 1970s and 1980s, The Rock’s father was a well-known professional wrestler. The Rock attended Richmond Road Primary School in Grey Lynn while attending school there while growing up in New Zealand, where he resided with his mother’s family.
Dwayne soon relocated to Hawaii in the United States as a result of his father’s rising popularity in the wrestling business. The Rock began going to the gym with his father, Rocky Johnson, when he was just 13 years old. Johnson discovered that playing football would be his dream sport when he was 14 years old.
But when his family’s jobs were destroyed and they were unable to pay their rent, they were forced to leave Hawaii. The Johnsons were going through a difficult moment. Even Dwayne acknowledges that he was arrested several times in his teens for fighting and shoplifting.
Eventually, in 1995, Dwayne Johnson attempted to play in the Canadian Football League, fulfilling a lifetime goal of his. Johnson was a defensive tackle at the University of Miami from 1991 to 1994. Due to his success at the University of Miami, Dwayne was awarded a scholarship, enabling him to sign a contract with the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders.
However, Johnson’s time as a football player was cut short after just two months due to several injuries sustained in high school. For Dwayne Johnson, this was the “Rock Bottom” moment before he decided to follow in his father’s professional wrestling footsteps.
A few obscure details about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Everybody is familiar with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson from his appearances in WWE and Hollywood. The Rock has revealed glimpses into his life on social media and in interviews throughout the years. Let us examine the most uncommon details about the Hollywood megastar.
In the blood of The Rock, wrestling runs.
Fighting genes ran in Dwayne Johnson’s family from birth. Both Johnson’s maternal grandfather Peter Maivia and father Rocky Johnson were WWF wrestlers. As a result, Dwayne Johnson is the Anoa’i family’s first third-generation wrestler.
One of the pioneers of Polynesian pro wrestling was even The Rock’s grandma. Lia Maivia, the grandmother of Johnson, was a pioneering female promoter in the professional wrestling industry.
The word “SmackDown” was first used by the former WWE Champion.
Before The Rock began referring to WWE’s blue brand, SmackDown, on television in the late 1990s and early 2000s, no one knew about it. The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary didn’t officially recognize “SmackDown” until 2007, after a ten-year wait.
Johnson did, however, give credit to the original owner of SmackDown in 2020. In Johnson’s early years, Harvey Wippleman, also known as Downtown Bruno, might have been the first to adopt the term. Dwayne has benefited greatly from Downtown Bruno throughout his junior year.
Johnson was mistaken by his peers for an undercover spy.
Dwayne Johnson began bulking up when he was sixteen years old. He also developed a fully grown mustache. Johnson appeared older than his peers in high school.
Since Dwayne had a mustache-ripped look overall, his classmate thought he was an undercover cop.
Before Hollywood, Dwayne Johnson was also a television star
The Rock had his first acting gig in 1999 when he played his father Rocky Johnson in ‘That 70s Show.’ In the first season of That 70s Show, an episode titled ‘That Wrestling Show,’ Johnson was featured as Rocky Johnson.
The Rock additionally had a cameo appearance in a 2000 episode of Star Trek: Voyager as a “Pendari Champion.”
Johnson’s dream has always been to play football in the NFL. Still, earlier this year, Dwayne Johnson debuted two teams at the NFL Super Bowl IV, realizing his football fantasy.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has accomplished everything, from slamming opponents in the squared circle to shattering box office records in Hollywood.