First Names: Dwayne ('The Rock' Johnson) E-Book

Lisa Williamson

• Herausgeber: David Fickling Books
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: First Names
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 117

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Meet DWAYNE 'The Rock' Johnson, the World Wrestling Entertainment phenomenon who turned his talents to movie acting and became a Hollywood megastar. Find out:- Why fellow high school students thought he was an undercover cop- Why his wrestler dad was dead against Dwayne following in his footsteps- And why he sneaked a fart machine onto the set of The Scorpion King.Get to know DWAYNE on First Name terms.

Leseprobe

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Contents

Title Page Introduction1 – Dwayne’s Rocky Start2 – Hurricane Dwayne3 – Dwayne Falls Hard4 – Dwayne Hits Rock Bottom5 – Dwayne In The Ring6 – Bad-Guy Dwayne7 – Dwayne Heads To Hollywood8 – Dwayne Takes Control9 – Dwayne – Action Man10 – Businessman DwayneWrestling TermsTimelineGlossaryIndexCopyright

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Introduction

THE PLACE: Honolulu, Hawaii

THE TIME: 1986

Fourteen-year-old Dwayne Johnson yelled goodbye to his mum and let the door slam shut behind him. He headed out onto the street as usual and found himself pausing to gaze up at the luxury apartment block across the street. Shiny and imposing, it dwarfed the modest three-storey building where he shared a cramped studio with his parents.

‘One day,’ he thought. ‘I’m going to live somewhere like that.’

Deep down, Dwayne knew the odds weren’t in his favour. He wasn’t very serious about school, often skipping classes to hang out with his friends and cause trouble in the neighbourhood. He’d already been arrested several times for petty crimes like shoplifting and vandalism. If Dwayne wanted to live in a big fancy apartment one day, he needed to get his act together and fast.

Later that same afternoon, Dwayne came home to find his mum standing outside their apartment. He was confused. Why wasn’t she inside? As he got closer, he realized she was crying. As soon as she saw Dwayne, she tried to put on a brave face, but it was 8too late – her cheeks were already streaked with tears.

‘What’s wrong?’ Dwayne asked, panic rising in his chest. ‘What are you doing out here?’

With a trembling hand, Dwayne’s mum pointed at a sign pinned to the door.

‘It’s an eviction notice,’ she explained, fresh tears brimming in her eyes. ‘We have to leave right away.’

That’s when Dwayne noticed the padlock on the door.

He’d always known money was tight. Just the week before, his mum’s car had been repossessed and they were behind with their rent yet again. However, he’d had no idea things were this bad.

As his mother sobbed, Dwayne hugged her to his chest and made a decision. Instead of stealing, getting into fights and causing her all kinds of stress and worry, he was going to channel his energy into something else, something positive. He was going to try to make a success of his life and make his dream 9of living in a fancy apartment a reality.

That night, lying awake on a fold-out bed in his grandparents’ living room, Dwayne thought hard about all the successful men he admired – Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger were three of them, and as he was drifting off to sleep he realized that they all had one thing in common. They were action stars who’d put a lot of time and energy into building their bodies. As young men they’d dedicated hours and hours to keeping fit and lifting weights. They’d received attention for their impressive physiques and used this to develop successful acting careers. Now they were three of the richest and most famous men in the world.

It was a light-bulb moment for Dwayne. Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger had made the most of their natural size and strength. Dwayne was big and strong too.

10Inspired by his wrestler dad, Dwayne was already working out at the gym. Now, every afternoon, without fail, he began boxing and lifting weights after school.

Dwayne’s hunch was right. It didn’t happen right away, but just over a decade later he entered the family business, when he made his World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) debut and within a few years he was one of the most successful wrestlers in WWE history, becoming (in the words of The Rock himself) ‘The most electrifying man in all of entertainment.’

In 2001, Dwayne appeared in his first feature film, The Mummy Returns. One role quickly led to another, and by 2019, he’d become the highest-paid actor in the whole of Hollywood.

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Well, from those humble beginnings Dwayne has made an incredible success of his life.

We’ll be hearing about the bumps soon enough, but what we really want to know is how he got over them. How did he get where he is today?

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1 Dwayne’s Rocky Start

Dwayne Douglas Johnson was born on 2nd May 1972 in Hayward, California, and, from the very start, wrestling was a massive part of his life. You could even say it was in his blood. After all, Dwayne’s dad was a professional wrestler, his grandfather (his mum’s dad) was too, and so were two of his uncles and TEN of his cousins. Even his grandmother worked as a wrestling promoter (one of the first female promoters in wrestling history); at one point she was overseeing the entire Polynesian Pro Wrestling circuit! So, it’s fair to say, young Dwayne lived and breathed wrestling too.

Rocky was a black Canadian from Nova Scotia. He’d had a hard life. His dad had died when he was just 13, 13and after knocking his mum’s violent boyfriend out with a shovel, Rocky had been forced to leave home at 14. It was lucky he had a talent as a tag-team wrestler.

Tag-team wrestlers usually wrestle in teams of two or more, taking it in turns to enter the ring. One team member can’t enter the ring until the other tags or touches hands with them on leaving.

Rocky was known to have one of the very best drop kicks in the business, and with his partner, Tony Atlas, he was breaking new ground too. As ‘The Soul Patrol’ they were the first ever black tag-team champions in WWE history.

Welcome To The Family

Before Dwayne’s parents had even met, Rocky faced his future father-in-law Peter Maivia (Dwayne’s 14grandfather) in the ring. This was the early 1970s, the days before big televised matches and million-dollar salaries, and even though they were both well-respected performers, Rocky and Peter didn’t expect to make much money from their sport. On the other hand, they couldn’t imagine doing anything else with their lives.

Heavily tattooed and built like a rhino, Peter was well known on the wrestling circuit. He’d won championships in the South Pacific and in Hawaii and had moved his family to the USA from American Samoa in the 1970s where he’d added some impressive titles to his name, including heavyweight champion of Texas and US tag-team champion. He was a big cheese back home in American Samoa too. As high chief he was expected to look out for his entire extended family (which included hundreds of people!) – protecting their land, settling their disputes and generally leading by good example.

15Wrestling is massively popular in Samoa. In fact, most of the wrestlers in Dwayne’s family were on his mum’s side and originally came from there. Samoans are often tall, wide and very strong – perfectly built for wrestling, basically!

Rocky and Peter looked ferocious in the ring, but out of the spotlight, things were rather different. Peter was worried when he found out Rocky didn’t have anywhere to stay for the night after the match, so without thinking twice, he said:

16The moment Rocky set eyes on Peter’s only daughter, Ata, he was smitten. Ata wasn’t quite so sure at first. She could see that Rocky was a good-looking guy, but he chewed tobacco, and she thought that was gross. Rocky was a charmer, though, and it wasn’t long before Ata fell madly in love with him. She even got over the tobacco chewing.

Peter wasn’t at all happy about the blossoming romance. He knew better than anyone how difficult life on the circuit could be. It was hard enough for the wrestlers, but their wives and girlfriends were often stuck at home for months on end while their husbands and boyfriends were on the road. Peter and his wife, Lia, wanted something better for their daughter, so they came to a decision: Rocky and Ata’s relationship had to stop.

It was too late, though, Rocky and Ata were already deeply involved. They got together anyway and hoped Peter and Lia would come round once they got used 17to the idea. It took about a year, but in the end Peter and Lia did give Rocky and Ata their blessing, just in time for another big announcement – a baby.

Rocky and Ata never regretted getting together, but Peter and Lia were right: life was tough from the start.

Rocky was constantly on the road, performing in shows across the country, and his young family travelled with him whenever they could. By the time Dwayne was at nursery school, he’d already lived in five different states. To young Dwayne, moving around seemed like fun, and watching his dad in the ring was so exciting!

Rocky was a massive hit with the crowd, winning fans wherever he went. Dwayne liked nothing more than sitting with a carton of popcorn on his lap, surrounded by cheering supporters, while his dad performed in the ring. 18

That’s my dad, he’d think proudly.

On Rocky’s days off, while most fathers took their kids to the playground, Rocky took Dwayne to the gym, though he wasn’t allowed to join in until he was a teenager. Instead, he got to sit and watch his dad working out, carefully noting all his best moves.

Back at home Dwayne would practise drop kicks and headlocks on the long-suffering family dog for hours on end. Around the age of eight, Dwayne’s parents bought him a video camera to keep him occupied when they were busy working. On Friday nights, with the apartment all to himself, Dwayne would set the camera up in the corner and pretend the living room was his very own WWE arena. He imitated everyone, 19from legendary commentator Vince McMahon, to his three absolute favourite wrestlers – Roddy Piper, Ric Flair and Magnificent Muraco.

Wrestlers often start by picking a name that sums up who they are:

They need to make a grand entrance to grab the audience’s attention. Music, special effects and a flashy costume all add to the impact.

Dwayne’s dad was a good guy, in the business they’d call him a ‘babyface’, but Dwayne’s favourite wrestlers were all ‘heels’ – bad guys. They shouted and scowled and got booed by the crowds, but heels had way more fun. And they all had a talent for trash-talk – insulting other players and boasting about themselves. 20

21Attitude Problem

Believe it or not, Dwayne was a scrawny baby, but he soon grew to be big and strong. Although he liked wrestling a lot, he didn’t really think about becoming a professional wrestler himself when he was young, and his family definitely didn’t encourage him. In fact, they did everything they could to steer him towards a more sensible career.

As Dwayne entered his teens, the novelty of moving around all the time had worn off. After a brief stint in New Zealand, the family had settled in Hawaii for a while, where his grandparents were living. It was nice to stay in one place for a bit, but money was as scarce as ever and school was tough for a kid who was big for his age and had a pretty famous dad.

One day, Dwayne was set upon by a group of 25 older boys. He was lucky to escape with just a few scratches and bruises. When Rocky found out what had happened, he was furious and insisted on coming to school to confront the bullies. Once the boys saw Dwayne’s championship wrestler dad face to face, they were terrified. They left Dwayne alone after that, but there was plenty more trouble to come.

Rocky was often away in Nashville, USA, while Ata worked all hours cleaning hotel rooms to cover the weekly rent of $120. 22

It was a struggle, and Dwayne wasn’t helping. He wasn’t exactly the model student, often disrupting class or skipping lessons altogether. Then he started getting into trouble on a regular basis. When he bothered to go to school, he still had fights with the other kids. Outside school, he fell in with a gang of boys who targeted rich tourists, stealing their money and jewellery. Dwayne was arrested several times and very nearly ended up inside a juvenile prison. His parents tried to shield him as best they could, but they worried he really would end up in prison one day. Dwayne needed a change of scene and, partly thanks to the eviction notice, one finally came.

When the news reached Dwayne that the family were on the move yet again, he didn’t mind too much. He loved Hawaii and being so close to his grandparents, but he could see it was time for a fresh start.

The New Kid

After a few short stints at other schools in Tennessee, Dwayne arrived at Freedom High School in the small city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with a dodgy pencil moustache and a chip on his shoulder. He’d been a pretty skinny kid, but as a teenager he suddenly went through a massive growth spurt. Thanks to his Samoan heritage, his shape had changed and at only 15 years old, 23he was already approaching a whopping 193 cm (6 foot 4 inches) tall and weighed in at roughly 100 kg (16 stone). He towered over most of his classmates, and it wasn’t long before rumours were flying that he wasn’t a student at all …