Dwayne Johnson also known as The Rock is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. The former WWE wrestler has come a long way from performing people’s elbow to becoming people’s favorite. His films have grossed over $10.5 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors.
Apart from acting, the 50-year-old fitness freak is also a businessperson. He owns a production house, advertising agency, tequila, energy drink brand, and clothing line. All this makes us wonder what is the story behind his nickname “The Rock”. Let’s find out the truth.
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Why Is Dwayne Johnson Called The Rock?
Johnson is one of the few celebrities who is equally known by his nickname, that is The Rock. The reason and story behind this goes back to his early days of wrestling.
In his early 20s, Johnson decided to pursue his career in the Canadian football league. However, he was assigned to Calgary’s practice roster but was cut two months into Calgary’s 1995 season.
He then decided to join wrestling as his father and grandfather were also wrestlers. Johnson made his WWF (now WWE) debut in 1996 with the ring name Rocky Maivia. It was a combination of his father’s and grandfather’s ring names. Both Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia were popular wrestlers of their time.
Initially reluctant to use the name, Johnson was pursued by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross. He wrestled for almost two years with that ring name until 1997. Johnson was heavily booed by the audience and lost the Intercontinental Championship to Owen Hart. He then turned heel (antagonist) and started referring to himself in the third person as The Rock. Despite him leaving wrestling, the name stuck with him.
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Johnson’s Transition From Wrestling To Acting
Johnson is one of the very few professional wrestlers to successfully transition into acting. His amazing sense of humor and oratory skills made him an instant fan favorite in WWE and Hollywood took notice.
The heavily tattooed wrestler made his film debut in 2001 with ‘The Mummy Returns’ in a brief role. It earned him his first solo project, a spin-off film called ‘The Scorpion King.’
‘The Rundown’, Walking Tall’, and ‘The Game Plan’ were some of his other releases. In 2011, Rock appeared as Luke Hobbs in ‘Fast Five’. It turned out to be his biggest box-office success and catapulted him into stardom.
He has since then appeared in a number of highly successful films, some of which were also produced by him. Dwayne has portrayed superhero Black Adam in DC’s ‘Black Adam‘ film will is set to release on October 21.
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