To say that Dwayne Johnson was bred for professional wrestling would be an understatement. This third-generation WWE Superstar not only embraces the spectacle that is sports entertainment, he embodies it. Since his WWE debut at Madison Square Garden in 1996, this People’s Champion has proven his charisma. His ability to “get things over” is unparalleled and thanks to The Rock, objects such as elbows, pie, and even eyebrows have all been given the golden rub of the Great One.
But how does one man turn an eyebrow into a T-shirt? It’s a riddle that Rocky has been telling for decades. Say a word, you get a response. Make a movement and trend worldwide. Raise an eyebrow, the people raise them all with you. You can smell it. That’s Hollywood, honey.
It’s not easy to get such an innocent move with the frenzied crowd of wrestling. Johnson had to make sure everything was right. Just when he’d hit his personality, career and mean ways on all cylinders, he raised that eyebrow high – and made history.
The dawn of the rock
Before he was The Rock, Johnson was Flex Kavana in the USWA. Johnson, a faded version of the cocky superstar he would later become, used this time in Memphis Wrestling to hone his craft and tap into the people. It would later be these “people” who would be both his blessing and his curse.
Upon his debut in WWE (WWF at the time), Johnson was renamed “Rocky Maivia”. His father, Rocky Johnson, was a beloved future WWE Hall of Famer with a huge fan base that never seemed to go away. Along with Tony Atlas, the two had captured tag team gold and held on with pride. Everyone loved Rocky Johnson. His maternal grandfather, Peter Maivia, was the chief of wrestling. This beloved superstar had decades of fame and no one could whip up a crowd quite like him. By the time his grandson was fighting, people still remembered him. Everyone loved Peter Maivia.
Nobody liked Rocky Maivia. Sad to say, but it’s true. By the time Rocky came out at Survivor Series 1996, people were already over him. For some reason he had garlands around his neck. It was a mess. This mix of the two names with a TV spot was seen as yet another Vince McMahon creation. He was promptly booed and sent off for being “pushed down the throat” by the audience. Fans chanted “Rocky Sucks” and held up signs that read “Die, Rocky, Die”. The whole scene was disheartening because the future Great had to smile through it. His hair was bouncy and his teeth gleaming. But inside The Rock smelled something boiling.
Eyebrow of domination
It was the August 11, 1997 edition of WWE Monday Night Raw that saw the People’s Champion break out of his shell. Rocky returned and gave Bryan “Crush” Adams (not the same guy as Summer of ’69) a “Rock Bottom”. It was his entry into the tough Nation of Domination stable. Rocky was back from injury and addressed the crowd as only he could.
“I have three words. Die, Rocky, die. Is that the gratitude I get from you, you piece of shit? For all my blood, sweat and tears?” From there, Maivia would skyrocket. It was a tear that would see him renamed “The Rock”, The People’s Champion and eventually the new leader of the Nation of Domination. Before long he was acting above the rest of the members. He had set his sights on taking over the group he had just joined.
In hindsight, Ron “Faaroq” Simmons could have seen it coming. Pro wrestling rules of logic state that hot new bad guys always knock out outgoing growth. It’s all bad Game of Thrones, and when The Rock took control of the team, his true personality was born. Many call that moment the birth of The People’s Eyebrow. This upward movement with the hair above his eyes gave Rocky a hidden power. People loved it. Just before attacking his former leader, Johnson flashed the old brow at all of us back home.
However, the eyebrow seems to have been a move he did long before that. Was it a conscious choice? It seems a little digging leads us to former Polynesian Pro Wrestling competitor Gil Hayes for inspiration. This was the group in which Johnson’s family was heavily involved. Hayes made the classic move himself and his part in the early days of a young rock is hard to argue with.
“(Dwayne Jonnson) used to sit with me and we watched Gil do his interviews,” said Shelly Paulson, Gil’s widow. slam wrestling. “The Rock’s brow (movement) came from Gil, I’d bet my life on it… They always put the camera right on Gil’s face with that damn brow that stayed up and up.” However, in the world of professional wrestling, everything is a remix. Even if it’s inspired by Gil Hayes, Rocky made it famous. Today’s fan immediately knows who you mean without saying a word. That’s the goal of every successful wrestler.
The big
Today Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson exploded. From the early days in Memphis to the current days in Hollywood, the former WWE Champion has made a mark outside of the company that few can ever touch. The huge success he has had from the day he signed on to do The scorpion king through this year Black Adam is nothing short of amazing.
Dubbed the Most Exciting Man in Sports Entertainment, Johnson has returned to WWE for appearances in the years since his departure. A memorable three-year storyline saw the People’s Champ return to take on the Doctor of Thuganomics in back-to-back WrestleMania main events (via Cinema mix). It’s an opportunity for him to give back to the family business that gave him so much to start,
The story between the two made wrestling history as it was one of the few times a match was booked and promoted a year in advance. The real issues between Cena and Johnson were hard to distinguish from the on-air story. It created a sense of anticipation and a sense of real surprise about the match results. Ultimately, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will always hold professional wrestling deep in his heart. Not only does he have a very large family with bloodlines all scattered across the industry, but Johnson has a world of respect for the sport of kings. He never saw Hollywood as a way out. He saw it as yet another thing to overcome. So raise an eyebrow for the Great One. Raise the other one for Gil Hayes. Anyway, the People have spoken.