The Rock - Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California), better known by his stage name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He has starred in such motion pictures as Be Cool, Walking Tall, The Mummy Returns, The Rundown, The Scorpion King, Doom, and others. He is of multiracial descent, as his father is a Black Canadian and mother is Samoan.

Johnson first gained mainstream fame as a standout in the World Wrestling Federation (now known as 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. With this family history, he became the first 3rd generation wrestler in WWE history. Since his entry into acting, Johnson continues to be known simply as The Rock.

Early life

Johnson was born into 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 was a Samoan of royal lineage of Samoa (such Polynesian lineages are interconnected across the Pacific societies). Johnson's maternal grandfather, Peter Maivia, retained the royal title of 'High Chief ' and was highly respected especially as an elder. Peter Maivia was also a professional wrestler, known especially for the tattoos (of great cultural significance) that covered the lower half of his body. In keeping with this tradition, Johnson has also received such tattoos, the most prominent covering his left shoulder and upper chest.

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.

High School

As a high school junior, however, 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 then (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 intense athletic competition.

University of Miami

Johnson received various 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. 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.

World Wrestling Federation

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. When he declared his intention to join the family business to 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. 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").

The Rock


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 then “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," "It Doesn't Matter What Your Name Is!", "Know your role and shut your mouth!", 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 always referring to himself in the third person, starting many sentences with "The Rock says..."















Trivia

The Rock has held the WWE Championship more times than anyone else. (7 times)
The Rock is the only WWE Superstar to have a pay per view and a weekly show named after him or his catchphrases, that being SmackDown! and In Your House: Rock Bottom (which took place on December 13, 1998). Also, the popular WWF SmackDown! video game series for the Sony PlayStation systems were named after him.
The Rock has been dubbed "The Samoan Samson" in reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger's "The Austrian Oak"
In his book, The Rock Says, the Rock claims that such mannerisms like the eyebrow and the words "Jabroni" and even the phrase "If you smell what The Rock is cookin" were things that he did not invent and that they have existed for some time, most of The Rock's phrases can be heard in 1970s blaxploitation films. The phrase "Roody poo" is a variation of Iceman Parsons' pet phrase "Rooty Poot".
The Rock added numerous tattoos to his body over the course of his wrestling career. An early nickname, "The Brahma Bull", came from the steer's head tattoo on his right bicep.
As of 2006, Doom is the only R rated film he has starred in.
In his 2003 return to WWE, even though The Rock played heel during the WWE RAW broadcasts, he reverted back to a face during the post-broadcast segments. In the February 24, 2003 edition of WWE RAW, after being defeated by Booker T, The Rock re-entered the ring and asked Booker if he could teach him the Spin-A-Roony, Booker's signature move. After successfully pulling off the "Rock-A-Roony", Booker T gave The Rock the BookEnd/Rock Bottom and the People's Elbow. The Rock lightheartedly told the fans that he didn't realize how much pain his signature moves induced in his opponents, and told them that he would always be the People's Champion. The crowd then cheered and followed him as he yelled "If you smell... What the Rock...", and allowed a young boy to finish the catchphrase on the mic with "Is cookin'!"
He guest starred on an episode of Star Trek: Voyager ("Tsunkatse") as a pit fighter with incredible strength. As he entered the arena to square off against Seven of Nine, he gave the audience (and the camera) his trademark eyebrow raise.
He chose to attend the University of Miami because they didn't openly express interest in recruiting him.

Finishing and signature moves

Rock Bottom (Side slam)
The People's Elbow / The Corporate Elbow (Feint leg drop to elbow drop) - (dubbed "The Most Electrifying Move in Sports-Entertainment")
People's Spinebuster (Spinebuster)
Samoan drop
People's Sharpshooter (Sharpshooter)
People's DDT (Various flowing DDT's)
Three open-handed punches, followed by a hand-spitting motion, followed by a fourth punch which typically levels the victim

Nicknames

The Brahma Bull
The People's Champ/Champion (or The Corporate Champion)
The Great One
The Most Electrifying Man in Sports-Entertainment (later Sports and Entertainment)



Quotes

* "If you smell...what The Rock...is cookin'"
* "Finally, The Rock, has come back to (insert name of city)."
* "With the millions....and millions of Rock's fans chanting his name..."
* "Do you like...pie?"
* "Shine it up nice, turn it sideways, and stick it straight up your candy ass!"
* "The Rock's gonna layeth the smacketh down on all your candy asses!"
* "Know your role and shut your mouth."
* "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!"
* "We're gonna take a walk down 'Know Your Role Boulevard', take a left onto 'Jabroni Drive, and check your ass straight into the Smackdown Hotel!"
* "Who is this roody poo?"
* "Just bring it."
* "Get ready and stay healthy."
* "Go suck on a monkey's nipple!"
* "The Rock says..."
* "This ain't sing-a-long with the Rock!"




Info on Dwayne Johnson in Doom