Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Johnson^[1] (born May 2, 1972)^[2] also known by his former ring name The Rock, and occasionally credited as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, is an American actor and retired professional wrestler.^[3] Johnson was a collegiate football player, and in 1991, he was part of the University of Miami's national championship team. He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, but was cut two months into the season.^[4] This led to his decision to become a professional wrestler, like his grandfather, Peter Maivia and his father Rocky Johnson.

He gained mainstream fame as a wrestler in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), originally known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1996 to 2004, and was the first third-generation superstar in wrestling history. Johnson was quickly given a push in WWE, first as "Rocky Maivia", and then as "The Rock", a member of the Nation of Domination. Two years after he joined the WWE, Johnson won the WWF Championship, and became one of the most popular wrestlers within the company for his engaging interviews and promos. Since 2001, he has focused on an acting career, though he still makes occasional WWE appearances.

In professional wrestling, Johnson was a nine time world champion, having won the WWF/E Championship seven times (with his last reign being the WWE Undisputed Champion) and the WCW Championship two times. In addition to these championships, Johnson has also won the WWF Intercontinental Championship two times and the WWF Tag Team Championship five times. He is also the sixth WWF/E Triple Crown champion and was the winner of the 2000 Royal Rumble.

Johnson is also an actor, with his first leading role in 2001, in The Scorpion King. For this film, he received the highest salary for an actor in his first starring role, earning $5.5 million. He has since appeared in movies such as The Rundown, Be Cool, Walking Tall, Gridiron Gang, The Game Plan, Get Smart, Race to Witch Mountain, and Planet 51.