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| Do You have a Reservation? |
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| Autobiography |
The Rock's Personel |
ROCKS EARLY YEARS!!
As a young boy, Dwayne Johnson, today known to millions…and millions worldwide as The Rock, would often sit on his grandmother's lap and watch his grandfather go to work in the World Wide Wrestling Federation. "High Chief" Peter Maivia was a legend at the time, and his intensity and aggressiveness intrigued his grandson. About ten years later, Dwayne was watching his own father, Rocky Johnson, pass through those same ring ropes. He celebrated when dad and Tony Atlas won the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Titles in 1983 as the fans chanted "Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!" While most kids his age were collecting comic books and watching cartoons, Dwayne Johnson was at ringside chanting his father's name along with thousands of his father's adoring fans. The thrill of being at ringside was something Dwayne would never forget.
Even in his childhood days, Dwayne Johnson was quite an accomplished athlete. A football All-American in high school, he was named one of the top fifty gridiron warriors in the entire country. Dwayne also discovered another talent of sorts at the time. When Johnson would walk down the hall and around the corner, his friends would often be waiting for him. Naturally, they would say hello to their friend, but the future champ wouldn't return their greeting. Instead, he ignored them and only acknowledged their presence by raising his right eyebrow and walking past. What started as a joke is now today the most recognized eyebrow in the world!
In the late 1980's, Rocky Johnson bowed out of the ring. At the time, Dwayne was attending the University of Miami in Florida. He was a star defensive lineman for the Hurricanes, contributing greatly to the team's National Championships in 1989 and 1991. Dwayne graduated with a degree in Criminology. Dwayne had aspirations of working for the Secret Service out of college, but the sports-entertainment industry took hold of him. Johnson weighed all his options, eventually deciding that the Secret Service's risks were not quite worth its rewards. It was the world of sports-entertainment, and more specifically the World Wrestling Federation, that was calling The Rock to its ranks.
The Rock finds success, but mixed Emotions
Dwayne took the ring name of Rocky Maivia, a tribute to both his father and to his grandfather, and made his World Wrestling Federation debut in November 1996. Rocky's first appearance was especially notable, since it was at the Survivor Series, an almost unheard of place for a rookie to try and make his mark. Amazingly, Rocky not only survived, he actually managed to win his match at the Pay-Per-View, immediately capturing the attention of the awestruck crowd.
Rocky's impressive debut initially wowed the Federation's fans. The third generation superstar continued to rack up wins, eventually earning him a shot at the Intercontinental Championship against Hunter Hearst Helmsley a opportunity that Rocky made the most of, winning the prestigious title!
Things looked perfect for the young superstar, but all was not well. The fans, while initially enamored with Rocky's good looks and natural charisma, soon tired of being reminded of just how wonderful Maivia was. In the early stages of "WWF Attitude," old-school babyfaces were out, and Rocky's upbeat outlook was passe.
Rocky's attitude changed for the worse after a fateful night in New York. During one of his matches, Maivia noticed a sign in the audience that read simply "Die, Rocky, Die." This sign so enraged Maivia, that he decided that he no longer needed to cater to the fans. Instead, he adopted a more aggressive outlook, one that eventually led him to fall in with the wrong crowd
namely, The Nation of Domination.
ROCKY JOINS THE NATION, AND "THE ROCK" IS BORN
In September 1997, Rocky Maivia shockingly joined the controversial Nation of Domination. Although his decision was not popular with the fans, in retrospect it was quite possibly his best career move.
Led by Faarooq, the Nation of Domination presented Maivia, still a rookie at the time, an excellent opportunity to improve his skills without having to be "The Man" -- at least not in the beginning.
So for the first few months of his tenure with the N.O.D., Maivia was a loyal rank and file. At Badd Blood in October, he teamed with D'Lo Brown and Kama Mustafa (now known as the Godfather) for a match against the Legion of Doom and Ken Shamrock. At the Survivor Series, he was part of the N.O.D. squad which faced the L.O.D., Ahmed Johnson and Shamrock.
It was during this time that the third-generation superstar started began to favor "The Rock" to "Rocky Maivia."
If there is any day which, looking back, could be singled out as the one in which The Rock really came into his own, it would have to be Nov. 17, 1997. It was eight days after the Survivor Series on RAW IS WAR. As Stone Cold Steve Austin fought off the rest of the N.O.D., The Rock stole the Rattlesnake's Intercontinental Title. A rivalry between Austin and Rocky was born, and since that day The Rock's stock has consistently risen.
The Rock would go on to be pinned by Austin at In Your House: D-Generation X on Dec. 7, 1997. Looking back, the third-generation superstar didn't have much of a chance. Austin was three months away from winning his first World Wrestling Federation Championship and becoming the most popular superstar the world of sports-entertainment would ever see. It was Austin's time.
ROCKY JOINS THE NATION, AND "THE ROCK" IS BORN part:2
In fact, the day after the Pay-Per-View, Austin declared that he had "bigger fish to fry" and he handed the Intercontinental Title over to The Rock. One week later on RAW, Austin would take Rocky's pager and the "piece of tin" that was the Intercontinental Championship and throw both into a New Hampshire river.
The Rock was humiliated, but he had also proved during his brief run with Austin that he was ready for the next level.
With the Intercontinental Title back around his waist (a new one of course), The Rock took on a more cocky attitude, and began to assert himself more within the Nation.
Toward the end of December, it was clear that there was some dissention in the ranks of the faction. The Rock "volunteered" his leader into a match with Ken Shamrock, and it was clear that Faarooq wasn't happy. In January, Rocky recruited his own member of the N.O.D., Mark Henry, apparently without Faarooq's prior knowledge.
The five superstars took on Ken Shamrock, Ahmed Johnson and three members of the Disciples of Apocalypse at February's No Way Out, but they lost, perhaps because of their lack of true unity.
On the Feb. 21 episode of RAW, Maivia presented D'Lo, Kama and Mark Henry with luxurious Rolex watches. He told Faarooq that he had an "extra special" gift for the esteemed leader of the Nation. Faarooq's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning, but when The Rock unveiled a poster-sized photograph of himself, Faarooq's expression changed to disconcertion.
One week later on RAW, The Rock had Steve Blackman pinned on more than one occasion, but Faarooq distracted the referee each time, costing his protege the match. A few weeks later, as a rivalry between The Rock and Ken Shamrock was heating up, the "World's Most Dangerous Man" had Rocky trapped in the ankle-lock submission hold, but Faarooq ordered his N.O.D. cohorts not to help The Rock.
Shamrock had the Intercontinental Title won at WrestleMania XIV, but he couldn't control his temper. When the "World's Most Dangerous Man" refused to release Rocky from the ankle-lock submission hold, the referee reversed his decision and The Rock retained his title.
ROCK JOINS THE NATION, AND RETAINS THE NAME, "THE ROCK" part:3
One day after WrestleMania on RAW IS WAR, The Rock ousted Faarooq and became leader of the Nation of Domination. Mark Henry, D'Lo Brown and Kama joined the Intercontinental Champion, who declared himself "Ruler of The Nation."
Faarooq found two superstars who had a common enemy in The Nation -- Ken Shamrock and Steve Blackman -- and he teamed up for a six-man tag team match with the no-holds-barred specialists at April's Unforgiven against The Rock, D'Lo and Mark Henry.
A win by Faarooq's team at Unforgiven catapulted the former Nation leader into a singles match for the Intercontinental Title at the May Pay-Per-View. But The Rock retained his title by putting his feet on the ropes for leverage and pinning Faarooq.
As the summer of 1998 got underway, D-Generation X was evolving from anti-authoritarian "heels" to equally anti-authoritarian but cutting-edge fan favorites. The rivalry between the two factions was intense and ran through the entire summer, highlighted by D-Generation X's parody of The Nation, and culminating with a fierce Ladder Match at SummerSlam: Highway to Hell.
On July 20, still one month before SummerSlam, Triple H lost his European Championship to D'Lo Brown due to interference by The Rock.
With the Intercontinental Title on the line, The Rock and Triple H battled in a best of three falls match that ended in a time-limit draw at Fully Loaded in July.
THE ROCK HEADS TOWARD THE CORPORATE LADDER
Stemming from the parody of the Nation by DX on Raw, the Rock vowed to make Triple H pay for his disrespect. While the Nation/DX feud faded into history, the Rock/Triple H feud exploded on to primetime, setting up a ladder match for the Rock's Intercontinental title at SummerSlam.
By the time The Rock walked into Madison Square Garden on Aug. 30, 1998, for SummerSlam, he had been Intercontinental Champion for nine months, one of the longest reigns in history. He and Triple H battled in a classic Ladder Match, which many consider to be the greatest such match in Federation history. In a grueling 45-minute bout, both Superstars gave it their all, but in the end, a bloody Rock lost his Intercontinental Title. However, he won something much more important, the fan's respect. The crowd, which began rooting for Triple H at the beginning of the match, ended the evening changing their "Rocky Sucks" chants to the familiar chorus of Rocky, Rocky, Rocky! If you have to pinpoint a time and place where the Rock truly became the People's Champ, SummerSlam 1998 clearly stands out as the catalyst that propelled the Rock on to something greater, the World Wrestling Federation Championship.
The Nation began to fade after SummerSlam, and by Break Down on Sept. 27 it has officially come to an end.
Although The Nation dissolved on less-than-positive terms, The Rock's tenure in the faction was really what got his career going. Even if the crowd at the time thought that "Rocky sucks," they at least had some sort of emotion when he came out. He was able to learn the craft of speaking on the microphone and develop many of the catchphrases that have made him so popular today.
The Rock's popularity soared over the next few months, and many of his patented sayings were born during this era. Whenever the Rock picked up a mic, the frenzied crowd harped on his every word in anticipation of what he would say next.
At September's Breakdown event in Canada, The Rock defeated Mankind and Ken Shamrock in a grueling cage match that etched the Miami native firmly as the number one contender for Federation gold, much to the dismay of Vince and Shane McMahon. For the next few weeks, The McMahon clan did everything in their power to make life miserable for the People's Champ...
The Rock heads toward the title (cont.)
The Rock continued his ascent, but resentments stemming from The Rock's break up of the Nation led to numerous confrontations with its former members. At Judgement Day, he was confronted by many foes, namely the McMahons, and his former nation colleagues D'Lo Brown and Mark Henry. This set up a final grudge match to that ended any chance of the Nation reuniting, and sent its members to reach stardom on their own. During the bout, the Rock seemed to have the World's Strongest man at bay until D'Lo unleashed his own revenge, securing a victory for Mark Henry.
Circumstances throughout the Federation left the championship vacant with a tournament at Survivor Series deciding who would be the new champion. Meanwhile, the McMahon's sought an ally in Mankind and began to groom him to be their "chosen" champion, setting up a Rock versus the McMahons scenario leading in to Survivor Series.
At Survivor Series, The Rock put on an impressive show, defeating four WWF Superstars along the way. In the first round, he defeated The Corporation's henchman, The Big Boss Man. The McMahons were furious that The Rock won this match, and did everything in their power to make sure their chosen champ made it to the final round. The Rock went on to defeat Ken Shamrock and The Undertaker in the second and third round respectively, setting up the final match against The Corporation's groomed champion, Mankind. The match spewed out of the ring as both men tried to gain the advantage. The crowd reacted favorably towards both combatants, but Mankind's allegiance to the McMahons tipped the scale towards the Rock's corner, and the "Rocky" chants echoed throughout the arena. In the end, the Rock withstood Mr. Socko and the mandible claw, and was able to apply a sharpshooter to Mankind. Much to everyone's astonishment, Mr. McMahon called for the bell, and awarded the championship to his nemesis, THE ROCK!! The wool had been pulled over everyone's eyes, especially Mankind's. A new era was born as each of The Rock's patented moves changed to the Corporate this and the Corporate that. Clearly, The Rock and the McMahons were in cahoots. When asked why, the Rock stated he never forgot the "Rocky Sucks" chants, and in a less tactful way, told the fans they could shove their feeling ups their candy asses!
The People's Champ fights HHH, becomes a Triple Crown Winner, and teams with ... Mankind?!
After his great disappointment at Backlash, The Rock became involved with an old nemesis in Triple H, who had decided he was going to go through anyone and everyone to move up the Federation ladder. Hunter attempted to destroy the People's Champ once and for all, locking The Rock in a casket before beating the coffin with a slegehammer. The Rock suffered a broken arm as a result of the brutal attack. Then, when the "Great One" took on the Undertaker for the Federation Championship at King of the Ring, Triple H interfered in the match, assisting the Undertaker in his victory over The Rock.
The two old rivals were both driven toward becoming the number one player in the game. Consequently, Triple H and The Rock took each other on in a Strap Match at Fully Loaded with a title shot on the line. Again, Hunter employed outside forces, namely Chyna and Mr. Ass, in an attempt to overcome the People's Champ. Though Triple H emerged victorious, the battle between the two was far from over.
At this point, The Rock was a man possessed. He took out his frustrations on Mr. Ass at SummerSlam, forcing the "assman" to kiss the buttocks of a great fat woman. The Rock continued his quest for the title only to be impeded by Shane McMahon. The Federation owner pushed the People's Choice into a confrontation with Undertaker and Big Show, which eventually led to a tag match between the unholy duo and The Rock, who shockingly accepted Mankind as his partner. Together, the two superstars who had nearly destroyed each other months earlier used their combined talents to wrestle the Federation Tag Titles away from Taker and Show. Yet another chapter was added to The Rock's legacy, as he became a Triple Crown winner. |
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 275 pounds
From: Miami, Florida
Favorite Quote: "Know Your Role!"
Finishing Move: The Rock Bottom
Career Highlights: World Wrestling Federation Champion (4) (current), Intercontinental Champion (2), Tag Team Champion (3)
The Rock is a third-generation superstar with immeasurable athleticism--and cockiness to boot! After graduating as an All-American football star from the University of Miami, Rocky Maivia entered the World Wrestling Federation and quickly became the Intercontinental Champion.
Under controversial circumstances, The Rock won the World Wrestling Federation Championship at Survivor Series 1998. The Rock went on to win the title three more times, making the "Great One" a four-time Federation Champion. He’s a gifted athlete, he’s gifted on the microphone—he’s simply a gifted entertainer. And from the Rolex watch to the $500 shirts to the eyebrow and the People's Elbow, The Rock is just plain cool.
Whether he’s a champion or a contender, a fan favorite or the most hated superstar on the roster, The Rock is a 27-year-old phenom. He’s already the "Most Electrifying Man in Sports-Entertainment," and when it’s all said and done he may go down in history as the most decorated, well-known and renowned superstar the Federation has ever known. |
The People's Champ fights HHH, becomes a Triple Crown Winner, and teams with ... Mankind?! (cont.)
The Rock and Mankind quickly became one of the most entertaining tag teams in Federation history. Mankind showed a great amount of reverence for his partner, even trying to emulate the Great One by using his popular phrases and lines. The Rock claimed that he will never be Mankind's friend, but he doesn't mind that Mick wants to be one of the millions ... and millions of The Rock's fans.
Mankind and The Rock were cheated out of their tag team titles during a Buried Alive match on SmackDown! Rock's old rival, Triple H, interfered in the match and buried Mankind, causing the titles to fall into the hands of the Undertaker and the Big Show. The unlikely duo would get their revenge, however, by taking the titles back on RAW a few weeks later, defeating the Big Show, Mideon, and Viscera in a Dark Side Rules match. However, the duo lost the titles a short time later on SmackDown! to a reunited New Age Outlaws.
Mankind and The Rock had their problems, for sure. The Rock obviously was a bit perturbed by Mick's antics, and didn't appreciate Foley's many attempts to win the the People's Champ over as a friend and partner in the Rock 'n' Sock Connection. Even when Mankind held a "This is Your Life" party for The Rock on RAW, the Great One was unappreciative.
Despite it all, the Rock 'n' Sock Connection won the Tag Titles once again by defeating the New Age Outlaws. Unfortunately, they dropped the belts to the Hollys a short time later. Then, when Mankind found his autobiography that he had personally signed for The Rock thrown in a garbage can, the Connection seemingly came to an end.
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The Rock goes on a quest to recapture the gold
With the Rock 'n' Sock Connection in the past, the People's Champ was concentrating once again on becoming the Federation Champion. The Rock became embroiled in a war for the Federation Championship with the sledgehammer-wielding Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The trio prepared to meet in a Triple Threat Match at Survivor Series, where the Great One sought to become the champ one more time.
At Survivor Series in Detroit, things did not exactly go The Rock's way. Stone Cold was knocked out of the bout and was replaced by none other than the Big Show! This forced Rock and Triple H to almost work together throughout the Triple Threat to overcome Show's size advantage. In the end, though, Show emerged victorious thanks in part to Vince McMahon's interference.
The following night on RAW, The Rock took on the Big Boss Man in a Number One Contenders Match. When The Rock was surprisingly pinned, he unleashed his rage and anger on both Boss Man and Prince Albert, turning them both into bloody messes.
Since the Series, the Great One has been blasting straight through everyone who has been put in front of him. Even with the new alliance of Stephanie McMahon and Triple H trying to ruin the People's Champ, The Rock continues to have success. |
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