DWAYNE THE ROCK JOHNSON'S FATHER ROCKY JOHNSON PASSES AWAY AT THE AGE OF 75
Legendary Canadian wrestler, WWE Hall of Famer and Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson's father, 'Soulman' Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles), has sadly passed away at the age of 75.
Johnson’s sports-entertainment career began in the mid-1960s when he made a memorable impression in the National Wrestling Alliance. However, Johnson found his highest levels of success when he began his WWE tenure in 1983.
Alongside Tony Atlas, Johnson made history as one half of the first ever black WWF tag team champions when they defeated the Wild Samoans in 1983. The wrestler had several memorable rivalries with competitors like Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, Adrian Adonis and Don Muraco.
He would eventually go on to retire from the ring in 1991 and had a hand in training his son Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The Rock would become one of the biggest stars in the history of sports-entertainment and carried on his fathers legacy with pride.
In 2008 Rocky was honoured with an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame by his son Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson along with Dwayne's grandfather High Chief Peter Maivia.
In his acceptance speech Rocky paid tribute to his in-laws High Chief Peter Maivia and Lia Maivia and the work they did in the Wrestling industry, thanking them for accepting him into their family and also for the matai title he was given 'Tasi Ae Afe'. Watch his full speech and the Rocks introduction in the video below.
He was a true trailblazer in the wrestling industry and will be missed throughout the wrestling world. Many of the wrestling community took to Twitter to pay tribute to the legend.
Here's a throwback to Wrestlemania 13 when the Rock wrestled under the name 'Rocky Maivia' and his Dad Rocky Johnson came and helped him in a fight against the Sultan.
We offer our condolences, thoughts and prayers to the Johnson family at this time. Alofa atu.
