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Dwayne Johnson Once Recalled How He Understood His Father More Despite His Waning Idealization of Him

Published 01/27/2023, 3:30 PM EST

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Dwayne Johnson has always shared about having a strange relationship with his Rocky Johnson for a long time. ‘The Brahma Bull’ has claimed after he himself became a father, he understood why ‘The Soulman’ was tough on him.

However, there is a particular moment in The Rock’s life that started bringing him close to his father. This is even before DJ himself became a dad.

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Dwayne Johnson once talked about understanding his father’s love for him

In an interview with Vanity Fair, the WWE legend shared about an incident that happened at I-65. Ata Johnson got out of the car and started walking into “in the middle of the highway”. Moreover, DJ said this incident, “triggered a real anger for my dad from me.”

Moreover, he shared he was worried about his parents’ relationship after that. He is close to his mother but started knowing his father more after his football career ended and he decided to enter the wrestling business.

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He said, “The irony is I fucking idolized my dad as a boy. “I idolized him, man. And obviously that idealization started to wane over the years. But the older I got, and the more experienced I got, the more I could appreciate his love for me in that limited capacity.”

When Dewee asked Rocky Johnson, “I want to get into the business”, The Soulman said, “Absolutely not. You got nothing to offer.”

Johnson didn’t want his son to face the same problems he faced as a professional wrestler. Surprisingly, teaching his son the art of wrestling brought Johnson close to his son and strengthened their relationship.

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The time Rocky Johnson and The Rock shared the ring in WWE

‘The Great One’ often appeared at the arena to watch his father wrestle. The Soulman was a WWE superstar and won the tag team titles with Tony Atlas. It was a proud moment for Dewee to see his father having a milestone.

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Nevertheless, years later, when the Hall of Famer shared the ring with The Rock. Moreover, it happened at the grandest stage of WrestleMania 13.

The Soulman came to save his son when DJ, who was Rocky Maivia at the time, got attacked by The Sultan aka Rikishi and The Iron Sheik. Rocky Johnson indeed enjoyed this segment and was pumped up to be in a WWE ring.

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Clearly, this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment for the father-son duo. They were on the same page and a few years later, DJ inducted The Soulman into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008.

Watch this story: The Evolution of Dwayne Johnson

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Written by:

Tushar Deogharkar

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Tushar Deogharkar is a WWE writer at EssentiallySports. Tushar has done his Master's in Tourism Management and is an ardent fan of pro wrestling. He follows WWE and AEW very closely and wants to learn how the promotions are run.
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Edited by:

Debmallya Chakraborty