Better known as The Rock, Dwayne Johnson is a hugely personable professional wrestler-turned-actor. He was born into the Maivia Wrestling Family on his mother's side, which has close ties to the Anoa'i family (its members known for playing up the Wild Samoan stereotype). His father, also a wrestler, is black Canadian Rocky Johnson. Dwayne's ambiguous racial features give him a universal sex appeal similar to other mixed actors like Halle Berry and Vin Diesel.As an actor, he is not particularly known for his skill at the craft, but this doesn't seem to bother him. He doesn't take himself seriously, committing without self-consciousness to roles that most actors would turn down. He always seems to be enjoying himself, which may account partially for his success.As The Rock, he is a very notable individual in the wrestling industry. He first entered the WWF as "Rocky Maivia", a Legacy Character to both the Maivia family and his father, and was pushed into becoming a Creator's Pet. Rocky Maivia was a perpetual face that drove the audience insane with how much he was pushed. Eventually, he was set loose thanks to a Face Heel Turn, freeing him creatively and allowing him to show off his incredible skills with the microphone. He's become one of the most prominent examples of Rescued from the Scrappy Heap in Professional Wrestling, exploding as a fan favorite and star. The show "Smackdown" actually comes from one of his catch phrases, causing him to call it his show. "Smackdown" is also in the dictionary. After leaving wrestling for several years, Johnson re-signed in 2011, planning to appear more frequently than he has in the past. Ladies and gentlemen, it's official: FINALLY! THE ROCKHAS COME BACKTO THE WWE!He is an 8x WWE Champion, a 2x WCW World Heavyweight Champion, a 2x WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion and a 5x WWE World Tag Team Champion, holding the belts 3x with Mankind as the Rock N Sock Connection, once with The Undertaker and once with Chris Jericho.Were you looking for theMichael Baymovie? IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR!!!Films include:
While gushing over a portrait a fan painted of him (yes, really), he praised a number of aspects of the painting, including getting his skin tone right, which he described as a "peanut butter complexion".
Family Guy lampshaded this, calling him black, Hispanic, mixed, and "maybe a little Filipino" all at the same time.
Many probably thought he was just a George Hamilton-esque white man when they first saw him.
Angry Black Man: He made his Face Heel Turn when he joined the black supremacist "Nation of Domination" Power Stable. Subverted when The Rock made it clear it had nothing to do with the color of his skin, but because of the fans booing him and chanting "Die Rocky Die". After he took over the stable, he changed it from an all Angry Black Man group into one built upon his own "cool" image.
Beat Them at Their Own Game: At some point down the line, The Rock picked up a habit of using his opponents' Finishing Move on them. This included Pedigree-ing Triple H onto a table, chokeslamming The Undertaker, putting Kurt Angle in the ankle lock and giving Austin a Stone Cold Stunner at pretty much every opportunity he could... which was a lot. Naturally, this is inverted when his opponents give him a Rock Bottom back.
Subverted in multiple occasions with the People's Elbow: anyone who attempts it on The Rock are likely to receive a Rock Bottom for their troubles. Ironically, in his last two WrestleMania matches, he nipped up when Ric Flair was going for it at WrestleMania 20, and oddly enough, Cena at WrestleMania 28.
Bittersweet Ending: The Rock's WrestleMania 20 tag-team match with Mick Foley against Evolution.
Breakup Breakout: Arguably the most successful wrestling example ever. He went from being a member of the Nation of Domination to a full-fledged movie star.
The Jabroni-beatin', pie-eatin', Hell-raisin', trailblazin', People's Champ!
Or, occasionally, the "jabroni-beatin', pie-eatin', trailblazin', Eyebrow-raisin' People's Champ".
During one comeback, he flubbed the line completely and it ended up being "The Jabroni-Eatin', Pie-Beatin' Eatin', The Rock says he's walkin' fast, whuppin' ass, People's Champ THE ROCK!"
On his return to Raw on February 14, 2011 he named himself as the Jabroni-Beatin', Pie-Eatin', Trailblazin', Eyebrow Raisin', Step off the brake, Foot on the Gas, Always Ready to whup some Ass People's Champ!
Enough with the yakking, I'm done with this speech. The Rock is gonna party all over South Beach!
The People's Eyebrow/Elbow/Sunglasses/Jewels/Champion/Strudel.
The MOST Electrifying Man In Sports-Entertainment/all of entertainment...
The Rock guaran-damn-tees that...
....you sick freak!
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA!
You're gonna go one on one with The Great One!
FINALLY THE ROCK HAS COME BACK TO [Insert City Here]! (Even when he's never actually been there before)
Know your role and SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!!!
Nice shirt, 25 cents.
The Rock wants you to take a stroll down "Know Your Role Boulevard", hang a right at "Jabroni Drive", and then check your candy ass directly into the "Smack Down Hotel"!
Well why don't you come out and (insert action here) at/to The Rock?
He also wants you to know that he is here to put BOOTS TO ASSES.
The Rock would also like for you to know that [x] is TRENDING WORLDWIDE.*
This usually comes true within 15 minutes.
Cheap Heat: His first "Hollywood" heel promo in Toronto.
"...faster than a bear, stronger than a buck, the biggest thing to hit Canada 'cause the Maple Leafs suck!"
During the first ever "Rock Concert" at Sacramento, he took a shot at the Sacramento Kings:
"... but I'll be sure to come back when the Lakers beat the Kings in May!!!"
"Finally, The Rock has come back...to (insert town name here)!"
Subverted during his "Hollywood" heel run: The Rock would bastardize a city's name instead of complimenting them, and at times even mock the crowd for popping at their city being name-dropped:
"FINALLY The Rock HAS COME BACK to Toron... to Toron... TORON HIS MOUTH ON ALL YOUR CANDY ASSES!"
"What, is this the first time you heard someone mention your city? "Yay, he said Toronto! Woo, yay! That's where we live, we live in Toronto, yay!" SHUT UP!"
Cluster F-Bomb: Possible subversion: Although he has never used the actual 'F' word, since his return to PG-WWE, his promos are by far the most foulmouthed.
Well, in one promo he actually DID drop the F-bomb (before PG-WWE, of course), but it really just helped complete the sentence.
Commuting On A Bus: Following his return to wrestling in 2011, due to his filming schedule, he would make a few appearances when time was given, and the fact he never said he would be there every single week. This was worked in to his feud with John Cena for their WrestleMania 28 match.
Cool Shades: Well, they started as normal shades, but considering that everything the Rock touched got a bit of his coolness, they ended up this way.
They led to a great moment with him and Mankind as tag partners. While putting Mankind down with his usual flair, he went to do his "If you smell..." bit but knocked his own shades off. He couldn't finish the bit without them but picking them up would have made him look like a putz. So, Mankind goes over, picks them up and hands them to him. The Rock then earnestly tells him, "The Rock thanks you for that." before going back into the bit.
Costume Porn: There seemed to be a limitless wardrobe of flamboyant "500-dollar shirts" in 1998/1999/2000. Until they started making more and more merch for him, and then it all went away.
The "500 dollar shirts" worked when The Rock's character was more emphatically that of a self-important Jerk Ass. After tagging with Mick Foley, a lot of his more Jerk Sue attributes went away so the loud, pointlessly expensive shirts didn't fit him anymore.
Crowd Song: Integral to his role as the People's Champion, was his interaction with his millions... (AND MILLIONS!)... of fans, often achieved by them joining in on his catchphrases. When he returned in 2011, the crowd's interaction was a little rusty, so he got them back into the mood:
Deadpan Snarker: The Rock has displayed a very dry sense of humor when he isn't yelling and electrifying.
The Dragon: To Faarooq in the Nation of Domination after his initial heel turn. Though with his charisma he quickly rose to become Dragon-in-Chief, which of course eventually lead to him becoming a Dragon Ascendant, as he took over as leader of the Nation.
The Rock was also The Dragon to Vince McMahon when he joined the Corporation and became Vince's "Corporate Champion". Also played straight during Rock's Hollywood heel run, as Vince would have him fight Hulk Hogan at No Way Out 2003, before Hogan took on Vince himself at WrestleMania XIX.
Enemy Mine: Despite pretty much hating each other, The Rock and Stone Cold were often forced into tag teams together against a team of whoever they were feuding with. Outside of maybe Mick Foley, Stone Cold was probably The Rock's most consistent tag team partner in spite of the fact that they hated each other.
He teams up with John Cena at Survivor Series 2011. He lists his reasons as being because 1), the fans want it, and 2), he and his fans hate The Miz and R-Truthmore.
Evil Costume Switch: The early part of his run with the Corporation saw him trade his standard wrestling trunks for athletic pants and shirts as if he wasn't even taking his opponents (usually Mick Foley) seriously anymore. He also started wearing his Costume Porn around this time.
His 2003 heel turn saw him trade the merch shirt/athletic pants for leather pants and an open vest.
Face Heel Turn: Johnson's first, going from Rocky Maivia to The Rock and joining up with the Nation of Domination, led to the boos being leveled at him turning from X-Pac Heat into Real Heat.
Glasses Pull: During the oft-mentioned return to the WWE in February 2011, during his promo he took off his Cool Shades, turned down the volume, and said he wanted to address the crowd as Dwayne. For about a minute he allowed his true personality show and gave a heartfelt thanks to the fans for continuing to cheer despite his seven year absence. And then the glasses went back on and the Most Electrifying Man in All Of Entertainment reappeared in the ring.
And now, to wrestle John Cena in a legit dream match at Wrestlemania XXVIII.
He's also back FOR REAL. That Other Wiki confirmed that he has signed a contract with WWE, and he is signed to the Raw brand.
And now: finally The Rock is once again WWE Champion!
Hot Blooded: Some of Johnson's promos veer right into this territory, and then he'd go out to the ring and back it up.
Also, pretty much anytime Rock puts someone in the Sharpshooter or any other submission move, he gives that look of insanity Ken Shamrock would give.
How Much More Can He Take / No-Holds-Barred Beatdown / Unnecessary Roughness: Johnson's "I Quit" match with Mick "Mankind" Foley at Royal Rumble 1999 was all three of these - the second for the nature of the match, the first and third for the 10 unprotected chair shots in a row Johnson delivered to Foley.
Brutal enough to make Foley's wife and children leave their ringside seats in a crying, hysterical mess, as documented in the Beyond the Mat documentary.
I Hate Past Me / Take That Me: On Raw's 20th Anniversary show, he came out to perform a "Rock Concert" similar to his feud with John Cena a year before. Before he starts singing, however, he reflects on his debut with a picture of his past self on the Titantron.
Rock: "Sweet moonwalkin' baby Moses... what was I thinkin'?"
Jerk Jock: Even as a face, Johnson was the cool slick athlete that made fun of everybody, his interactions with Coach were especially telling; the crowd still went nuts over him.
It was the crowd-pleasing charismatic awesomeness with which he did this that convinced WWE to turn him face.
Lampshaded Double Entendre: Once used to great effect with Lilian Garcia, telling her if she gets wet; with perspiration, standing next to him.
"If You Smell What The Rock Is Cookin'" is derived from this trope.
Last-Second Word Swap: He did this a couple of times, often drawing it out to heighten the effect.
The Rock: You sick ffffffffffffreak.
Legacy Character: Johnson was the first third generation wrestler in WWE history.
Lightning Bruiser: He wrestled a pretty straight power wrestling style, but was not slow at all; the guy could perform a kip-up, and the pop for that was always incredible.
Lighter and Softer: In 1999, the Rock was a flashy, flamboyant Jerk Ass that could spend ten minutes running down characteristics of his opponents. By 2000 he had turned face and his mockery was often left to Michael Cole and assorted backstage fodder, save one incredible promo about Rikishi, Austin, and others. His Costume Porn was replaced with basic gym pants and his merch shirt. As Badass Decay took hold, he nearly turned into The Scrappy, to the point where he was booed at a WrestleMania while fighting a guy who hit him with a bigrig. Now, said crowd was wearing Nostalgia Goggles for Hulk Hogan's first WWF outgoing in something like eight years, but still...
By 2003, he got better.
It took a couple years to get to that point, and it's not like he was taking heat. Hell, he was still the biggest face in the company during his entrance at the WrestleMania. It wasn't until the match started that he drew heat, and the next night he was back on top. Trope Averted.
Subverted in his first promo in seven years, when he completely annihilated the TV-PG image the WWE has cooked up for itself in the past few years. (Ohnoes, he said sumbitch; they're gonna take him off WrestleMania...)
Loners Are Freaks: Part of the WWE roster's seemingly legit beef with the Rock backstage involves the words "he keeps to himself".
Meaningful Name: Johnson's first ring name, Rocky Maivia, was a tribute to his father (Rocky Johnson) and grandfather (High Chief Peter Maivia).
And as shown by the Saturday Night Live sketch used to promote The Scorpion King, he has a gentle and lovely singing voice.
Check out this quote...sniff, it's nothin', just some dirt in my eye.
Money, Dear Boy: One of the main reasons he took up acting, even while his wrestling career was at a stellar level of popularity. In interviews, he's said that he enjoys wrestling more than acting, but acting pays a great deal better, has a more flexible work schedule, and is far less physically punishing.
Nice Guy: Very sweet, sensitive and self-deprecating, and as a rule rather than exception these days plays exact opposites of his macho wrestling persona in movies.
Odd Couple: His team-ups with Mick Foley, aptly labeled ''The Rock and Sock Connection. The Rock went from being a Jerk Jock who consistently bullied Mick to slowly respecting and liking Mick to the point where, in his last match, he was acting as something like a big brother for Mick in regards to his feud with the bullies in Evolution.
Older Than He Looks: He celebrated his 40th birthday in 2012. Aside from a little gray in his beard, there is absolutely nothing to indicate he is anywhere near that old.
Old Shame: Averted. His distance from wrestling was due to pressure from his old agent. Before he got involved with WWE again in 2011, he fired said agent and is now represented by his ex-wife, to whom he was married to during his full-time WWE career.
Self-Deprecation: After ripping John Cena about The Marine at the 2008 WWE Hall of Fame, Rock added he was only kidding and said, "Hey, you know what? I made Doom. Did you see it? *beat* Yeah, no one else did either."
Since his 2011 return he's made several jokes about The Tooth Fairy.
Shock and Awe: THE MOST ELECTRIFYING MAN IN ALLLL OF ENTERTAINMENT!!!
"You come here to The Rock's show and don't even have the class to introduce yourself? What is your name? IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!
Still Got It: 2011-2-14 Raw. He comes out to a deafening pop and cuts a promo starting at 10:55 and getting to go for almost 30 minutes (including a 20 minute run-over) that proves that he's STILL the best promo guy in the business EVER, even after being out of the business for SEVEN YEARS.
And at Survivor Series 2011, he proved that, yes, he can still go in the ring. The crowd agreed.
And then at Wrestlemania 28, he proved that he can still go one on one in the ring.
Then the angle and finally subsequent WWE title match with CM Punk. His Theatrics Of Pain and Wrestling Psychology are still off the charts compared to the vast majority of today's wrestlers.
Stylistic Suck: When Rock sings. It's not that he's horrible, but he deliberately hams it up to be worse than it is. A series of "Rock Concerts" in 2003 amounted to acoustic performances about how awful the host city is.
Taking A Third Option: After being barred from the Arena, on the last Raw before the Royal Rumble, instead of just abiding by the rules and wait or try and force his way in, Rock simply bought a ticket.
10-Minute Retirement: Averted; Johnson, who left WWE after WrestleMania 20 to concentrate on his film career, didn't wrestle for another seven years.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: On the 2/14/11 episode of Monday Night RAW, Rock returned to announce that he was hosting Wrestlemania 27. His following speech will no doubt be in his Crowning Moment of Awesome page within the coming days, as he essentially tore the PG-era apart, from Cole to Cena to you-can't-see-me and all the while swearing and ignoring PG in every way possible.
The Starscream: How the Rock took over the Nation of Domination.
This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: Heel!Rock in particular liked to emphasize his statements by calling his opponent bitch.
In his recent feud with John Cena, the Rock referred to Cena as a "Yabba-Dabba Bitch".
Three Chords and the Truth: He wrestled this, the Rock does not have an incredible number of moves, what he does have is a such an incredible energy that electrifies the entire crowd.
Unnecessary Roughness: Johnson was recruited by the University of Miami to play football, but injuries kept him out of the starting lineup for most of his college career. His biggest moment in a game was when he became involved in a bench-clearing brawl (Miami vs. San Diego State) and was shown on ESPN chasing the San Diego mascot screaming "I'll kill you!" Good times.
What Could Have Been: At one point, there was talk of casting Johnson in a movie adaptation of Captain Marvel as either The Good Captain or The Rival Black Adam. The producers actually set up an online poll where fans could vote for which character they'd rather see him playing; Black Adam won out, and Dwayne was enthusiastic about the project either way. Sadly, the film seems to be in Development Hell, and Johnson might not be a part of it anymore.
Another What Could Have Been trapped in Development Hell is the live action Spy Hunter movie, with Johnson in the lead role. However, he did manage to put in a performance in the What Would Have Been a Tie-In game Nowhere to Run.
At one point, he said that he was going to run for President in 2008 as a Republican.
Eerie thing is, Barack sounds exactly like the Rock, just less awesome. It's said that those listening to the Kennedy v Nixon debate on the radio thought Nixon won; if you listened to Obama vs Johnson, you'd probably have a hard time figuring out who was speaking. One person at film.com even suggested that Johnson should drop forty pounds and play Obama in the inevitable movie.
To which Barack used in his appearance on WWE RAW when the presidential nominations were taking place, as he ended his segment with "...if you smell what Barack is cookin!"
What the Hell, Hero?: Recently been called out by John Cena for leaving the people that made him a superstar and that half his (at the time after his February 2011 return) promos had been via satellite. Rock addressed these comments the next week, and after that, things got abitsilly.
Recent RAW seems divided between "ROCKY!" and "CENA!" At this point, it may be impossible to tell who's The Face and who is The Heel. Broken Base indeed.
Although, on his Twitter account, he said he wasn't scheduled to be there in person.
Who Are You?: Employed a variant of this in his wrestling days: would often act nonplussed when being addressed by someone he viewed as inconsequential (which was pretty much everybody), waiting until they were finished before asking them, "Who in the blue hell are you?", then interrupting them after a couple of syllables with, "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!"
Wrestling Family: Johnson is one of the many, many wrestlers in the Anoa'i family. He's not a blood relation, but the Anoa'i brothers were "blood brothers" to Peter Maivia (having grown up as Maivia fans in San Francisco, and he helped them get into the business). High Chief Peter Maivia, Johnson's grandfather, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008, appeared in You Only Live Twice and trained "Superstar" Billy Graham.
. After leaving wrestling for several years, Johnson re-signed in 2011, planning to appear more frequently than he has in the past. Ladies and gentlemen, it's official: FINALLY! THE ROCK HAS COME BACK TO THE WWE!He is an 8x WWE Champion
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