Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time,[6][7] Johnson was integral to the development and success of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) during the Attitude Era.

[9][10][11] He is a co-owner of the United Football League,[12][13][14] a member of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings—the parent company of UFC and WWE[15][16][17]—and co-founder of Seven Bucks Productions.

[18] After accepting an athletic scholarship to play football at the University of Miami, Johnson was a member of the 1991 national championship team but was largely a backup player.

[63][37] Despite playing four years there, however, Johnson found himself behind elite players on the depth chart, including future NFL star and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Warren Sapp, and appeared mostly in backup roles.

Wrestling at first under his real name, Johnson defeated The Brooklyn Brawler at a house show on March 10[71] and lost matches to Chris Candido and Owen Hart.

[1][52] After losing the Intercontinental Championship to Owen Hart on the April 28 episode of Raw Is War,[83] Maivia suffered a legitimate knee injury in a match against Mankind in June and spent several months recovering.

[1] Upon returning in August, Maivia turned heel for the first time in his career by lashing out at fans who had been booing him and joining Faarooq, D'Lo Brown and Kama in the stable called the Nation of Domination.

The next night, on Raw is War, The Rock debuted a new Intercontinental Championship design and would later overthrow Faarooq as leader of the Nation of Domination to spark a feud between the two.

[98][99] In the main event of the January 4, 1999, episode of Raw Is War, Mankind defeated The Rock for the championship after interference from Stone Cold Steve Austin.

[103] The two faced off again, at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House on February 14, in a Last Man Standing match which ended in a draw, meaning Mankind retained the title.

Their feud ended on the February 15 Raw Is War, when The Rock won his third WWF Championship in a Ladder Match after a debuting Big Show interfered on his behalf.

The Alliance's team consisted of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Shane McMahon.

The event also saw the WWF debut of the famed WCW faction New World Order (nWo), which at the time consisted of "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall.

There, he was named the number one contender for the WWE Undisputed Championship, which he won for a record-setting seventh time at Vengeance on July 21, by defeating Kurt Angle and then-champion The Undertaker in a Triple Threat match.

[162] In 2018, writing for ESPN.com, Sean Coyle noted in a retrospective review of the event, that following his victory over Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8, The Rock "started to see a dip in fan support" and "that dip turned into a plunge" by the time The Rock had his match with Lesnar at SummerSlam because fans knew he was leaving WWE to pursue an acting career,[163] as evidenced by the negative crowd response during his match with Lesnar.

[1] On the August 23 episode of Raw, he hosted a pie-eating contest, as part of the WWE Diva Search, and ended the segment by giving Coachman a People's Elbow.

After appearing in numerous backstage segments, The Rock came to ringside to restart the main event between Cena and The Miz as a No Disqualification match, after it had ended in a double countout.

[207] The following night on Raw, The Rock unveiled a new WWE Championship design, with a different center plate and removable customizable side-plates which had his "Brahma Bull" logo.

[222] On the January 25, 2016, episode of Raw, the Rock was in a segment that saw him converse with The Miz, Big Show, Lana and Rusev before he and his relatives, The Usos, got into an altercation with then-WWE Tag Team Champions, The New Day.

[237] During the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame, The Rock received a "People's Championship" from Muhammad Ali's wife Lonnie, which he would begin carrying over his shoulder whenever he appeared onscreen.

Following the match, The Rock returned and stood at the top of the entrance ramp, where he silently counted to three and made a throat slashing gesture to Reigns, Rhodes, and Uso before leaving.

[267] The Rock made a surprise appearance at the official Xbox unveiling during Bill Gates's keynote speech at the ongoing Computer Electronics Show in 2001.

Joe: Retaliation and reprising his role as Luke Hobbs in Fast & Furious 6 (2013),[317][318] while also starring in true-story films Pain & Gain (2013) and Empire State (2013).

Forbes credited the success of Fast & Furious 6, which grossed $789 million globally, and his frequent acting work as primary reasons for topping the list.

[324] Johnson starred as the title character in Hercules in 2014[325] and hosted another reality series for TNT that same year, entitled Wake Up Call, which saw him "lending a helping hand to everyday people who were facing enormous challenges in their lives" alongside guest experts such as Rocco DiSpirito, Jillian Michaels, and Josh Shipp.

His involvement was finally confirmed during the Chapter 2 End Event on December 4, 2021, with The Foundation removing his helmet to reveal that he shared Johnson's voice and likeness.

[342] Johnson voiced Krypto The Superdog in the animated feature DC League of Super Pets (2022), which was released theatrically in July and emerged as a success.

[352] In November 2024, Johnson reunited with director Jake Kasdan to star alongside Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, and J. K. Simmons, in the Christmas themed action comedy Red One,[353] which didn't fare well financially.

[361] Johnson is also attached to produce/star in a sequel to Big Trouble in Little China,[362][363] as well as project under development with Shane Black focusing on a new interpretation of Doc Savage.

[398] Following an online poll which found that 46% of Americans would consider voting for Johnson in an election, he told Today in April 2021, "I do have that goal to unite our country and I also feel that if this is what the people want, then I will do that".