Dwayne Johnson Born: May 2, 1972 Occupation: Actor | producer | professional wrestler | businessman Years active: 1996–2004; 2011–2013; 2016 [wrestling] | 1999–present [acting] Ring name(s): Dwayne Johnson | Flex Kavana | Rocky Maivia | The Rock Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential professional wrestlers of all time, Johnson wrestled for WWF/E for eight years prior to pursuing an acting career and during his wrestling career, he was integral to the development and success of the WWE during the Attitude Era, an industry boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His films have grossed over $3.5 billion in North America and over $10.5 billion worldwide, making him one of the world's highest-grossing and highest-paid actors. Before being an actor... In 1996, Johnson's father Rocky and maternal grandfather Peter Maivia, both of whom were professional wrestlers, assisted in helping him secure a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Johnson quickly rose to global prominence, aided by a gimmick he employed as a charismatic trash-talker. The role ushered in the Attitude Era in professional wrestling, which contributed to the industry's boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Johnson left WWE in 2004 and returned in 2011 as a part-time performer until 2013, making sporadic appearances until retiring in 2019. A 10-time world champion, including the promotion's first of African-American descent, he is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time Tag Team Champion, the 2000 Royal Rumble winner, and WWE's sixth Triple Crown champion. Johnson headlined the most-bought professional wrestling pay-per-view (WrestleMania XXVIII) and was featured among the most watched episodes of WWE's flagship television series (Raw and SmackDown). Being an actor Johnson's first film appearance was in The Mummy Returns (2001). The following year he played his first leading role as titular character in the sword and sorcery film The Scorpion King (2002). He then start acting various characters in different works. Johnson produced and starred in the HBO comedy-drama series Ballers (2015–2019) and stars and produces the autobiographical sitcom Young Rock (2021). In 2000, Johnson released his autobiography The Rock Says, which was a New York Times bestseller. In 2012, he co-founded the entertainment production company Seven Bucks Productions and is co-owner of the XFL, a professional American football league. In 2016 and 2019, Johnson was named by Time one of the world's most influential people Autobiography His autobiography, titled The Rock Says..., is published in 2000 which he co-wrote with Joe Layden. It debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list and remained on the list for several weeks. Hosting In 2013, Johnson hosted and produced the TNT reality competition series The Hero. In 2014, he hosted another TNT reality series entitled Wake Up Call. In 2019, Johnson started hosting an NBC competition series called The Titan Games. Products The first item in his partnership with Under Armour, a gym bag, sold out in a couple of days. His second item, a black T-shirt sporting his signature "Brahma bull", sold out after being worn at WrestleMania 32. Johnson also released an alarm clock app as part of "Project Rock" that received more than one million downloads in its first week of release. Since then, they have released sneakers, headphones, and other apparel. Channel In 2016, Johnson started his YouTube channel. His first video, The YouTube Factory, featured online personality Lilly Singh and several other internet stars.