Dwayne Johnson Biography (Part 1 )

Dwayne Douglas Johnson[5] (born May 2, 1972),[6] also known by his ring name The Rock,[2] is an American actor and semi-retired professional wrestler, best known for his time in WWE.
Johnson was a college football player. In 1991, he was on the University of Miami's national championship team. He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, and was cut two months into the 1995 season.[7][8][9] This led him to become a professional wrestler like his grandfather, Peter Maivia, and his father, Rocky Johnson. Originally billed as "Rocky Maivia", he gained mainstream fame as "The Rock" in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1996 to 2004, and was the first third-generation wrestler in the company's history. He returned to wrestling part-time for WWE from 2011 to 2013.
Johnson is widely considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.[10][11] He had 17 championship reigns in WWE, including ten world title reigns: the WWF/E Championship eight times and the WCW/World Championship twice. He won the WWF Intercontinental Championship twice and the World Tag Team Championship five times. He is the sixth WWF/E Triple Crown Champion, and won the 2000 Royal Rumble.
Johnson's autobiography The Rock Says... (co-written with Joe Layden) was published in 2000. It debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list and remained on the list for several weeks.[12] Johnson's first leading film role was in The Scorpion King in 2002. For this role, he was paid US$5.5 million, a world record for an actor in his first starring role.[13] He has since appeared in several successful films, including The Rundown, Be Cool, Walking Tall, Gridiron Gang, The Game Plan, Get Smart, Race to Witch Mountain, Planet 51, Tooth Fairy, Doom, The Other Guys, Faster, Fast Five, and Fast & Furious 6.
Early life

Johnson was born in Hayward, California, the son of Ata Johnson (née Maivia) and professional wrestler Rocky Johnson.[6] His maternal grandfather, "High Chief" Peter Maivia, was also a wrestler. His maternal grandmother, Lia Maivia, was one of wrestling's few female professional promoters, taking over Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling after her husband's death in 1982, until 1988.[14][15] His father is of Black Nova Scotian (Canadian) origin, and his mother is of Samoan heritage.[16][17] Johnson briefly lived in Auckland, New Zealand, with his mother's family.[18][18] He attended Richmond Road Primary School, before returning to the United States with his parents.[18]
Johnson spent 10th grade at President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. As he entered 11th grade, his father's job required his relocation to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He began playing football at Freedom High School in the East Penn Conference.[17] He was also a member of the school's track and field and wrestling teams.[17] On April 17, 2009, changes to Canadian nationality law came into effect, making all people born in the first generation abroad after 1947 to Canadian-born parents automatically (and retroactively to date of birth) Canadian citizens.[19] Johnson, through his father, thus became a Canadian.
Johnson was a promising football prospect, and received offers from many Division I collegiate programs. He decided upon a full scholarship from the University of Miami to play defensive tackle. In 1991, he was on the Miami Hurricanes' national championship team.[20] After an injury kept him sidelined, he was replaced by future National Football League (NFL) star Warren Sapp.[17] While attending Miami, Johnson met his future wife, Dany Garcia, who graduated from the university in 1992 and later became a member of its Board of Trustees.[21] She also founded a Miami-based wealth management firm. In 2006, the couple donated $2 million to build a living room at the University's Newman Alumni Center.
Johnson graduated from Miami in 1995, with a Bachelor of General Studies degree in criminology and physiology.[22] He joined the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League in 1995, after being passed over by the NFL. He was cut two months into the season.[7][17] On November 10, 2007, Johnson returned to the Miami Orange Bowl to participate in the festivities surrounding the University of Miami's last home football game at the stadium.