Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

About

Dwayne Johnson, also known by his wrestling stage name The Rock, is an American and Canadian actor and professional wrestler.

Career

Wrestling

After graduation from the University of Miami in 1995 with a crimnology and physiology Bachelor of General Studies degree, Johnson pursued a career in professional wrestling. In 1996, Johnson participated in several tryout matches for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), leading him to sign a contract with the organization later that year. Johnson began his career with the WWF under the ring name Rocky Maivia. In 1997, Johnson abandoned the name Rocky Maivia and began referring to himself in the third person as “The Rock.” In 1998, Johnson defeated the wrestler Mankind for the vacant WWF Champion title, winning the title three times before losing to Steve Austin at WrestleMania XV in March 1999. On April 30th, 2000, The Rock regained the title after defeating Triple H at Backlash.

Acting

In 2001, Johnson appeared briefly in the action film The Mummy Returns and again the 2002 sequel The Scorpion King. In 2003, Johnson starred as the protagonist Beck in the action comedy film The Run Down (shown below, left). In 2004, Johnson starred in the action film Walking Tall (shown below, right).

From 2005 to 2010, Johnson appeared in the films Be Cool (2005), Doom (2005), Gridiron Gang (2006), Reno 911!: Miami (2007), Southland Tales (2007), The Game Plan (2007), Get Smart (2008), Race to Witch Mountain (2008), Planet 51 (2009), Tooth Fairy (2010), Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010), The Other Guys (2010), You Again (2010) and Faster (2010). In 2011, Johnson appeared in the action racing film Fast Five (shown below, left). From 2012 to 2014, Johnson appeared in the films Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), Snitch (2013), G.I. Joe Retaliation (2013), Pain & Gain, Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Empire State (2013) and Hercules. In 2015, Johnson appeared in the seventh installment in The Fast and the Furious franchise Furious 7 (shown below, right).

Online Presence

On July 31st, 2013, Redditor pedrolakes submitted an image macro titled “Evolution of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson” to /r/funny,^[1] featuring two pictures of Johnson followed by a photograph of a large boulder (shown below, left)). Prior to being archived, the post gathered more than 2,500 votes and 250 comments. On April 5th, 2014, Redditor GabeNewellHalfLife posted an updated version of the image macro to /r/funny,^[2] where it accumulated upwards of 2,000 votes (89% upvoted) and 50 comments before being archived (shown below, right).

On July 23rd, Johnson participated in an “ask me anything” thread on the /r/IAmA^[3] subreddit, garnering more than 4,100 votes and 6,100 comments prior to being archived. On April 3rd, 2015, the Lip Sync Battle on Spike YouTube channel uploaded footage of Johnson lip syncing the song “Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift on the Lip Sync Battle television show (shown below). In the first two months, the video gained over 12 million views and 2,400 comments.

2017 Saturday Night Live appearance

On May 20th, 2017, Johnson hosted Saturday Night Live. It marked his fifth time hosting the show, meaning he joined the prestigious Five-Timers Club of celebrities who have hosted the program five times or more. On the show, Johnson recreated his infamous fanny pack photo^[10] (shown below).

During his opening monologue, Johnson announced his candidacy for president in 2020, and that his running mate would be Tom Hanks (shown below). While he may have been joking, the announcement came after speculation that Johnson would in fact be running for president in 2020 after an article in GQ^[11] where he stated that running for president was “a real possibility.” In the article, Johnson criticizes Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration as well as Trump’s leadership as a whole.

Social Media Presence

As of May 2015, Johnson has upwards of 49 million Facebook^[7] likes, 15 million Instagram^[8] followers and 8.7 million Twitter^[9] followers.

Related Memes

The Rock Driving

The Rock Driving is a multi-pane exploitable comic series based on several screen captured images from the 2009 family adventure film Race To The Witch Mountain. The comics usually begin with the film’s protagonist Jack asking Sara a question while driving, to which she responds with a shocking revelation that makes Johnson turn his head with a startled facial expression.

Fanny Pack Photo

On July 16th, 2014, Johnson posted a 1990s photograph of himself wearing a turtleneck, chain necklace and leather fanny pack on Instagram^[4] (shown below). Over the next year, the post gained over 372,000 likes.

On July 23rd, Johnson discussed with the photograph with host Jimmy Fallon during an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (shown below). In one year, a YouTube upload of the interview received upwards of 2.6 million views and 700 comments.

That day, Redditor BeardedDragon64 posted an animated GIF of the photo in which Johnson’s head moves from side-to-side to /r/reactiongifs^[5] (shown below, left). On November 1st, the sports blog Bleacher Report^[6] highlighted several photographs of people dressed as Johnson in the fanny pack photo (shown below, middle, right).

Personal Life

Johnson was born on May 2nd, 1972, in Hayward, California. On May 3rd, 1997, he married Dany Garcia, with whom he has one daughter Simone Alexandra. In June 2007, the couple announced they were getting an amicable divorce.