Rocky Johnson (born
Wayde Bowles on August 24, 1944 in
AmherstAmherst is a Canadian town in northwestern Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.Located at the northeast end of the Cumberland Basin, an arm of the Bay of Fundy, Amherst is strategically situated on the eastern boundary of the Tantramar Marshes 3 kilometres east of the interprovincial border with New...
,
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
, anada]) is a retired
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
professional wrestlerProfessional wrestling, or pro wrestling, is an athletic performing art where matches are prearranged by the promotion's booking staff. It is a non-competitive sport which contains strong elements of theatre, mock combat, and catch wrestling. Wrestling's origins date to 19th-century carnival...
. Quite popular in his own right in the 1970s and
'80sThe 1980s was the decade that ran from January 1, 1980, to December 31, 1989.The time period saw social, economic and general change as wealth and production migrated to newly industrializing economies...
, he is also known for being the father of
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and former wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, During his wrestling career he became a 1-time NWA Georgia Champion and also became a 1-time NWA Southern Heavyweight Memphis Champion as well as winning many other championships.
National Wrestling Alliance
Johnson was a top contender in the
National Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a governing body for a group of independent professional wrestling promotions and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
(NWA) in the 1970s, receivng title matches against then-
World ChampionsThe National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first "World Heavyweight Championship," which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title...
Terry FunkTerrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the later part of his career that inspired many later wrestlers, including Mick Foley...
and
Harley RaceHarley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter. During his career as a wrestler, he amassed seven National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship reigns at a time when wrestlers rarely repeated as champion, and worked for all of the major wrestling...
. He was well-suited to
tag teamIn professional wrestling, a tag team consists of two wrestlers who are working together as a team . Often, they are close partners and backstage friends who team with each other almost exclusively, while other times they are singles competitors who are booked together for just one match...
wrestling, winning several regional tag team championships in the NWA.
World Wrestling Federation
In 1983, he was recruited by the WWF and paired with
Tony AtlasAnthony White better known by his ring name "Tony Atlas" is a bodybuilder, powerlifter, and professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his bodybuilding title, "Mr. USA" , the nom de guerre the "Black Superman", as well as an alter ego...
, another popular black wrestler. They defeated the Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika Anoai) for the Tag Team Championship on November 15, 1983. Together, Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas were known as "The Soul Patrol".
Retirement
After retiring in 1991, Johnson along with Pat Patterson, trained his son Dwayne to wrestle. While he initially resisted his son's entry into the business because he knew it was extremely difficult, he agreed to train his son on the condition that he would not go easy on him. Johnson was instrumental in getting Dwayne (later dubbed "Rocky Maivia" after both Rocky Johnson's and Peter Maivia's ring names) signed to a WWF developmental deal. Initially, Johnson had an on-camera presence at his son's matches, jumping into the ring on his son's behalf after he was attacked by several other wrestlers at
WrestleMania 13WrestleMania 13 was the thirteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation...
. Johnson was not seen on-camera again after the Rocky Maivia character flopped, but this was actually a blessing, as his son achieved crossover popularity as a cocky
heelIn professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling storylines. They are typically opposed by a babyface or more simply, face . Some tweeners exhibit heel mannerisms...
, The Rock.
Johnson was hired as a trainer for the WWE developmental territory,
Ohio Valley WrestlingOhio Valley Wrestling is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. OVW is run by owner Danny Davis and the organization was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1998 until 2000, when OVW became part of the World Wrestling Entertainment...
, in early 2003 but was let go in May of that year. On February 25, 2008, Johnson was announced as an inductee for the 2008 class of the
WWE Hall of FameThe World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's , the predecessor of WWE, Monday Night Raw television program...
along with his father-in-law "
High Chief" Peter MaiviaFanene Leifi Pita Maivia was a Samoan professional wrestler better known as "High Chief" Peter Maivia. He was head of the famous Samoan wrestling family...
. They were inducted into the Hall of Fame on March 29, 2008 by his son and former professional wrestler, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. One week earlier on March 22, Rocky Johnson wrestled his retirement match in Toronto, Ontario,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
for Stranglehold Wrestling.
Personal life
Rocky Johnson is a
Black Nova ScotianBlack Nova Scotians are people of Black African descent, whose ancestors fled Colonial America as slaves or freemen, to settle in Nova Scotia, Canada during the 18th and 19th centuries...
, which is an ethnicity of
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
descent. Johnson married into the prolific
SamoaSamoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa , is a country governing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and Savai'i...
n wrestling family, which included the Anoa'i family, by marrying "High Chief"
Peter MaiviaFanene Leifi Pita Maivia was a Samoan professional wrestler better known as "High Chief" Peter Maivia. He was head of the famous Samoan wrestling family...
's daughter Ata Maivia. Ata met Rocky after Maivia and Johnson were tag team partners in a match on the independent scene. Maivia disapproved of the relationship—not because of anything personal against Johnson, but because of Johnson's
chosen professionProfessional wrestling, or pro wrestling, is an athletic performing art where matches are prearranged by the promotion's booking staff. It is a non-competitive sport which contains strong elements of theatre, mock combat, and catch wrestling. Wrestling's origins date to 19th-century carnival...
. The couple had a son, Dwayne, in 1972. Dwayne Johnson portrayed his father in an episode of
That '70s ShowThat '70s Show is an American television sitcom that centered on the lives of a group of teenagers living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 1976 to 12:00 AM, January 1, 1980. It debuted on the FOX television network on August 23, 1998 and ran for eight consecutive...
.
He lived in
Davie, FloridaDavie is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States. In 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 90,329. It is part of the South Florida metropolitan area, which is home to 5,463,857 people.- History :...
with his wife, Ata, but they later divorced. Johnson remarried and still resides in Davie. Rocky also has two other children, as he announced in his 2008 HOF induction, a son Curtis, and a daughter Wanda from his first marriage in 1967. Johnson is honored being the first non-Samoan to be named High Chief. His title is High Chief Tafiaiafi.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Dropkick
A dropkick is an attacking maneuver in professional wrestling. It is defined as an attack where the wrestler jumps up and kicks the opponent with the soles of both feet, this sees the wrestler twist as they jump so that when the feet connect with the opponent one foot is raised higher than the...
- Johnson Shuffle (Three left-handed jabs
A jab is one of the four main punches used in boxing. Several variations of the jab exist, but every jab shares these characteristics: while in a boxing stance, the lead fist is thrown straight ahead and the arm is fully extended...
followed by a right-handed knockout punch)
- Signature moves
- Backbreaker
- Boston crab
The Boston crab is a professional wrestling hold that typically starts with the opponent laying supine on the mat, with the wrestler standing and facing them. It is a type of spinal lock where the wrestler hooks each of the opponent’s legs in one of his arms, and then turns the opponent face-down,...
Championships and accomplishments
- American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association ' was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
- AWA Southern Tag Team Championship
The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s...
(2 times) - with Jimmy ValiantJames Harold Fanning is a former professional wrestler better known as Jimmy Valiant.-Career:Jimmy Valiant was born in Franklin County, Tennessee, near Tullahoma...
(1) & Soul Train JonesMike Jones is a retired American professional wrestler better known as Virgil in the World Wrestling Federation and Vincent in World Championship Wrestling.-Championship Wrestling Association :...
(1)
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Florida version) (1 time)
- NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida and is now the major title in NWA Florida. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by CWF and lasted until 1987 when the company was purchased by Jim Crockett...
(2 times)
- NWA Florida Tag Team Championship
The NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in NWA Florida. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida and lasted until 1990 when it was abandoned. It was picked back up in 1997 by NWA Florida and it still exists today.-Title...
(1 time) - with Pedro MoralesPedro Morales is a retired Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He began his wrestling career as a teenager in 1959 and continued through to the late 1980s...
- NWA Florida Television Championship
The NWA Florida Television Championship was a secondary title in Championship Wrestling from Florida. It existed from 1970 until 1987.-Title history:The NWA Florida Television Championship was a secondary title in Championship Wrestling from Florida...
(1 time)
- Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, Georgia superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...
- NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship was the major title in the Georgia Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion. It started in 1964 and was unified in 1981 with the NWA National Heavyweight Championship....
(1 time)
- NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship
The NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship was the top tag team championship in Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1968 to 1980, when it was replaced with the NWA National Tag Team Championship....
(1 time) - with Jerry BriscoFloyd Gerald "Jerry" Brisco is a former American professional wrestler, now working a lifetime employment as a road agent for World Wrestling Entertainment on its Raw brand....
- NWA Macon Tag Team Championship
The NWA Macon Tag Team Championship was a tag team professional wrestling championship in Georgia Championship Wrestling, defended exclusively on events held at the Macon City Auditorium and Macon Coliseum in Macon, Georgia. The title lasted from 1969 to 1975....
(1 time) - with Danny Little BearDanny Little Bear was an American professional wrestler who competed in North American regional promotions including the National Wrestling Alliance, particularly the Central States and Gulf Coast territories, where he remained one of the region's most popular stars during the 1960s and 70s...
- Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
Jim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. up until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship contested for in Jim Crockett Promotions , a territory-promotion governed by the National Wrestling Alliance . The title was only contestable by male individual wrestlers...
(1 time)
- NWA Television Championship
The World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Championship Wrestling....
(1 time)
- NWA All-Star Wrestling
- NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)
The Vancouver version of the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship was established in 1962 as the top tag team title in NWA All-Star Wrestling. The title held that status until late summer 1985, when the title was renamed the UWA Tag Team Championship upon All-Star Wrestling's departure as a member of...
(1 time) - with Don Leo JonathanDon Heaton , also known as Don Leo Jonathan, is an American former professional wrestler.-Professional wrestling career:...
- NWA Big Time Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling was a popular regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von...
- NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (1 time)
- NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today...
(2 times)
- NWA Texas Tag Team Championship
The WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary tag team championship in World Class Championship Wrestling, originally known as the NWA Texas Tag-Team title until 1981 where they were abandoned. The titles were brought back in 1987 as the WCWA Texas Tag-Team titles but once the WCWA joined...
(1 time) - with Jose LotharioGuadalupe Robledo is an American professional wrestler, best known by the ring name of Jose Lothario.-Career:Lothario competed in the National Wrestling Alliance for most of his career....
- NWA Detroit
The National Wrestling Alliance is a governing body for a group of independent professional wrestling promotions and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version) (1 time) - with Ben Justice
- NWA Hollywood Wrestling
The National Wrestling Alliance is a governing body for a group of independent professional wrestling promotions and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship was the top singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Los Angeles territory, known officially as NWA Hollywood Wrestling, from 1968 until the promotion closed in 1982. The title was first established in 1967 as a secondary championship in...
(1 time)
- NWA Americas Tag Team Championship
The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling based out of Los Angeles, California....
(1 time) - with Earl MaynardEarl Maynard is a bodybuilder and professional wrestler as well as a film actor, producer and director from Barbados.-Early life:At the age of 17, Earl was 5’ 10” tall and weighed only 130 pounds. Despite poor health, he had a happy childhood in Barbados. Maynard left the island when he was 18 and...
- NWA Beat the Champ Television Championship (2 times)
- NWA Mid-America / Continental Wrestling Association
The Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling in Pro Wrestling Illustrated and its sister wrestling...
- CWA/AWA International Tag Team Championship
The CWA/AWA International Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title defended in the Continental Wrestling Association...
(1 time) - with Bill DundeeWilliam "Bill" Crookshanks is a professional wrestler better known by his stage name "Superstar" Bill Dundee. Crookshanks is the father-in-law of wrestler Bobby Eaton & father of Jamie Dundee.-Career:...
- NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Memphis version) (1 time)
- NWA San Francisco
The National Wrestling Alliance is a governing body for a group of independent professional wrestling promotions and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version)
The NWA San Francisco United States Championship was a version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in San Francisco, California. The title, which originated as the American Wrestling Alliance United States Championship and was renamed in 1968, existed from 1960 until...
(1 time)
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (4 times) - with Pat Patterson (3) and Pepper Gomez (1)
- NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship (2 times)
- Pacific Northwest Wrestling
Pacific Northwest Wrestling is the common name used to refer to several different Portland, Ore.-based professional wrestling companies, both past and present. The first such company was founded by Herb Owen in 1925...
- NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S...
(1 time)
- NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship
The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S...
(2 times) - with Brett Sawyer (1) and Iceman ParsonsIceman Parsons is a former professional wrestler who sometimes went by Iceman King Parsons. King was called the "Iceman" after gaining a pin advantage on most of his opponents. His coach told him to "Ice" another one, and King did. He did his amateur wrestling while at school in Richmond Heights,...
(1)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Pro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI ranked him # 211 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is a publicly-traded, privately-controlled integrated media and sports entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
- WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tony Atlas
Anthony White better known by his ring name "Tony Atlas" is a bodybuilder, powerlifter, and professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his bodybuilding title, "Mr. USA" , the nom de guerre the "Black Superman", as well as an alter ego...
- WWE Hall of Fame
The World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's , the predecessor of WWE, Monday Night Raw television program...
(Class of 2008)
External links