Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one of the most recognizable names in pro wrestling and one of the biggest success stories in the industry to date — and he’s one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood, on top of all that.

While he’s stepped away from wrestling, even claiming that he quietly retired in 2019, Johnson made appearances as The Rock on “WWE SmackDown” in September 2023 and “WWE Raw” in early January 2024 before joining the TKO Board of Directors later that month.

He even teased a long-anticipated rivalry with his cousin, dominant Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

However, despite all this success, Johnson comes from humble origins, something he’s never been shy to share. Even after his rise to fame, The Rock”was never a stranger to tragedy, and faced many difficulties that could have derailed other careers. In fact, the challenges he’s faced across his life make him one of the most relatable men in both Hollywood and professional wrestling.

As a teenager, he had multiple run ins with the law

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While he’s reached many heights of success today, Johnson’s childhood was far from ideal. As the son of Rocky Johnson and “Ata” Maivia — adopted daughter of “High Chief” Peter Maivia — The Rock has wrestling in his blood. Rocky Johnson started his career as a boxer but eventually transitioned into pro wrestling, where he first met Peter at Ata Maivia. However, Rocky Johnson was married at the time and had children he also had to provide for, even after he divorced his first wife.

Rocky Johnson’s life as a wrestler left Dwayne and his mother to care for themselves day-to-day in Hawaii. They had to move from place to place, often only staying in one home for a few months at a time. Despite this, they were once evicted from their home, which Johnson recalled in an interview with “The Hollywood Reporter.”

“We come home, and there’s a padlock on the door and an eviction notice,” he said. “My mom starts bawling. She just started crying and breaking down. ‘Where are we going to live? What are we going to do?’”

Johnson’s mother also had her car repossessed a week before this. Unfortunately, Johnson turned to a life of petty crime and joined a theft ring that targeted tourists in Waikiki, resulting in multiple run-ins with the local police before he was old enough to vote.

His mother attempted suicide when he was 15

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The Rock has been candid about his relationship with Rocky Johnson, having described him as an absent father. Sadly, this put his mother, Ata, through traumatic emotional pain.

During an interview with Express, Johnson recalled the day his mother attempted suicide in front of him, shortly after the aforementioned eviction. According to Johnson, they were in Nashville and driving on Interstate 65 at the time. Without warning, his mother got out of the car and “walked into oncoming traffic.” Traffic swerved out of the way, and Johnson luckily got to her quickly enough to grab her and pull her back onto the shoulder of the road, saving her life in the process.

Looking back, he still claims he “got lucky that day” and lamented how often things take a more tragic turn of events with many other suicides. However, while he might have saved his mother’s life, he admitted that the ordeal still sent him into a deep depression.

“I reached a point where I didn’t want to do a thing or go anywhere,” he said. “I was crying constantly.”

According to Johnson, his mother has no recollection of the events whatsoever, but that the two of them have since healed. Today, Johnson and his mother have a heartwarming relationship. In 2023, for her 75th birthday, Dwayne posted a clip of him singing to Ata, which made her emotional.

Like many children of wrestlers, Johnson grew up in and around the industry and met many veterans. With his father rarely at home, his grandfather became a father figure to him and helped stabilize his life. In an interview with GQ, Johnson even described Peter Maivia as “a very proud man who was very much loved and respected, and also one of the toughest men ever in pro-wrestling.” Johnson once revealed that his grandfather was partially the inspiriration for the character of Maui in Disney’s “Moana,” who Johnson voiced.

Sadly, Maivia died when Johnson was only ten years old, after a battle with cancer — one of the catalysts that propelled Johnson into a life of petty crime. Later, in his 20s, Johnson also had to deal with the passing of Andre The Giant in 1993, when he was only 46 years old. Years later, Johnson posted a tribute to “The 8th Wonder of the World.”

“Andre was a hero of mine,” Johnson wrote. “And for some reason he took a liking to me too & always treated me like his own son.”

Maivia and Andre were good friends while both were in the industry, which could be why the massive legend took a liking to Johnson. Johnson also posted a tribute to both men on his social media accounts, highlighting how close they were while lamenting that he never got to raise a tequila with them.