It is hard to think of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as anything other than a massive, global success. Even at a young age, Johnson was electrifying crowds in WWE and main-eventing WrestleMania. However, before things took a turn for the better, times had been hard for Johnson.
As documented on his hit NBC series Young Rock, Johnson’s father, WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson, had a falling out with Vince McMahon just as his career and the promotion were taking off. The fallout led to the Johnson family struggling, while also trying to succeed in the competitive, and colorful world of pro wrestling. Of course, in the end, Dwayne’s father’s ties to WWE would lead to him eventually signing his own contract, and the rest is history.
In a recent interview with The Pivot, The Rock reflected on having his daughter, current WWE NXT star Simone Johnson, aka Ava, so young while being in the throws of his career taking off, much like his own father.
“Now, years later, I have the privilege and honor of watching my daughter, Simone, and I had her when I was young in my 20s,” Johnson said. “And, you know, as dudes, we’re still trying to find ourselves in our 20s and our 30s. If we’re lucky, we reach our fourth level and we find ourselves a little bit, we get a little bit more wiser. So when I had Simone, I was flying by the seat of my pants.
“I was wrestling full time, I started transitioning into movies full time, I had so much shit going on. So, I like to say me and Simone grew up together. We had a relationship where I was always gone, but we tried to keep it together. Now, years later, as she becomes a pro wrestler, it’s actually brought us closer together. So, in a way, it’s helped save that relationship too. So, in many ways, pro wrestling has been my family savior.”
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