Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor, businessman, and professional wrestler. As a wrestler, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis and is a member of The Bloodline. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time,[6][7] he was integral to the development and success of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) during the Attitude Era, an industry boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Johnson wrestled for the WWF for eight years before pursuing an acting career. His films have grossed over $3.5 billion in North America and over $10.5 billion worldwide,[8] making him one of the world's highest-grossing and highest-paid actors.[9][10][11] He is a co-owner of the United Football League (UFL), a professional American football league.[12][13][14] He is also a member of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of UFC and WWE.[15][16][17] In 2012, he co-founded the entertainment production company Seven Bucks Productions.[18] He is the founder of Teremana Tequila, which is approximately valued at $3.5 billion.[19]
"Rock Johnson" redirects here. Not to be confused with Rocky Johnson, Duane Johnson, Dewayne Johnson, or Wayne Johnson.
Dwayne Johnson
- Actor
- professional wrestler
- film producer
- businessman
- 1996–2004, 2011–2019, 2023–Present (wrestling)
- 1999–present (acting)
-
Lauren Hashian(m. 2019)
3, including Ava
- Rocky Johnson
- Mataniufeagaimaleata "Ata" Fitisemanu Maivia
- Flex Kavana
- Rocky Maivia
- The Rock[2]
Miami, Florida, U.S.[3][1]
- Pat Patterson[4]
- Rocky Johnson[2]
- Tom Prichard[5]
March 10, 1996[4]
After accepting an athletic scholarship to play football at the University of Miami, he was a member of the 1991 national championship team but was largely a backup player.[20] Despite aspirations to professional football, he went undrafted in the 1995 NFL draft, and briefly signed with the Calgary Stampeders before being cut in his first season.[21] In 1996, Johnson's father Rocky assisted in helping him secure a contract with the WWF.[2] Johnson quickly rose to global prominence, aided by a gimmick he employed as a charismatic trash talker. Johnson left the WWE in 2004 and returned in 2011 as a part-time performer until 2013, making sporadic appearances from thereon until 2019[22] where he quietly retired until 2023, where he returned once again on a part-time basis. A 10-time world champion, including the promotion's first of African-American descent,[23] he is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time Tag Team Champion, the 2000 Royal Rumble winner, and WWE's sixth Triple Crown champion. Johnson headlined multiple pay-per-view events, including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania six times (15, 16, 17, 28, 29 and 40) which includes the most-bought professional wrestling pay-per-view (WrestleMania 28) and main evented the most watched episodes of WWE's flagship television series (Raw and SmackDown).[24][25]
Johnson's first film role was in The Mummy Returns (2001). The next year, he played his first leading role in the action fantasy film The Scorpion King. He has since starred in family films The Game Plan (2007), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Tooth Fairy (2010), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), and Jungle Cruise (2021), and the action films Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), Hercules (2014), Skyscraper (2018), San Andreas (2015) and Rampage (2018). He also starred in the action comedy films Get Smart (2008), Central Intelligence (2016), Baywatch (2017), and Red Notice (2021). His role as Luke Hobbs in the Fast & Furious films, beginning with Fast Five (2011), helped the franchise become one of the highest-grossing in film.[26] He joined the DC Extended Universe playing the title role in Black Adam (2022).[27] He is also known for voicing Maui in the Disney animated film Moana (2016) and is set to reprise the role in the upcoming live action remake.[28]
Johnson produced and starred in the HBO comedy-drama series Ballers (2015–2019)[29] and the autobiographical sitcom Young Rock (2021). His autobiography, The Rock Says, was released in 2000 and was a New York Times bestseller.[30][31] In 2016 and 2019, Time named Johnson as one of the world's most influential people.[32][33]
No. 94
Criminology and physiology
May 2, 1972 (age 51)
Hayward, California, U.S.
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
253 lb (115 kg)
- Miami (FL) (1990–1994)
Producer
In 2012, Johnson founded his production company Seven Bucks Productions.[18] Though originally attached as producer and star, Johnson will now serve solely as the former on a film adaptation of The Janson Directive. John Cena will fill the leading role, with Akiva Goldsman attached as screenwriter.[340] Additionally, he will produce and star in a Netflix exclusive film titled John Henry & The Statesmen, as the titular folklore hero. The film will be directed by Jake Kasdan, from a script by Kasdan and Tom Wheeler. With the first official teaser trailer released in October 2018, the project marks Kasdan's and Johnson's third collaboration, after Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level.[341]
In 2019, Johnson produced and appeared as himself in Fighting with My Family, a comedy drama about Saraya Bevis and her family, who are also professional wrestlers.[342][343] Johnson will co-produce and star in The King, a film about king Kamehameha Kūnuiākea, founder and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. The project will be directed by Robert Zemeckis from a script by Randall Wallace. The movie will be comparable to Braveheart in tone, given Wallace's work on both films, and will depict the king's role in resolving the wars among the islands of Hawaiʻi. The King was scheduled to begin production in 2020, but was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic.[344] Johnson is also attached to produce/star in a sequel to Big Trouble in Little China,[345][346] as well as project under development with Shane Black focusing on a new interpretation of Doc Savage.[347]
In 2021, his biographical comedy-drama series Young Rock began airing on NBC.[348] A film centered around Teth-Adam/Black Adam, a part of the DC Extended Universe, was announced to be in development in January 2017. Originally cast in the role as early as September 2014 as the antagonist, in a film centered around the superhero Billy Batson/Shazam,[349][350] his villainous role for Shazam! was reworked into two separate films.[351] Johnson did not appear in Shazam!, but he served as a producer and his likeness was used through special effects in flashback scenes.[352][353]
Business career
In March 2020, Johnson launched Teremana Tequila, which sold 600,000 nine-litre cases in its first year.[354]
In August 2020, Johnson along with several partners and investors—including RedBird Capital Partners—purchased the XFL for $15 million. Within months, Johnson announced plans for the relaunch of the league in spring 2022. While the launch was delayed a year, the first games of 2023 kicked off on time.[355] After a successful 2023 season, the XFL and United States Football League announced their intent to merge into a single league. On December 31, 2023, it was announced that the new merged league would be called the United Football League (UFL).[356] The league would feature 8 teams and start on March 30, 2024. Johnson, along with Dany Garcia, and RedBird Capital Partners own 50% of the UFL together under XFL Properties LLC.[357]
On January 23, 2024, Johnson joined the TKO Group Holdings board of directors. In the process, he obtained full ownership over his trademarked name "The Rock", which was owned by WWE.[15][358][359] As part of the settlement, Johnson signed a new services and merchandising agreement with WWE.[358][359][360]
Other work
In 2000, Johnson published his autobiography, The Rock Says..., co-written with Joe Layden. It debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list and remained on the list for several weeks.[30] In 2013, Johnson hosted and produced the TNT reality competition series The Hero.[302][361] In 2014, he hosted another TNT reality series, Wake Up Call.[309] In 2019, Johnson started hosting the NBC competition series The Titan Games.[362]
In March 2016, Johnson partnered with American fitness apparel manufacturer Under Armour to release "Project Rock".[363] The first item in his partnership with Under Armour, a gym bag, sold out in a couple of days.[364][365] His second item, a black T-shirt sporting his signature "Brahma bull", sold out after being worn at WrestleMania 32.[366] Johnson also released an alarm clock app as part of "Project Rock" that received more than one million downloads in its first week of release.[367] Since then, they have released sneakers, headphones, and other apparel.[368]
In 2016, Johnson started his YouTube channel. His first video, The YouTube Factory, featured online personality Lilly Singh and several other internet stars.[369] In 2019, Johnson announced he would launch a competitive bodybuilding show, "Athleticon", with his business partner and ex-wife Dany Garcia. It is set to rival other long-standing bodybuilding shows such as The Arnold Classic and Joe Weider's Mr. Olympia.[370] The show was set to debut in October 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia, but plans were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.[370]
A fan of the rapper Tech N9ne,[371] Johnson is featured on the song "Face Off" from the rapper's 2021 album Asin9ne.[372]
Activism and philanthropy
Johnson attended the 2000 Democratic National Convention,[373] which was part of WWE's non-partisan "Smackdown Your Vote" campaign aiming to influence young people to vote.[374] He also had a speaking role at the 2000 Republican National Convention.[375]
Johnson voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.[261] He did not vote in the 2016 presidential election,[376] and is an independent voter as of 2017.[377] He endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, though later stated that he regretted the decision, due to it causing "division", and refused to endorse anyone for the approaching 2024 presidential election.[378][379] Johnson has expressed interest in running for president himself, telling USA Today in February 2021, "I would consider a presidential run in the future if that's what the people wanted."[380] Following an online public opinion poll that found that 46% of Americans would consider voting for Johnson in a presidential election, he said in an April 12, 2021, interview on Today, "I do have that goal to unite our country and I also feel that if this is what the people want, then I will do that."[381]
In 2006, Johnson founded the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation, a charity working with at-risk and terminally ill children.[382] On October 2, 2007, he and his then wife, Dany Garcia, donated $1 million to the University of Miami to support the renovation of its football facilities. The university renamed the Hurricanes' locker room in Johnson's honor.[383] In 2015, Johnson donated $1,500 to a GoFundMe to pay for an abandoned dog's surgery.[384] In 2017, he donated $25,000 to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.[385] In 2018, Johnson donated a gym to a military base in Oahu, Hawaii.[386] After the 2018 Hawaii floods, he worked with Malama Kauai, a nonprofit organization, to help repair flood damage.[387] Johnson has also worked with Make-A-Wish Foundation on a number of occasions.[388]
In July 2023, Johnson made a seven-figure donation to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, which foundation president Courtney B. Vance cited to be "the largest single donation that (the foundation) has ever received from one individual at one time".[389]
Personal life
Johnson first met Dany Garcia when they were both University of Miami students in the early 1990s. They married on May 3, 1997. She is a businesswoman, International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation professional bodybuilder, and producer.[390] They have one child, Simone, a daughter, who was born August 14, 2001, in Davie, Florida.[390][391]
In 2003, Johnson got a partial Samoan Peʻa tattoo on his left side.[392] In August 2004, in recognition of his service to the Samoan people, and because he is a descendant of Samoan chiefs, Johnson was given the noble title Seiuli, meaning the son of Malietoa [Alo o Malietoa], by Malietoa Tanumafili II during his visit there.[393]
On June 1, 2007, Johnson and Garcia announced they were separating amicably.[390]
In 2007, Johnson began dating Lauren Hashian, the daughter of Boston drummer Sib Hashian.[394] They met in 2006 while Johnson was filming The Game Plan.[395]
In May 2008, his divorce to Garcia was finalized.[396]
In 2009, Johnson obtained Canadian citizenship through his father's birth and citizenship there.[397] In 2017, he had the small "Brahma bull" tattoo on his right arm covered with a larger half-sleeve tattoo of a bull's skull.[398]
On August 18, 2019, Johnson and Hashian married in Hawaii.[399][400][401] They have two daughters, Jasmine and Tiana,[402][403][404] and live in Los Angeles. They also maintain a farm in Virginia[405] and a home in Southwest Ranches, Florida.[406][407]
In February 2020, WWE announced that Johnson's daughter Simone had started training at the WWE Performance Center,[408] making her the first fourth-generation WWE wrestler.[409] On May 16, Johnson announced she had signed a contract with WWE,[410] and in May 2022 announced that her ring name would be Ava Raine. She has since been appearing on the NXT brand.[411]
Johnson is a supporter of the Samoa national rugby league team, and publicly pledged his support to the team during the 2021 Rugby League World Cup when the team made the finals for the first time.[412][413]