Dwayne Johnson Story of Success

Do you need some inspiration to stop lamenting over life and set up unimaginable goals like a superhero? Who can be a better inspiration than the king of the ring Dwayne Johnson. Today Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has reached those heights of success where dreams look small and goals seem to be summed up. His success story is an inspiration to many. From being a man stuck in adversities to being an inspiration for every aspiring wrestler his story will take you on a roller coaster ride of emotions! His journey to become a wrestler and drawing power personality did not only catch the attention of the wrestling industry but also of many Hollywood Producers. This was a breakthrough point for his career. But was it so simple? Was it as easy as it sounds and seems to be? Dwayne Johnson has more to himself than we can see. His ring name ‘The Rock’ justifies his life story. The hardships, the struggles, the failures, and the successes, led to being the unstoppable Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson that he is today.

A protagonist born out of adversities

Dwayne Douglas Johnson was born on May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California. Dwayne Johnson was born to a professional wrestling family where his father was a Canadian, and his mother a Samoan. For schooling, he went to Richmond Road Primary School in New Zealand and did his 10th grade from President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was a grandson to professional wrestler Peter ‘High Chief’ Fanene Maivia and he grew up watching his father playing in the ring as well. However, he was more inclined towards playing football in his teenage days.

But in his early childhood, most of his memories were from that of wrestling. He used to attend as many wrestling shows as possible with his mother, to watch his father pulling off some great moves. He used to love to wrestle and practice a few moves too. He admired his father’s skills and techniques and as a child, he would imitate all his father’s moves. When no one used to be around to see him, he would practice some dropkicks in his room. He was very mischievous as a child and was always involved in his family’s wrestling business.

The making of the real man

When Dwayne Johnson entered 11th grade, he had to change his school because of his father’s job’s relocation. His family moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. There, he got admitted into Freedom High School where he caught a knack for playing football and later got an opportunity to play at the East Penn Conference. During those days, he was also a member of the school’s track and field, and wrestling teams.

Dwayne’s life changed when he was just 14 years old. His childhood got crushed and he was left with broken dreams. When he was just 14, his family was evicted from their small apartment in Hawaii. And because of this, he started training hard. He started working out at the tender age of 14. He did not do it for fame or popularity. At that point, he had this desperate urge to fight his hopelessness. To give his emotions an outlet, hitting the gym felt like a hope. On his Facebook page, he stated these words-

“Started training hard at the age of 14. Not for fame or a competition, but because we were evicted from our small apartment in Hawaii”. I really hated that feeling of helplessness and never wanted that to happen again. So, I did the only thing that I could control with my own to hands in hopes that one day my family would never worry about being evicted again- I trained”

A rigorous training brought out his strength & abilities

A secret love for football.

His rigorous training turned out to be useful for his own shift in life. It helped him during his struggle period. At the age of 16, Johnson was already at his peak height of 6’5” and he weighed more than 200 pounds. With such personality, charisma and physique he was recognized by everyone on and off the field. Because of this, he found himself a coach who was like a fatherly figure to him. Till date, Johnson is grateful to his then coach. His coach’s name was Jodi Swick. Jodi Swick saw a massive potential in Dwayne at that time and he also noticed the attitude he carried with himself. Because of this, he gave him a chance into the football team.

Johnson played football with utter dedication and was a promising football player. He started receiving offers from many Division 1 collegiate programs. Realizing his own potential, he decided to go for a full scholarship program from the University of Miami, where he played the defensive tackle very well. In the year of 1991, he was a member of the Miami Hurricane’s national championship team. As he was chasing his dreams, his wings of vision were cut off when he met with a shoulder injury. He was then replaced by another team member. Not being able to play anymore led him to severe depression. He stated in The Hollywood Reporter that “I didn’t know what it was; I didn’t know why I didn’t want to do anything. I had never experienced anything like that.”

In 1995, Dwayne graduated from Miami with a Bachelor of General Studies in criminology and physiology. He tried his luck once more by joining the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League, but then he was cut two months into the season. This was the probable end of his football career. Later on, he shared about his mental journey with Oprah explaining that-

“I found that, with depression, one of the most important things you could realize is that you’re not alone. You’re not the first to go through it; you’re not going to be the last to go through it. I wish I had someone at that time who could just pull me aside and (say) ‘Hey, it’s gonna be OK. It’ll be OK.’ ”

The title of “The Rock”

It was in the year 1996 that he finally went onto becoming ‘The Rock’! He just had $7 to his name, but still decided to take a turn in his career. It is then when he decided to join his family business by entering the wrestling ring. When he discussed his intentions with his father, his father hesitated initially, but then he agreed. He made his WWF debut as Rocky Maivia and won the WWF International Championship from Hunter Hearst Helmsley on Monday Night Raw the next year. ‘Rocky Maivia’ was the first name from his father, and the last name from his grandfather. But soon he established himself as a successful professional wrestler, owning several titles under his belt and he changed his ring name into ‘The Rock’.

Breakthrough into Hollywood

Dwayne Johnson’s wrestling physique and rugged good looks caught the attention of his every female fan. And because of this, soon he started receiving offers to appear on the big screen. During his acting career, he was one of the highest paid and the most successful Hollywood actor.

He began his acting career alongside wrestling, on television. In 1999 he played his own father in an episode of That 70s Show called ‘That Wrestling Show’. His acting career began with his famous roles in the 2001 action film ‘The Mummy Returns’ and ‘The Scorpion King’. He then appeared in many other films, including the 5th and 6th part of ‘The Fast and The Furious’. In 2014 he starred in the movie ‘Hercules’.

Even though he started getting so much involved with movies, he did not leave wrestling. From time to time he kept going back into wrestling. This included a 2014 appearance in ‘Hulk Hogan’ and ‘Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 30’. In 2015 he went onto dominate Hollywood with two big action films, ‘Furious 7’ and ‘San Andreas’. He also debuted in his dramatic comedy series in the year of 2015, called ‘Ballers’ as Spencer Strasmore, a retired pro football turned financial player.

In 2016 after starring in the action comedy ‘Central Intelligence’, Johnson voiced for Demigod Maui for the Disney hit animated film ‘Moana’. In 2017 he did many hits like ‘The Fate of the Furious’, the 1990s adapted lifeguard series ‘Baywatch’ and ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’.

In 2018, he debuted in a trailer for the movie ‘Skyscraper’, in which he is portraying deathly stunts with a prosthetic leg. He will also be hosting a 10 episode unscripted competition show ‘The Titan Games’.

Next was the action movie ‘Rampage’ based on the 1980s arcade game in which giants animals destroy a city.

In the year 2012, he was honoured with the Action Star of The Year award by The CinemaCon Awards.

Dwayne Johnson’s Family and life currently

Dwayne Johnson got married to his school sweetheart, Dany Garcia on May 3, 1997. They got blessed with a daughter on August 14, 2001 name Simone Alexandra. They separated mutually in 2007, though she continues to be his manager. Dany is a woman who sticks to a strict schedule and a woman who is continuously in a hustle to build her brand. Apart from being Dwayne’s manager, she is a bodybuilder who is a fitness freak. A management company is led by her named ‘The Garcia Companies’ which looks after the running of Seven Bucks Productions, the Team Rock Enterprises. After Dany, Johnson went into a long-term relationship with musician Lauren Hashian. With her, he became a father to Jasmine Lia in December 2015. In 2018 the couple welcomed another daughter named Tina Gia.

Dwayne Johnson’s life is not less than a movie power packed with romance, emotions, fight and lots of inspiration. Turn the pages of his life and reward yourself with an inspiration to lead life like a hero.

Works Cited

1. Johnson, D., & Tresniowski, A. (2012). The Rock Says...: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports-Entertainment. HarperCollins.
2. Johnson, D. (2017). The Rock: Through the Lens: His Life, His Movies, His World. St. Martin's Press.
3. Johnson, D. (2020). The Rock: WWE Superstar and Hollywood Icon. DK Children.
4. Shapiro, M. (2017). Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson: The Life, Lessons & Rules for Success. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
5. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. (2022). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dwayne-The-Rock-Johnson
6. Dwayne Johnson Biography. (n.d.). In IMDb. Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0425005/bio
7. Dwayne Johnson. (n.d.). In Biography.com. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/actor/dwayne-johnson
8. Dwayne Johnson. (n.d.). In WWE. Retrieved from https://www.wwe.com/superstars/dwaynejohnson
9. The Rock: Every Movie Ranked, From Worst to Best. (2022). In Screen Rant. Retrieved from https://screenrant.com/the-rock-every-movie-ranked-worst-to-best/
10. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson: From Pro Wrestling Icon to Global Movie Star. (2022). In NBC News. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/celebrity/dwayne-rock-johnson-pro-wrestling-icon-global-movie-star-rcna18263