.jpg) Johnson in 1983 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Wayde Douglas Bowles (1944-08-24)August 24, 1944 Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Died | January 15, 2020(2020-01-15) (aged 75) Lutz, Florida, U.S. |
Spouses | |
| Children | 8, includingDwayne |
| Family | Anoaʻi (by marriage) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | The Rock Sweet Ebony Diamond[1] Drew Glasteau[1] Rocky Johnson[1] "Soul Man" Johnson[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2] |
| Billed weight | 243 lb (110 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Toronto, Ontario, Canada[3] Washington, D.C. |
| Trained by | Peter Maivia[3] Rocky Bollie[1] Kurt Von Steiger[1] |
| Debut | 1964[1] |
| Retired | 2004 |
Rocky Johnson (bornWayde Douglas Bowles; August 24, 1944 – January 15, 2020) was a Canadianprofessional wrestler.[1] Among manyNational Wrestling Alliance titles, he was the first BlackNWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion as well as theNWA Television Champion (2 times). He won theWWF Tag Team Championship in 1983, along with his partnerTony Atlas, to become the first black champions inWWE history.[4] He was the father of actor and wrestlerDwayne "The Rock" Johnson and the grandfather of wrestlerSimone "Ava" Johnson.[5]
Johnson was born Wayde Douglas Bowles inAmherst, Nova Scotia, where he was raised, the fourth of five sons of James Henry Bowles (1888–1957) and Lillian (née Gay; 1919–1996).[6][7][8] As aBlack Nova Scotian, he was descended fromBlack Loyalists who immigrated toNova Scotia after escaping from aplantation in the United States after theAmerican Revolutionary War.[7] Another ancestor, Dembo Sickles, was the son of a chief in present-dayBenin who was captured by slavehunters in 1762 and brought toPrince Edward Island, where he eventually bought his freedom.[9][10]
At the age of 16, Johnson moved toToronto, where he began wrestling and worked as a truck driver.[11] Initially, he trained to be aboxer and eventually sparred with greats such asMuhammad Ali andGeorge Foreman, but was always fascinated by wrestling.[6]
Rocky's brother Ricky was also a wrestler.[12]
Johnson began his career as a professional wrestler in 1964 inSouthern Ontario; soon after his debut, he legally changed his name to his moniker.[1][3][13] He chose the name Rocky Johnson as a tribute to two of his favorite boxing greats:Rocky Marciano andJack Johnson, the latter being the first black heavyweight boxing champion.[14] In the late 1960s to mid 1970s, he was a major star in California. In Los Angeles he took onFreddie Blassie,The Destroyer andJohn Tolos.
He was a top contender in theNational Wrestling Alliance in the 1970s, receiving title matches against then-World ChampionsTerry Funk andHarley Race.[3] He was well-suited fortag team wrestling, winning several regional tag team championships in the NWA. Johnson wrestled off and on in the Memphis promotion, often feuding withJerry Lawler, winning Lawler's crown at one point. He also wrestled under a mask as "Sweet Ebony Diamond" in the Mid-Atlantic area.[15]
In 1982, Johnson feuded withDon Muraco,Greg Valentine,Mike Sharpe,Buddy Rose, andAdrian Adonis. He was then paired withTony Atlas as a tag team.[3] They defeatedthe Wild Samoans (Afa andSika) for the Tag Team Championship on the December 10, 1983 episode ofChampionship Wrestling (taped November 15).[5] They were the first black men to hold a WWF championship.[3] Together, they were billed as "The Soul Patrol".[16]
After leaving WWF in June 1985, Johnson went to Central States, Tennessee, Hawaii, Portland, Puerto Rico and the independent circuit. In Hawaii, he teamed with his brother Ricky Johnson.
After retiring in 1991, Johnson, along withPat Patterson, trained his son Dwayne to wrestle. While he initially resisted his son's entry into what he knew to be an extremely difficult business, Johnson agreed to train him on the condition that he would not go easy on him. Johnson was instrumental in getting Dwayne (later dubbed "Rocky Maivia" after both Rocky Johnson's andPeter Maivia's ring names) signed to a WWF developmental deal.[17] Initially, Johnson had an on-camera presence at his son's matches, and jumped into the ring on his behalf after he was attacked byThe Sultan andThe Iron Sheik atWrestleMania 13. Johnson was not seen on-camera again after the Rocky Maivia character flopped, and soon Dwayne achieved crossover popularity as a cockyheel,The Rock.
In early 2003, Johnson was hired as a trainer for the WWE developmental territory,Ohio Valley Wrestling, but was fired in May.[18][19] He made a return to the ring, and defeatedMabel in a boxing match atMemphis Wrestling on November 29, 2003.
On February 25, 2008, Johnson was announced as an inductee into theWWE Hall of Fame along with his father-in-law, "High Chief" Peter Maivia. Both Johnson and his father-in-law were inducted into the Hall of Fame on March 29, 2008, by his son, The Rock.[20]
On December 20, 2019, Johnson joined the board of directors of the International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame.[21]
Johnson recounted in his autobiographySoulman that he met his first wife, Una Sparks, at a dance while he was training to become a boxer. Una was fromCherry Brook, Nova Scotia and a devoutJehovah's Witness.[22] They had two children, Curtis and Wanda, whom he thanked at his 2008WWE Hall of Fame induction. While married to Una, he became romantically involved with Ata Fitisemanu Maivia, daughter of wrestling legend "High Chief"Peter Maivia.[3] Ata met Rocky after Maivia and Johnson were tag team partners in a match on the independent circuit.
Johnson stated that, in order to provide for his two families, he adopted a frugal lifestyle on the road; he subsisted on beer, sliced cheese, and bologna, and was not a "partier".[23] He did not reveal if Una knew about Ata and Dwayne, but stated that she gave him an ultimatum to quit wrestling, or they would have to separate as Jehovah's Witnesses "didn't believe in blood sport".[24] He stated that he and Una parted amicably and remained good friends. He obtained a divorce inTexas, then filed for a marriage license inFlorida on December 21, 1978, to marry Ata. By marrying her, he became a member of the famous SamoanAnoaʻi family. Ata's father opposed their marriage because Johnson wasn't Samoan. Their sonDwayne was born May 2, 1972. They divorced in 2003.[23][25]
In 2019, Johnson co-wrote an autobiography alongside Scott Teal,Soulman: The Rocky Johnson Story, released October 15 of that year. The book was recalled by the publisher shortly after release, due to payment disputes between Johnson and the co-author.[26]
In 2022,Sports Illustrated published an article stating that Johnson had five other known children, in separate relationships, confirmed via genealogicalDNA testing in the 2010s which connected them to Rocky's brother Ricky: Paula Parsons (b. 1964 inLucasville, Nova Scotia), Trevor Edwards (b. 1967 inMontreal), Lisa Purves (b. 1968 inVancouver), Adrian Bowles (b. 1970 to inTruro, Nova Scotia) and Aaron Fowler (b. 1970 inAmherst, Nova Scotia).[27]
In 1987, Johnson was arrested and charged for rape of a 19-year-old Tennessee woman.[28] He claimed he was "set up" by rival wrestlers.[28] The charges had him blacklisted from wrestling, leading him to alcoholism and a strained relationship with his son until several years later when he became sober.[28]
In 2000, while working at the Pine Island Community Center inDavie, Florida, Johnson was investigated for several cases of misconduct, including unwanted groping of female coworkers.[29] He later faced charges of battery and theft after he allegedly took home a piece of athletic equipment, as well as allegedly inappropriately grabbing a female coworker.[30] The Broward State Attorney's Office, while noting there was "sufficient evidence" that Johnson had groped his coworker, declined to prosecute because the woman feared the publicity it would bring her.[30][31]
On January 15, 2020, at the age of 75, Johnson died of apulmonary embolism at the home his son bought for him inLutz, Florida; the embolism was caused by a blood clot that traveled from adeep vein thrombosis in his leg.[32][33][34][35]B. Brian Blair told theAssociated Press that Johnson "thought he had the flu or something" but refused to see a doctor.[36] Dwayne Johnson paid tribute, stating, "I'm in pain. You lived a very full, very hard, barrier breaking life and left it all in the ring. I love you dad and I'll always be your proud and grateful son."[37][38]Hulk Hogan tweeted condolences, describing Rocky as "a great man, great friend" and "one of only a few that was kind and helpful when I first broke in".[39]
In his first television acting job, his son Dwayne, known at the time by his ring name The Rock, portrayed his father in aseason 1 (1999) episode ofThat '70s Show titled "That Wrestling Show".[40]
He is portrayed by Joseph Lee Anderson in the showYoung Rock, based on his son's life.[41] The series, which was green-lit for production byNBC four days before Johnson's death, dedicated thepilot episode in Johnson's memory.
.jpg)
Growing up, Mr. Johnson was known as Wayde Bowles
He was born Wayde Douglas Bowles in Amherst, Nova Scotia, in 1944, the fourth of five sons born to James Henry Bowles and Lillian Bowles. His family members were descended from slaves who had escaped the plantations of the American South
In 1964, the already ripped twenty-year-old debuted as a wrestler in the southern Ontario area. He took on the ring name Rocky Johnson, and wound up liking it so much that he soon had his name legally changed.
The book wraps up with Johnson's time in Mid-Atlantic territory working under a mask as Sweet Ebony Diamond…
Johnson joined the WWE in 1983, where he and Tony Atlas formed The Soul Patrol and became the first black tag team to win the World Tag Team Championship.
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