The Hard Rock Life: 10 True Facts About The Early Years Of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson
The Hard Rock Life: 10 True Facts About The Early Years Of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson isn’t just one of the most successful pro wrestlers of all-time, he’s become one of the top entertainers in the world, period. At this point, a new Dwayne Johnson movie is pretty much a guaranteed No. 1 at the box office, and the guy continues to pad his wrestling legacy every time he steps in the ring. The man’s life wasn’t always so electrifying, though.
Before he became The Great One, Dwayne Johnson dealt with his share of uncertainty and hard times. While The Rock isn’t ashamed of his past, his sometimes difficult early life isn’t often acknowledged. I mean, who has time to dwell when you’re teaming up with Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania and blowing up helicopters with Vin Diesel? We here at With Spandex never forget, so here are a few facts about The Rock before he became The Rock…
1. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is related to a ridiculous number of other wrestlers. Dwayne Douglas Johnson (yeah, turns out his middle name isn’t actually “The Rock”) was born in 1972 to popular Memphis and Georgia-area wrestler Rocky Johnson and Ata Maivia, daughter of the legendary “High Chief” Peter Maivia. This made him a part of the legendary Anoa’i Somoan wrestling family.
Sika and Afa, the original Wild Samoans, were Johnson’s uncles, Yokozuna, Black Pearl, Rosey, Roman Reigns, Tonga Kid, Umaga and Rikishi are/were his cousins and The Usos and Manu are his cousins once removed. I’m sure I’m missing some in there. I didn’t even mention any of the in-laws like Naomi. Also, Jimmy Snuka and his kids are considered close enough that they’re practically family. Rock’s ascendance to the top wasn’t without some trials and tribulations, but he certainly had a lot of people in his corner.
2. Johnson’s family were evicted from their home when he was a kid. The Rock’s dad may have been a fairly well-known wrestler, but back in the ’80s, a lot of mid-card talent didn’t make much more than your average blue collar worker. Add the cost of travel, maintaining a chiseled physique and the temptations of the road, and a lot of wrestlers were barely breaking even. This was unfortunately the case for Rocky Johnson.
When Dwayne Johnson was 14, he and his mother returned to their home in Honolulu to find an eviction notice pinned to their door. Only a week before, Rock’s mom had her car repossessed.
“We were living in an efficiency that cost $120 a week. We come home, and there’s a padlock on the door and an eviction notice. My mom starts bawling. She just started crying and breaking down. ‘Where are we going to live? What are we going to do?’”
Things would work themselves out for the family, but The Rock wasn’t exactly left with a glamorous impression of the wrestling business. Unsurprisingly, young Dwayne had no plans to follow in his father’s footsteps.
3. The back seat of a police car was a familiar place for teenage Rock. The Rock’s teenage years in Hawaii were a trying time for several reasons. Not only was money tight, but Dwayne had fallen in with a rough crowd. According to The Rock, he was part of a loosely knit gang that stole from tourists and high-end shoppers.
“In Waikiki there’s a couple high-end blocks where there’s your Prada, Chanel, Gucci, Armani, jewellery stores, plenty of jewellery stores. There are a lot of tourists that come into Waikiki and there’s a lot of money. A lot of foreign money that comes in, and we were part of a theft ring that would target those groups. We would target the money, we would target the high-end clothes and we would target the jewellery, turn around and sell it, best we could.”
Doesn’t sound like a bad scheme, honestly. Unfortunately, young Rock was apparently a lousy criminal, as he claims he was arrested eight or nine times by the time he was 17. Yeah, probably for the best that he left the underworld behind.
Before he became The Great One, Dwayne Johnson dealt with his share of uncertainty and hard times. While The Rock isn’t ashamed of his past, his sometimes difficult early life isn’t often acknowledged. I mean, who has time to dwell when you’re teaming up with Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania and blowing up helicopters with Vin Diesel? We here at With Spandex never forget, so here are a few facts about The Rock before he became The Rock…
1. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is related to a ridiculous number of other wrestlers. Dwayne Douglas Johnson (yeah, turns out his middle name isn’t actually “The Rock”) was born in 1972 to popular Memphis and Georgia-area wrestler Rocky Johnson and Ata Maivia, daughter of the legendary “High Chief” Peter Maivia. This made him a part of the legendary Anoa’i Somoan wrestling family.
Sika and Afa, the original Wild Samoans, were Johnson’s uncles, Yokozuna, Black Pearl, Rosey, Roman Reigns, Tonga Kid, Umaga and Rikishi are/were his cousins and The Usos and Manu are his cousins once removed. I’m sure I’m missing some in there. I didn’t even mention any of the in-laws like Naomi. Also, Jimmy Snuka and his kids are considered close enough that they’re practically family. Rock’s ascendance to the top wasn’t without some trials and tribulations, but he certainly had a lot of people in his corner.
2. Johnson’s family were evicted from their home when he was a kid. The Rock’s dad may have been a fairly well-known wrestler, but back in the ’80s, a lot of mid-card talent didn’t make much more than your average blue collar worker. Add the cost of travel, maintaining a chiseled physique and the temptations of the road, and a lot of wrestlers were barely breaking even. This was unfortunately the case for Rocky Johnson.
When Dwayne Johnson was 14, he and his mother returned to their home in Honolulu to find an eviction notice pinned to their door. Only a week before, Rock’s mom had her car repossessed.
“We were living in an efficiency that cost $120 a week. We come home, and there’s a padlock on the door and an eviction notice. My mom starts bawling. She just started crying and breaking down. ‘Where are we going to live? What are we going to do?’”
Things would work themselves out for the family, but The Rock wasn’t exactly left with a glamorous impression of the wrestling business. Unsurprisingly, young Dwayne had no plans to follow in his father’s footsteps.
3. The back seat of a police car was a familiar place for teenage Rock. The Rock’s teenage years in Hawaii were a trying time for several reasons. Not only was money tight, but Dwayne had fallen in with a rough crowd. According to The Rock, he was part of a loosely knit gang that stole from tourists and high-end shoppers.
“In Waikiki there’s a couple high-end blocks where there’s your Prada, Chanel, Gucci, Armani, jewellery stores, plenty of jewellery stores. There are a lot of tourists that come into Waikiki and there’s a lot of money. A lot of foreign money that comes in, and we were part of a theft ring that would target those groups. We would target the money, we would target the high-end clothes and we would target the jewellery, turn around and sell it, best we could.”
Doesn’t sound like a bad scheme, honestly. Unfortunately, young Rock was apparently a lousy criminal, as he claims he was arrested eight or nine times by the time he was 17. Yeah, probably for the best that he left the underworld behind.