Little Known Facts About the Rock

I’m sure everyone has heard of The Rock by now. The Rock first gained mainstream fame in a wrestling ring. He quickly became one of the most popular wrestlers in the World Wrestling Federation with his incredibly charismatic mic skills and his great work rate. Eventually The Rock ventured into a successful acting career starring in movies like Doom, the Gridiron Gang, and Walking Tall. He has continued his acting career and will soon be starring in Southland Tales alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar and Mandy Moore, in 2007 he will be filming Spy Hunter and after that a Johnny Bravo movie. But here are a few things you might not know about The Rock.

Wrestling heritage
For those of you who are fans of The Rock’s wrestling career you might be familiar with his heritage but for those of you who only know the Hollywood Rock let me give you a wrestling lesson. When The Rock debuted in the WWF (now the WWE) he went by the name Rocky Maivia. The name Rocky Maivia was combination of his father’s wrestling name, Rocky Johnson, and his grandfather’s wrestling name, Peter Maivia. Peter Maivia grew up in Samoa and was in the 1967 James Bond movie You Only Live Twice starring Sean Connery. Peter Maivia moved to New Zealand to learn how to wrestle. Peter later moved to San Francisco and joined the NWA and took a young wrestler under his wing. That young wrestler was none other than “the Superstar” Billy Graham. Peter Maivia would later capture many Tag Team titles including the NWA Tag Team titles with Pat Patterson. Peter Maivia eventually wound up in the WWWF (which eventually became the WWF) and wrestled such legends as Stan Stasiak, Billy Graham, George “the Animal” Steele, Mr. Fuji, and he often tagged with Chief Jay Strongbow.

Do you smell what the Rock is cookin'?

Credit: WWE

Copyright: WWE