Action star Dwayne Johnson is well known for big-budget commercial blockbusters like Jungle Cruise and Fast and the Furious. He also became a DC superhero in Black Adam. It is common knowledge that before venturing into the movies, the celebrity was a hugely popular wrestling star in the WWE. During his peak years in the federation, Dwayne Johnson earned the now-famous moniker, The Rock. But fans of the actor will be interested to know that he was also known by a different wrestling name before being christened The Rock. By the celebrity’s admission, it wasn’t a preferred one by him.
Who was Dwayne Johnson before The Rock?
During a recent interview along with co-star Emily Blunt for Wired, Dwayne Johnson spoke about his history in the WWE and also shared some interesting titbits about his name. While the world knows him by his famous wrestling name The Rock, the Black Adam actor confessed that it was not the original moniker that he was given. Many years before the birth of The Rock, he was called Rocky Maivia, which was a combination of his father’s first name and his grandfather’s last name, both of whom were professional wrestlers.
WWE CEO Vince McMahon wanted to play into the fact that he was a third-generation talent, but Dwayne Johnson wasn’t a big fan of the idea. The former wrestler explained his reasons and said,
“I hated it because — the lineage I had gave me the opportunity to at least knock on the door. I wanted my own identity, I wanted my own space. So while I was very proud to come from who I came from, with my dad and my grandfather — and my whole family is in wrestling — I still wanted my own space”
Here’s how Dwayne Johnson became The Rock
Despite Dwayne Johnson detesting the name Rocky Maivia, he decided to stick with it for emotional reasons. But as it turned out, the Jungle Cruise star and his name were not well received among the wrestling fraternity and fans, leading him to be one of the most hated wrestlers in the country. Realizing that the impact and connotation of the name were doing him a disservice, WWE CEO Vince McMahon allowed Dwayne Johnson to choose a different title. It was at this time that the celebrity’s mentor Pat Patterson who was also a father figure to him came up with a brilliant plan to truncate the actor’s name.
‘Why don’t we call you The Rock?’ I said, ‘I love it!’ He goes, ‘Ok. You’re The Rock.’
After the shortening of Rocky Maivia to The Rock, Dwayne Johnson’s career skyrocketed, allowing him to step into the world of cinema as well. Now there was no looking back for the wrestling star, who was also the highest-paid actor in 2022 according to the Forbes list.
Also Read: “I bust in the bedroom completely”: Black Adam Star Dwayne Johnson Revealed Secret To His Titan Physique is S*x, Not Steroids
Source: Cheatsheet
