Rocky Johnson (real name Wade Douglas Bowles, pseudonym in the ring Soulman) is a famous professional wrestler from Canada in the past. He was born on August 24, 1944 in Amherst, Nova Scotia. Johnson's coaches at various times included Peter Maivia, Kurt von Steiger and Rocky Beaulieu.
Major Achievements
During his wrestling career, Rocky won the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Georgia State Championship and the Southern Heavyweight in Memphis, as well as many other competitions in many different arenas. Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson were members of the first African-American team to win the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) World Championship.
Height, boxer weight - 188 cm, 112 kg. The year of the beginning of the wrestling career is 1964. Soulman's signature moves are the Boston crab, the Dropkick and the signature Johnson Shuffle.
Rocky Johnsonis the father and first trainer of famous actor and professional wrestler Dwayne The Rock Johnson. In 2008, the son returned the debt to the parent, contributing to the recognition of Rocky Johnson's achievements in the sports entertainment industry and achieving his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. In his first television acting job, Dwayne Johnson appeared as his own father in an episode of Season 1 of the wrestling history television series (That '70s Show called "That Wrestling Show").
Early years
Rocky Johnson, whose biography begins on August 24, 1944 in the Canadian town of Amherst, is one of the five sons of Lillian and James Henry Bowles. His family belongs to the descendants of "black loyalists", black supporters of the British crown, who moved from the United States after the American Revolutionary War to the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, which remained under the rule of the mother country. Ricky Johnson's brother has also achieved some success in the wrestling field.
At the age of 16, Rocky moved to Toronto, where he began wrestling while earning a living as a truck driver. Initially, Rocky dreamed of becoming a boxer, later he even managed to participate in sparring with such stars as Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, but he achieved the greatest recognition in wrestling.
Start Pro Career: National Wrestling Alliance
Johnson's career as a professional wrestler began inmid 1960s. In the 1970s, he was the first contender for the title of champion in the National Wrestling Alliance, but could not win this title from the then leaders Terry Funk and Harley Race. He was well suited to participate in team competitions and won several regional championships. Johnson competed regularly in the Memphis arena, ostentatiously feuding with Jerry Lawler, eventually defeating him by a mere one point. Rocky also competed in the arenas of the Mid-Atlantic region, where he performed in a mask under the alias Ebony Diamond.
World Wrestling Federation
In 1983, Rocky was invited to fight in the World Wrestling Federation, where he fought against Don Muraco, Greg Valentine, Mike Sharp, Buddy Rose and Adrian Adonis. On November 15, 1983, together with Tony Atlas, they defeated the Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika), who were members of the dynasty to which Rocky's father-in-law belonged. With this win, they became tag team wrestling champions and the first all-African team to win the title.
Rocky and Tony have only been crowned for six months, but the significance of this victory will last forever. The wrestling duo of Johnson and Atlas performed under the name The Soul Patrol. Some time after the loss of "gold" Rocky left the arena, but did not become the last in the Johnson / Maivia dynasty.
Retirement
After retiring in 1991Johnson took up the training of his son Dwayne. At first, he did not want his son to follow in his footsteps due to the extreme complexity of this path, but in the end he agreed to train him, provided that there were no concessions. Rocky Johnson played a very important role in the career of Dwayne, who later took the name Rocky Maivia for performances, combining the pseudonyms of his father and grandfather.
Initially, Rocky Johnson and Dwayne Johnson often hit the camera lenses together. For example, at WrestleMania 13, a father jumped into the ring to help his son fend off an attack from several opponents at once. Rocky Johnson stopped appearing at his son's matches after the latter dropped the Rocky Maivia name. But it was after this step that Dwayne achieved worldwide recognition as a daring but charismatic "Heal" nicknamed The Rock.
From January to May 2003, Rocky Johnson worked as a trainer for Ohio Valley Wrestling, a WWE training facility. On February 25, 2008, he became a candidate for the WWE Hall of Fame along with his father-in-law Peter Maivia, who was called the Supreme Leader in the world of wrestling. They were both inducted into the Hall of Fame on March 29, 2008 by Dwayne Junior.
Private life
Although the athlete is part of one of the most famous and influential families in the sports and entertainment industry, Soulman Rocky Johnson himself can rightfully be called a wrestling legend.
Johnson married Ate Maivia, daughter of the famous wrestler Peter Maivia, nicknamed Supremea chieftain who was a member of the legendary Anoa'i Samoan wrestling clan. By marrying Peter's daughter, Rocky Johnson also joined this dynasty.
The girl's father was not happy with this relationship, although he had nothing against Johnson himself. It was their profession: Peter knew perfectly well how difficult it was for the families of wrestlers, who were forced to wait for a long time while the heads of the families were on the road. On May 2, 1972, the couple had a son, Duane.
Rocky Johnson currently lives in Davie, Florida. Their marriage to Ata ended in 2003. Rocky has two more children from his first marriage in 1967: son Curtis and daughter Wanda.
Conclusion
During his long career and after it, Rocky has repeatedly participated in the filming of films and television series about the history of wrestling, such as WWWF Championship Wrestling (1972-1986), WWF Superstars of Wrestling (1984-1996), WWE WrestleMania, WWE: Greatest Stars of the '90s, as well as in the film adaptation of his son's biography The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment (2008) and many others.
Johnson, known to generations of fans for a variety of reasons, is one of the ring's greatest African-American pioneers. One generation knows him as the greatest superstar in the history of American wrestling, others have heard of him as the son-in-law of the famous Supreme Chief Peter Maivia, and for still others, Rocky is primarily the father of a super-popular actor named Dwayne the Rock Johnson. But it's clearthat as the first African American to win a gold medal in a tag team wrestling championship, Rocky Johnson will forever be a legend in the global sports and entertainment industry.
