Can you smell what The Rock ‘s cooking? That was the question on the mouths and minds of wrestling fans for decades. But what’s even more electric than The Rock is the story of Dwayne Johnson .
Below are 10+ facts fans didn’t know about Dwayne ” The Rock ” Johnson.
From his days flying off the top rope to his beginnings in the CFL, one thing remains clear: Rocky definitely doesn’t suck.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one of the most famous people in all of Hollywood, and that is WITHOUT being an Oscar-winning actor.
People love him for his authenticity, his good heart, and his ability to make any action movie exciting.
However, just because millions of people enjoy liking his photos on Instagram, that doesn’t mean that people know everything about him!
Luckily, we are here to help.
We compiled a list of amazing facts about the beloved star to further your knowledge about him! Let’s get into it.
1. Wrestling fans hated his guts at first.
The Rock didn’t come into the WWE (then the WWF) fully-formed. It took months, years even, before he was able to build a following.
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When Dwayne first came into pro-wrestling, his name was Rocky Maivia and he was a member of the Nation of Domination .
2. Pro-wrestling is in his blood!
Dwayne comes from a long line of pro-wrestlers, so the gene is definitely in his blood!
His grandfather , Peter Maivia, wrestled in the early days as did his father, Randy Johnson. I wonder if his children will follow in his footsteps.
3. Dwayne describes his younger self as an “awkward” teen.
According to Dwayne, he managed to get into quite a bit of trouble in his younger years.
To make matters worse, “all the kids in every high school thought I was an undercover cop cause I looked like a mutated, yet handsome SOB of a man child,” he wrote on his Instagram.
In fact, when he made his first appearance in the *Fast & Furious* franchise, director Brad Peyton was very intimidated.
“I was like, ‘Oh, my God – this guy is frighteningly large,’” Peyton told Rolling Stone . “I was shitting myself he looked so intimidating. It took me, like, 15 minutes to get over it.”
4. He seriously loves his tequila.
A whole heck of a lot! If you were to slice open Dwayne’s veins, they’d be flowing over with Agave.
He even has his own brand of tequila called Teremana . Good luck trying to find a bottle of the stuff though; it flies off the shelves.
5. Dwayne used to dream of a career in law enforcement.
“When I got to college, I started studying criminology – I wanted to work for either the FBI or CIA,” he said during an interview with Rolling Stone .
Can you imagine Dwayne in an interrogation room? I’d wet myself just looking at him.
6. His grandmother was a huge influence in his younger years.
When he lost his grandmother, he posted a sweet photo with the caption:
“Miss you grandma and I hope you hear me cause I’m still quietly singin’ away to you (off key of course:).”
7. Dwayne was once “The most electrifying man in sports entertainment!”
It’s wild for me to think that there’s an entire generation of Dwayne Johnson fans who never once got to see him perform as The Rock!
Trust me, you haven’t lived until you hear him scream “If you smell what The Rock’s cooking !”
8. He’s quite the musician.
During his days in the WWE, The Rock would occasionally bring a guitar into the center of the ring.
He sang a diss-song to Stone Cold Steve Austin as well as a special medley insulting John Cena.
9. Dwayne’s first big break in the movie business was in *Be Cool*.
Dwayne played the part of Andre Benjamin, a gay Samoan bodyguard with dreams of making it big.
The part was written specifically for Dwayne. At the time, it was considered an incredibly risky career move.
10. Dwayne is responsible for one of the best meme photos circling the internet.
There are literally no words for this picture — Where would you even begin!?
Everyone is quick to point out the fanny-pack and the turtle neck. But for me, what really sends it over the top are Dwayne’s perfectly manicured nails.
11. Dwayne’s autobiography was a New York Times Bestseller!
I can actually still remember waiting in line to get this book! My favorite chapter, without a doubt, would have to be “The People’s Puberty.”
It was a hilarious tongue-in-cheek account of The Rock ‘s life and one of the most surprising best sellers of the year.
12. He has a special connection to Canada and the city of Vancouver.
Dwayne lived in Vancouver while he was playing football in the CFL! He captioned the video:
“Sometimes the goal we’ve worked our ass off for years is never achieved. Then years later we look back and realize, it’s the best thing that NEVER happened.”
13. His youngest daughter still doesn’t believe that he’s Maui from *Moana*.
“She still refuses to believe the urban legend that her daddy is actually, Maui. At this rate it’s even pure speculation that her daddy is also The Rock. I’ll happily take these L’s and laugh as long as I get my daddy/daughter bond.”
14. His oldest daughter looks to follow in her father’s footsteps.
Earlier this year, Dwayne’s daughter Simone signed her first contract with the WWE, making her a fourth generation pro wrestler.
She was joined by her father to commemorate the historic event.
Simone spoke about how proud she felt to be able to carry on her family’s legacy to the WWE website.
“To know that my family has such a personal connection to wrestling is really special to me and I feel grateful to have the opportunity, not only to wrestle, but to carry on that legacy.”
15. He was close friends with Muhammad Ali.
“I was in the air last night flying from Atlanta to London when I got the text from a close friend that [within] a few hours we were going to lose Muhammad,” he wrote on Instagram after Ali passed.
“Ali inspired myself and generations around the world to be hungry to achieve, work as hard as you possibly can, to be [as] great as you possibly can be and make sure that not a day goes by where you don’t do your absolute best to make the world smile and feel good. Feel inspired. And feel that no matter how hard times may be, there’s always hope for tomorrow.”
“From hanging out with you in New Zealand as this little punk kid, to years later as a WWE rookie when you whispered to me “Can you rumble?” to a few years later when you bestowed upon me “The People’s Champ” moniker. I will always be grateful for the impact you’ve had on me. Thank you and I’ll miss you.”
16. He looks for roles that offer him what he can do. Meaning, he will always play the heartwarming muscled tough guy.
“No one’s going to see me play a borderline psychopath suffering from depression,” he told Rolling Stone .
“I have friends I admire, Oscar winners, who approach our craft with the idea of ‘Sometimes it comes out a little darker, and nobody will see it, but it’s for me.'”
“Great. But I have other things I can do for me. I’m gonna take care of you, the audience. You pay your hard-earned money – I don’t need to bring my dark [expletive] to you.”
“Maybe a little – but if it’s in there, we’re gonna overcome it, and we’re gonna overcome it together.”
17. He is so adamant about his movies not being sad, that he changed the ending to *Rampage*.
“Life brings that shit – I don’t want it in my movies. When the credits roll, I want to feel great,” he told Rolling Stone .
He was so persistent, that the director and writers did end up changing the end of the movie.
18. He described his dream day in Miami to *Condé Nast Traveler* magazine as:
“Take a run on the beach in the morning before it gets too hot, go and order half the menu at The Big Cheese, which brings back so many college memories for me, shoot an episode of Ballers, because – believe it or not – I love working in this city, and then end the day with drinks at The W South Beach, watching the sunset.”
19. He believes in trusting his instincts.
We are all victims of self-doubt, but apparently, not Dwayne Johnson!
“I’ve never gone wrong trusting my gut. It was really the only thing that I had going into acting,” he told Esquire .
20. At one point, he literally had seven dollars to his name.
“In 1995, I called my old man when I landed in Miami [after getting cut from the Canadian Football League’s Calgary Stampeders] and I said, ‘Dad, you gotta come get me.’ I didn’t have a car at that time. He drove in his little truck from Tampa to Miami, picked me up, and we were on our way up I-75, the famous Alligator Alley, and I thought, [expletive], how much money do I even have?” he told Esquire .
“Pulled out my wallet, and yeah, I had a five, a one, and some change. I remember thinking, [expletive], all I have is seven bucks. At that time I wanted so much more. Warren Sapp had just signed for millions of dollars in the draft.”
“He was the one that actually beat me out of my position [at Miami] two and a half years earlier. Not to begrudge him at all; we’re still good buddies today and I’m very happy for him. But it was like the success I wanted so badly and worked so hard for for years was happening all around me to everyone else but me. And I’ll never forget that. The term “seven bucks” has a lot of meaning.”
21. He has been arrested before.
When he moved to Hawaii with his parents, they went through some rough patches.
Because of their lack of money, Johnson started to steal things and ended up being arrested.
22. He’s gone to therapy.
“I’ve had a few bouts of depression, as happens to a lot of us,” he told Rolling Stone . “Around 2008, 2009, I was going through a lot of personal [stuff] that was really [expletive] me up. I was just struggling, man.”
“Struggling to figure out what kind of dad am I gonna be. Realizing I’d done a piss-poor job of cultivating relationships, and a lot of my friends had fallen by the wayside. I was just scared.”
“Personally, everything was in a very bad and challenging place. And then professionally, I couldn’t bet on myself. I wasn’t used to that. I’d always felt like I could put in the work and fix the scenario with my own two hands.”
Do you know any other interesting facts about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson?
Or were you pleasantly surprised by all the facts that we presented you with?
Either way, let us know down below in the comments! We would love to hear from you!
