Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor, producer, businessman, and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the development and success of the WWE during the Attitude Era, an industry boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Johnson wrestled for WWF/E for eight years prior to pursuing an acting career and during his wrestling career. His films have grossed over $3.5 billion in North America and over $10.5 billion worldwide, making him one of the world's highest-grossing and highest-paid actors.Prior to his emergence as a top-grossing actor beginning in the 2010s, Johnson was an athlete. At Freedom High School in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley, he ultimately emerged as a standout on the school's football and wrestling teams, which competed in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, a conference known for producing top professional and Olympic athletes. He credits his high school football coach with helping inspire transformational changes in his life, which before entering sports in 11th grade had been characterized by fights and petty crimes as a high-school teenager. His football capabilities at Freedom High School led him to be ranked as one of the top ten defensive tackle high-school prospects in the nation, drawing the attention of several NCAA Division I college football programs.Johnson accepted an athletic scholarship to play at the University of Miami, one of the country's top college football programs. As a college freshman, he was a member of the University of Miami's 1991 national championship team but largely spent his four college football years at the University of Miami in backup roles behind elite players, including future NFL star and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Warren Sapp. Johnson aspired to play professional football but went undrafted in the 1995 NFL Draft. Following his graduation from the University of Miami that year, he signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League but was cut from the team in his first season.In 1996, Johnson's father Rocky and maternal grandfather Peter Maivia, both of whom were professional wrestlers, assisted in helping him secure a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Johnson quickly rose to global prominence, aided by a gimmick he employed as a charismatic trash-talker. The role ushered in the Attitude Era in professional wrestling, which contributed to the industry's boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Johnson left WWE in 2004 and returned in 2011 as a part-time performer until 2013, making sporadic appearances until retiring in 2019. A 10-time world champion, including the promotion's first of African-American descent, he is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time Tag Team Champion, the 2000 Royal Rumble winner, and WWE's sixth Triple Crown champion. Johnson headlined the most-bought professional wrestling pay-per-view (WrestleMania XXVIII) and was featured among the most watched episodes of WWE's flagship television series (Raw and SmackDown).Johnson's first film appearance was in The Mummy Returns (2001). The following year he played his first leading role as titular character in the sword and sorcery film The Scorpion King (2002). He has since starred in family films The Game Plan (2007), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Tooth Fairy (2010), and Jungle Cruise (2021), as well as the action adventure films Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), Hercules (2014), Skyscraper (2018), San Andreas (2015) and Rampage (2018). He also starred in the action comedy films Get Smart (2008), Central Intelligence (2016), Baywatch (2017), and Red Notice (2021). In 2016 he voiced Maui in the Disney animated film Moana (2016). His role as Luke Hobbs in the Fast & Furious films, beginning with Fast Five (2011), helped the franchise become one of the highest-grossing in film. He subsequently starred in the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw (2019). Johnson also stars in the Jumanji films, appearing in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), and voices Bark Kent / Krypto / Superdog, Anubis, and Teth-Adam / Black Adam in the animated film DC League of Super-Pets (2022), before starring as the latter in the live-action superhero film Black Adam (2022).Johnson produced and starred in the HBO comedy-drama series Ballers (2015–2019) and stars and produces the autobiographical sitcom Young Rock (2021). In 2000, Johnson released his autobiography The Rock Says, which was a New York Times bestseller. In 2012, he co-founded the entertainment production company Seven Bucks Productions and is co-owner of the XFL, a professional American football league. In 2016 and 2019, Johnson was named by Time one of the world's most influential people.