Dwayne Johnson[1] (born May 2, 1972)[2] is an American actor, former professional wrestler, and comedian, also known by his former ring name The Rock and occasionally credited as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.[3] Johnson was a collegiate football player, and in 1991, he was part of the University of Miami's national championship team. He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, but was cut two months into the season.[4] This led to his decision to become a professional wrestler, like his grandfather, Peter Maivia and his father Rocky Johnson.
Johnson made his WWF debut as Rocky Maivia, which combined his father and grandfather's ring names; Johnson was initially reluctant to the idea, but was persuaded to go ahead with the name by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross.[6][15] In addition to taking on the nickname "The Blue Chipper," the WWF played up his connection to his father and grandfather, calling him the company's first third-generation wrestler.[3]
Johnson, who was first portrayed as a clean-cut face character (fan favorite), was pushed heavily from the start despite his lack of in-ring experience. He debuted at Survivor Series in November 1996 and was the sole survivor,[16] and he won the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Hunter Hearst Helmsley on Raw on February 13, 1997, after only three months in the company.[17][18] Fans, however, quickly grew sick of the one-dimensional good guy character, thanks in part to the increasing popularity of Stone Cold Steve Austin.[11] As a result, a regular occurrence during Johnson's matches was the fans' angry chants of "Die Rocky Die!" and "Rocky Sucks!"
