Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a household name in both WWE and the Hollywood Industry. He is a proud father to his three daughters, Simone, Jasmine and Tiana. Johnson has always been transparent about his loving relationship with his parents, and how both of them helped him become the man that he is today.
Dwayne Johnson has often talked in high praise about his parents, the late wrestler Rocky Johnson and Ata Johnson. While his mom was loving and caring, his dad offered him tough love. He later went on to appreciate their dynamic. Rocky and Ata’s relationship began in secret and the couple welcomed their first and only child, Dwayne in 1972. It should be noted that Rocky was still married to his first wife, Una Sparks at the time. They officially got divorced in 1978, the same year when Rocky married Ata. However, the couple separated in 2003.
Who is Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s father Rocky Johnson?
Dwayne Johnson’s father Rocky Johnson was a famed wrestler of his time. Rocky was trained by Peter Maivia, a prominent wrestler of the Anoa’i family, who trained up-and-coming wrestlers of the generation. Rocky soon began dating Peter’s stepdaughter, Ata Maivia, despite her parents’ disapproval. According to Dwayne Johnson, his grandparents, Peter and Lia Maivia ‘hated’ Rocky and Ata’s relationship and forbade Ata from ever seeing Rocky again.
Although the couple was heartbroken, they found a way to stay together, i.e. Ata got pregnant with Dwayne thus making him the ‘glue’ of their family.
11 year-old Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson sitting in the crowd watching his father about to wrestle, 1984 pic.twitter.com/QhrjI3bBty
— Fascinating (@fasc1nate) August 14, 2023
Due to both Rocky and Ata’s wrestling backgrounds, Dwayne’s future as a professional wrestler was more than guaranteed. Rocky began wrestling at the age of 16 and quickly rose to prominence. He paired up with fellow wrestler Tony Atlas to become the first black wrestler to win the WWE Tag Team Championships. In 2008, he was inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame by his son, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He later passed away in January 2020 due to pulmonary embolism.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson recalls complicated relationship with his father
The Rock has often opened up about his ‘complicated’ relationship with his father, Rocky Johnson. According to the Black Adam actor, he had to relive some incredibly tough memories about his dad for his comedy series, Young Rock.
If you want to know @therock’s true motivation…
“I can not be F*cking broke”
Dwayne Johnson witnessed the end game for his father first hand, & for him it came down to refusing to go back to the days of “7 bucks”
in his pocket.@thepivot & Player 54!https://t.co/5z6rM6xpYe pic.twitter.com/OmyB4e318v— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) May 9, 2023
After buying his dad a new car in 2018, The Rock talked about how a lot of people like him often have ‘daddy issues’ in life. Apparently, Rocky had begun to train Dwayne at a young age, which was undoubtedly difficult for him. He talked about how his training would often be very intense and his father would strictly discipline him every time. However looking back, The Brahma Bull is grateful to his dad for being tough on him as it helped him become the man he is today. He further said how ‘tough love is better than no love’.
“Growing up, and you know we specifically went with these timelines in my life that were very defining times at 10 years old, 15 and 18 … there’s a lot of things in between those years that took place … but it was complicated and the relationship that I had with my dad was incredibly complicated — that was fueled by tough love”, said The Rock.
The Rock remains to be one of the most talked about celebrities to this day. His fans in WWE are waiting impatiently for his eventual return to the ring somewhere down the line. Stay tuned for further updates on The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
