Dwayne Johnson (born May 2, 1972) also known by his former ring name The Rock and occasionally credited as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, is a Canadian-American actor and former professional wrestler. Johnson was a collegiate football player, and in 1991, he was part of the University of Miami's national championship team. He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, but was cut two months into the season. This led to his decision to become a professional wrestler, like his grandfather, Peter Maivia and his father Rocky Johnson.
[>>]Source: WikipediaDwayne Johnson (born May 2, 1972) also known by his former ring name The Rock and occasionally credited as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, is a Canadian-American actor and former professional wrestler. Johnson was a collegiate football player, and in 1991, he was part of the University of Miami's national championship team. He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, but was cut two months into the season. This led to his decision to become a professional wrestler, like his grandfather, Peter Maivia and his father Rocky Johnson.
He gained mainstream fame as a wrestler in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), then known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1996 to 2004, and was the first third-generation superstar in wrestling history. Johnson was quickly given a push in WWE, first as "Rocky Maivia", and then as "The Rock", a member of the Nation of Domination. Two years after he joined the WWE, Johnson won the WWF Championship, and became one of the most popular wrestlers within the company for his engaging interviews and promos. Since 2001, he has focused on an acting career, though he still makes occasional WWE appearances.
Johnson was a nine-time World Heavyweight Champion in his career, being a seven-time WWE Champion and two-time WCW Champion; his last reign was as WWE Undisputed Champion in 2002. He also won the WWF Intercontinental Championship twice and is a former five-time WWF Tag Team Champion. He is also the sixth Triple Crown Champion. He also was the winner of the 2000 Royal Rumble.
Johnson is also an actor, with his first leading role in 2001, in The Scorpion King. For this film, he received the highest salary for an actor in his first starring role, earning $5.5 million. He has since appeared in movies such as The Rundown, Be Cool, The Game Plan, Gridiron Gang, Doom, Race to Witch Mountain and Get Smart.
Biography
Early life
Johnson, the son of Ata (née Maivia) and professional wrestler "Soulman" Rocky Johnson, was born in Hayward, California. His maternal grandfather, "High Chief" Peter Maivia, was also a professional wrestler. His maternal grandmother, Lia Maivia, ran Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling from 1982 until 1988 following her husband's death, becoming one of wrestling's few female professional promoters. He is of half Black Canadian, half Samoan heritage (his father is Black Canadian, more specifically Black Nova Scotian, and his mother is Samoan). For a brief period, Johnson lived in Auckland, New Zealand, with his mother's family. During this time his mother Ata ensured Johnson was exposed to one of the urban Polynesian cultural strongholds of the Southern Hemisphere. Johnson attended Richmond Road Primary School before returning to the U.S. with his parents.
He spent 10th grade at President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. As he entered 11th grade, Johnson's father's job required his relocation to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the state's Lehigh Valley region. He began playing football at Bethlehem's Freedom High School in the highly competitive Lehigh Valley Conference. In addition to playing football at Freedom High School, he also was a member of the high school's track and field and wrestling teams.
Personal life and politics
Johnson married Dany Garcia on May 3, 1997, a day after his 25th birthday. His best man at the wedding was fellow wrestler and long-time family friend Tonga "Haku" Fifita. Johnson and his wife have a daughter, Simone Alexandra, born August 14, 2001. On June 1, 2007, Johnson and Garcia announced that they would be splitting up after 10 years of marriage. They indicated that their parting was amicable and that they would spend the rest of their lives together as best friends.
In 2000, Johnson delivered a speech at the Republican National Convention. Because his mother, Ata Maivia, had royal blood, Samoan King Malietoa Tanumafili II bestowed Johnson with the noble title of Seiuli during his visit to Samoa in July 2004. He is a supporter of the Samoan national rugby team, as the team's website during the run-up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup showed him holding a personalized Manu Samoa jersey with "The Rock" emblazoned on the back.
Johnson is also a Canadian citizen since new citizenship laws came into effect in Canada on April 17, 2009, which automatically gave citizenship (retroactive to date of birth) to all individuals born outside of Canada in the first generation born abroad to a Canadian parent (This law applies to Johnson since he was born in the first generation abroad to a Canadian father).
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