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NOTE from Mike: This career overview will be updated at a later time, but I wanted to get something up quickly to acknowledge the importance of Rocky Johnson's passing.
To today’s generation, Rocky Johnson may be best known for being The Rock’s father, but for many decades “Soulman” Rocky Johnson was one of the most charismatic and groundbreaking African-American performers of all time.
Johnson will forever be celebrated as one-half of the first African American WWF Tag Team Champions alongside Tony Atlas, but more than that, he was a star in every territory he entered - Florida, Memphis, Hawaii, Mid-Atlantic and beyond. His dancing shuffle during comebacks brought the crowd up (and was later adopted by Shane McMahon). His promos were believable and good and physically, he was built like a superhero.
Initially, Johnson, a native of Nova Scotia (where his ancestors immigrated after escaping a Southern Plantation following the American Revolution), planning to become a boxer, but ended up becoming a professional wrestler instead after training for boxing.
After working in Canada, Johnson made his way around the different territories, In Memphis, he was presented as a boxing champion who had come to face Jerry Lawler and the two would have a long feud. In Mid-Atlantic, he would wrestle under a mask as Sweet Ebony Diamond. In the NWA, he was thought highly enough that would would challenge Harley Race and later Terry Funk for the NWA World Championship.
It was the WWF run that would lead to his most famous moment, capturing the WWF Tag Team belts from The Wlld Samoans after Captain Lou Albano accidentally nailed one of them with a chair. It was a seminal moment that has been long remembered by fans since title changes in that era were rare and the sheer insane electricity that was the response of the fans in Allentown, PA when Atlas and Johnson scored the win.
As a singles star, he feuded with Don Muraco, Adrian Adonis and Greg Valentine among others. He would wrestle off and on into the early 1990s, but would forever become The Rock’s dad after bringing him to WWF’s attention and getting him signed.
The future Rock would initially be billed as Rocky Maivia, taking mother’s maiden name as his own. Initially, he flopped bad, but a heel turn and incredible promo skills proved to be the key to unlocking his star power, a star power so great that he later left wrestling behind to become one of the biggest Hollywood stars of this era.
Johnson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his son in 2008 with Rock paying tribute to his father for always pushing forward and chasing the money to provide for his family, even when there were downward, rough times. Johnson was inducted alongside his late father-in-law Peter Maivia in Orlando, which was fitting since Johnson was a big star in Florida.
Johnson had a stint as a trainer for then-WWE developmental territory OVW and late last year, release an autobiography, detailing his travels around pro wrestling, overcoming racism in the territory era and the rise to fame of his son.
Just several days ago, The Rock announced a new NBC comedy he would star in, titled “Little Rock” about the crazy upbringing he had as the son of a wrestler and being a member of a family that never stopped heading for the next city and the next adventure. One would think his father would play prominently in the series, one final tribute from a son to his father, one even more poignant than when it was announced earlier this week.
PWInsider.com sends our deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of Rocky Johnson.
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