The Rock Bio

He’s been dubbed The Great One, The People’s Champion and The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment, but mere words fail to capture the essence of the most charismatic Superstar of all time. Although the catchphrase “boots to asses” comes awfully close. The first third-generation Superstar in WWE history, the man born Dwayne Johnson was destined for sports-entertainment immortality since birth, but his rise to the status of a pop culture icon was harder to predict. In the time since he made his debut as a grinning good guy at the 1996 Survivor Series, The Brahma Bull has won seven WWE Championships, headlined WrestleMania, hosted “Saturday Night Live,” written a New York Times bestselling autobiography and starred in films like “Fast Five” and “The Game Plan,” which have grossed literally billions of dollars. And, the amazing thing is, he’s just getting started. Son of WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson, the University of Miami football standout showed promise early when he won the Intercontinental Championship within months of first setting foot in the ring. From there, The Rock’s momentum never slowed as he laid the smackdown on “Attitude Era” rivals like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Triple H while spouting off endless catchphrases that immediately became part of national conversation. With one eyebrow cocked, The People’s Champion would warn jabronis to “Know your role and shut your mouth” or “Just bring it!” before delivering his devastating finishing maneuver, The Rock Bottom, on the way to victory. The 6-foot-5 competitor was soon fielding offers to star in films like “The Scorpion King” and “Gridiron Gang” thanks to the endless charisma and sex appeal he exuded in the squared circle. Now a Hollywood leading man, The Rock left WWE to pursue his acting career, only to successfully return to the ring against John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania XXVIII — and prove to WWE’s newest generation of fans that he truly is The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment. Rock’s victory over the Cenation leader guaranteed him a WWE Championship opportunity at the 2013 Royal Rumble, which put him on a crash course with CM Punk. The two opinionated Superstars traded pointed words — and more than a few fisticuffs — throughout January before The Rock was viciously assaulted by Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns on the Jan. 21 edition of Raw. Although Punk denied any association with the dangerous group, their attack still caused internal damage to The Great One and led Mr. McMahon to decree that if The Shield interfered in the WWE Title Match at Royal Rumble, Punk would be stripped of his championship. Punk and The Great One finally locked horns in Phoenix at the Royal Rumble in a thrilling back-and-forth bout. Suddenly, the lights in the arena went to black and The Brahma Bull was laid out with a sneak attack by The Shield. Although no one saw Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns for sure, The Chairman was about to strip Punk of the title regardless. But The Rock didn't want to end Punk’s historic 434-day reign that way. The challenger demanded the bout be restarted and nailed a People's Elbow into the heart of “The Best in the World” for the pinfall. After 10 long years, The People's Champion has once again become WWE Champion. And he did it by defeating the longest-reigning champion of the last 25 years, CM Punk.