Heartfelt tribute

The Rock aka Dwayne Johnson paid an emotional tribute to his late father Rocky Johnson, who was a wrestling legend, on Friday. Dwayne wrote a heartfelt note about his father on Instagram and also shared a video where he is seen in his younger days watching his father wrestle. He wrote, “I love you. You broke colour barriers, became a ring legend and trail blazed your way thru this world. I was the boy sitting in the seats, watching and adoring you, my hero from afar. The boy you raised to always be proud of our cultures and proud of who and what I am. The boy you raised with the toughest of love. The intense work. The hard hand. The adoring boy who wanted to know only your best qualities. Who then grew to become a man realizing you had other deeply complicated sides that needed to be held and understood.”

The actor further wrote, “Son to father. Man to man. That’s when my adoration turned to respect. And my empathy turned to gratitude. Grateful that you gave me life. Grateful you gave me life’s invaluable lessons. Dad, I wish I had one more shot to tell you, I love you, before you crossed over to the other side. But you were ripped away from me so fast without warning. Gone in an instant and no coming back. I’m in pain….”

Dwayne’s father Rocky retired in the year 1991 and then helped his son to debut in WWE as Rocky Maivia. This name was a way to pay respect to Dwayne Johnson’s father and grandfather. He then changed his name to The Rock and went on to become one of the legends of wrestling. Dwayne Johnson then moved on to pursue a career in films.