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From a teenage troublemaker to singing Disney character this is the untold truth of Dwayne the rock Johnson. Checkout these things which you probably didn’t know about Dwayne Johnson, the Rock.
1. Early Life
Dwayne Johnson was born in May 2, 1972 in Hayward California. Although most of us use the rock as his middle name but his real name is Douglas, maybe not as it exciting but that’s the truth. His parents are Ata and Wayde. Johnson went to Sheppard Glen elementary and Hamden middle school in Connecticut. He also attended High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, then once he reached 11th grade, he moved to Pennsylvania and went to Freedom High School where he started playing football.
Apparently, Dwayne already weighed 225 pounds and heights at six foot four in high school. So, it’s no surprise that he would be picked up for the team. Other students allegedly thought he was an undercover police officer because of his size.
2. Wresting Career
Pretty much everybody knows that Dwayne Johnson was a wrestler for a significant portion of his life, it’s no surprise considering his family’s background in wrestling. His dad was a professional and went by rocky Johnson. His grandpa, Peter Maivia and his grandma, Lia Maivia were both involved in the sport as well. In addition to his close family, Dwayne’s uncles, Alpha and Sica on Hawaii and cousins Rodney, Salathe, Matt, and Eddie were all wrestlers.
When Johnson first showed interest in the sport, his father was resistant but he eventually agreed to train his son. In 1996, the wrestling veteran named Pat Patterson scored him several tryouts. After he won the USWA World Tag Team Championship two times that year, he signed a contract with the world wrestling foundation or WWF. He began wrestling professionally with the name Rocky Maivia. People didn’t like him at first because they thought his character was overly cheesy, they would even shout rocky sucks while he was in the ring.
In 1997 after dealing with a knee injury, he began calling himself the rock. He eventually gained the love of fans and once several championships. He was named one of the best professional wrestlers of all time and brought in more fans than many other people in the sport. John Cena even called him the biggest superstar in the history of WWE. Johnson brought in the most pay per views in the world in the history of the WWE as well as the most pay-per-views domestically speaking. He originally left the WWE in 2004 but continued making occasional appearances.
3. Football
Before he became a professional wrestler, Dwayne Johnson was a football player. He played football in high school but his football career went farther than that. He received a full scholarship and played defensive tackle for the University of Miami. Dwayne played on the Miami Hurricanes national championship team in 1991. However, he suffered an injury that left him unable to play for some time. He was replaced by Warren Sapp who eventually made the NFL Hall of Fame.
After taking time to recover, Johnson joined the Canadian Football League’s Calgary Stampeders in 1995. However, they cut him after just a couple of months. Dwayne has spoken about how terrible a senior year of college was due to his injury and replacement on the Miami Hurricanes. He also said the cut from the Calgary Stampeders had a significant effect on him, leaving him depressed and at an all-time low but he said that his failures ultimately helped him. Since he became a successful wrestler and actor we can all agree that he was right.
4. Citizenship
Although Dwayne, the rock Johnson is perhaps most widely known in the United States, he has citizenship in other countries as well. His mother Ata Johnson is Samoan and although she is an American citizen, Dwayne was notably able to get Samoan citizenship through her and her immediate family. Johnson’s father Wayde is Canadian, so he received Canadian citizenship in 2009, making him a citizen of three different countries.
5. Actor
Dwayne Johnson is best known nowadays for his acting career. He started acting while he was still wrestling. In 1999, he made his debut in the field by playing in an episode of that 70 show, in which he played his father. About a year after that, he took a role as an alien wrestler in an episode of Star Trek, Voyager. His first theatrical role was in the film, The Mummy Returns in 2001. He went on to play in other action films including the Scorpion King, The Rundown, and walking tall. Other movies he’s done include a few of the Fast & Furious series, Hercules, San Andreas, and Central Intelligence.
Dewayne Johnson also plays Spencer Strasmore in the television series ballers. Some of his most popular movies are Jumanji: welcome to the jungle and Moana. Johnson has become such an immensely sought after actor that he is notably one of the highest paid in the field. He made 124 million dollars in 2017 which made him the most financially successful actor from 2017 to 2018.
6. Charities
Dwayne Johnson is a very giving man, especially, since he has become so prosperous over the years. Dwayne went to the Democratic National Convention in 2000 for the SmackDown year vote campaign, in which he tried to get young people to get out and vote. The Rock also spoke during the Republican National Convention the same year. He founded the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation in 2006 which works with children who are at risk or terminally ill. He and his ex-wife also gave 1 million dollars to support renovations of the football facilities at the University of Miami, Florida. It was the most significant donation the athletics department ever received from former students.
7. Wordsmith
Dwayne Johnson was already well into his acting career when he got a surprise concerning his paydays in the WWE. In 2007, merriam-webster decided to add 20 new words to the dictionary, one of which was the rocks favorite term to use while he was wrestling, Smackdown. They defined it as four different things, one: the act of knocking down or bringing down an opponent, two: a contest in entertainment wrestling, three: a decisive defeat, four: a confrontation between rivals or competitors. All of which make perfect sense during a fight in the ring.
8. Awards
Since he’s so successful, it shouldn’t surprise anyone the Dwayne Johnson has taken home plenty of awards for his work. He has three Teen Choice Awards for The Mummy Returns, Moana, and Jumanji. Johnson also has three Kids Choice Awards for Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Central Intelligence and Jumanji. However, he was also given the Stinker Award for worst Supporting Actor in The Mummy Returns. According to IMDB, Johnson has won 12 awards and has over 50 nominations.
9. Tattoo
You’ve probably noticed that the giant tattoo that covers half of Dwayne’s chest and his left shoulder. His shirt is off most of the time, so it’s hard not to see, not that we’re complaining, but most of you probably don’t know what it means. There are several aspects of this tribal piece, the first is coconut leaves which symbolize a Samoan warrior, the second is the sun which is supposed to bring him good fortune. The third part is three people combined into one it includes him his ex-wife and his daughter, Simone.
The fourth symbols are swirls which represent the past present and future, the tattoos fifth aspect is two eyes that symbolized his ancestors overseeing his course through life, the great eye makes up the sixth part of the piece and it is supposed to let the person with it take over their enemy’s spirit. The seventh element is shark teeth which mark a broken face and they represent strength, his struggle, and a spirit guardian.
The eighth portion symbolizes his spiritual guide. The ninth piece consists of stones which stand for his foundation. Lastly, the tenth component is a tortoise shell which helps to ward off evil spirits. These things aren’t easily noticeable since the tattoo is comprised of tribal symbols but, even if you don’t know what it means there’s no denying that it looks really cool.
10. Knock Out
Although he was just acting during the filming of the Scorpion King, it seems like Dwayne Johnson’s wrestling skills follow him everywhere. He and his co-star Michael Clarke Duncan were performing the scene where Mathias and Balthazar are fighting when Johnson accidentally hit him in the jaw. He was knocked out for about five seconds then Duncan went to the makeup area and had the artist make it look like his face was swollen. Michael wanted Johnson to think that he significantly damaged his face. Apparently, Dwayne felt really terrible about the entire incident and when he showed up with a swollen face, he felt even worse. However, once everybody found out that Duncan was just playing a prank, they all thought it was hilarious including Johnson.
11. Arrests
Although Johnson is an extremely successful actor nowadays, he went through some difficult times when he was growing up, especially, during his teenage years in Hawaii. During an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, he discussed the trouble he got into as a teen. He said, he was arrested on multiple occasions. Dwayne didn’t have much money at the time, so he used to steal things to get buy. He admitted to stealing a king size Snickers candy bar from his local 7/11 store, every day on his way to the gym. Later on, he said that he took his daughter to all the places in Hawaii that he did bad things as a life lesson.
12. Moana
Pretty much everybody likes the movie Moana, I mean who wouldn’t, its adventure comedy and drama; all wrapped up in one amazing animated feature. His character Maui was partially modeled after Dwayne’s grandfather. His name was Peter Maivia and he was a Samoan high chief and professional wrestler. When you compare Maui to his grandfather, you can see that they have an uncanny resemblance. Also, on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Dwayne said that baby Moana looked just like his younger daughter Jasmine and teenage Moana looked just like his older daughter Simone. So, it seems the entire animated cast of the Disney film had a special place in Johnson’s heart.
13. Relationships and Children
Dwayne Johnson met Danny Garcia while he was enrolled at the University of Miami, Florida. They got married in 1997, about five years after Garcia graduated with a degree in international finance and marketing. They had their one and only child Simone in August 2001. Then in 2007, they told the world they were getting a divorce. However, they remained close friends and work together concerning their business and daughter.
Following the split from Garcia, Dwayne started dating Lauren Hashian whom he had met in 2006 while filming the Gameplan. They had their daughter Jasmine in December 2015 and they had their second daughter Tiana Jia about three years after that.
14. Clothing Line
In addition to acting, wrestling, and being a husband, and father, Dwayne Johnson also works on his own clothing line. He is partnered with Under Armour, a company who makes athletic clothing for the project Rock line. The first item they launched for the collection was a gym bag with the Brahma bull logo on it and it was sold out by the next day. They came up with a lot of other merchandise later including t-shirts, hoodies, shoes, and even a pair of wireless headphones.
Along with the project rock apparel, Dwayne even came out with his own mobile app, the rock clock. It is available to download on iOS and Android, it’s sure to help you get out of bed every morning. The alarm tone for the rock clock is Dwayne Johnson singing good morning sunshine, to help jump-start your day. Also, the rock himself gets up at about 4 o’clock in the morning every day.
15. Mother
Although Dwayne Johnson’s life seems pretty glamorous, especially, since he became so successful through his acting career, it hasn’t always been rainbows and butterflies. In February 2018, he posted a story on Instagram, they gave us a glimpse at his behind the scene life. He wrote that when he was just 15 years old, his mother tried to take her own life. He was in the car with her as they were driving down Interstate 65 in Nashville when she suddenly pulled over, she stepped out of the car and started walking into oncoming traffic. Dewayne said, “Big rigs and cars were swerving out of the way not to hit her.”
He stated that he had to grab her and pull her back onto the shoulder to save her. Apparently his mother doesn’t remember the incident to this day. Johnson further noted that, “We always got to do our best to really pay attention when people are in pain. Help ’em get through it, and get ’em talkin’ about the struggle and remind ’em that they’re not alone. We got lucky that day when I was 15 and that ain’t always the case.”
