Born in Hayward,California, Johnson first gained mainstream fame as a standout in the then-World Wrestling Federation. He was originally known in the promotion as Rocky Maivia, in homage to his father,Rocky Johnson , and his maternal grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia.[ His mother Ata Maivia was a Samoan of royal lineage of Samoa.

As he entered 11th grade, Johnson's father's job required his relocation to Bethlehem,Pennsylvania, in the state's rugged Lehigh Valley region.In Bethlehem, Johnson began to cultivate an intense athleticism, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He began playing football at Bethlehem's Freedom High School.In addition to playing football,he also was a member of the high school track & field team.

Johnson received collegiate football scholarship offers from several universities and settled on the University of Miami in Coral Gables,Florida, one of the top football programs in the nation. While the University of Miami Football program did not openly recruit Johnson, he entered try-outs as a "walk on" for the program and made the team, playing defensive tackle.

After his graduation from the University of Miami, Johnson, who was not drafted by the NFL , signed a three-year contract with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football league , but was cut from the team 3 months later, without playing a game.

While a student at the University of Miami, Johnson met his future wife Dany Garcia, who also was a University of Miami student at the time. Garcia, who graduated from the University of Miami in 1992, is the founder of a Miami-based wealth management firm.Johnson graduated from the University of Miami in 1995 with dual degrees in Criminology  and physiology.

Along with his father and grandfather, several members of Johnson's family are current and former professional wrestlers, including his uncles , the Wild Samoans(Afa and Sika Anoai), and cousins such as former WWF Champion Yokozuna, former WWF Tag Team Champion Rikishi  and current wrestler Umaga (formerly known as Jamal). When he declared his intention to join the family business, his father resisted, but agreed to train his son himself, warning him that he would not go easy on him.With help from former WWF executive and veteran wrestler Pat Patterson, Johnson secured a tryout with the WWF. Impressed by his talent and charisma, he was signed to a WWF deal after a short stint for "seasoning" in, where he wrestled under the ring names of Flex Kavana and Pidlaoan Rock.Johnson first wrestled in the WWF as Rocky Maivia, a combination of his father and grandfather's ring names.

He was the first Intercontinental champion of Samoan descent.Johnson's popularity as The Rock propelled him to the WWF Championship at the 1998 Survivor series at age 26. At the time, he was the youngest WWF Champion in history the Rock found himself in several WWF Championship opportunities, both in singles and tag. He teamed with now former enemy Mankind to create the "Rock & Sock connection" and won the WF Tag Team titles.At Summerslam 2001, The Rock defeated Booker T to win the WCW Championship.On July 21,2002 , The Rock would win his record-breaking seventh and final WWE championship.

The Rock made occasional wrestling appearances up to 2004's Wrestlemania XX.In several interviews, Dwayne Johnson had reported that he is no longer under contract with WWE and that his contract had expired in 2004. Johnson himself reported that the reason he was able to continue using the name "The Rock" was part of a dual ownership between him and WWE.

While still wrestling full-time, Johnson made an appearance as host of the popular sketch comedy TV series Saturday night live. The episode was very popular, and it showcased Johnson's acting and comedic ability favorably.After this, Johnson started to get offers from Hollywood  for a multitude of different projects.

 

(from Wikipedia.org)