Dwayne “The Rock" Johnson's Eulogy to His Father

Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. A blood clot
was the cause of death for Rocky Soulman Johnson, the
WWE Professional Wrestling Hall of Famer and father of Hollywood
actor Dwayne the Rock Johnson. Johnson died at the Florida
home his son bought for him. He was seventy five.

(00:33):
Rocky began wrestling at the age of sixteen and retired
in nineteen ninety one, but he went on to train
his son to become a wrestler. Here's Dwayne the Rock
Johnson paying tribute to his father.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
And wish I had one more shot.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
You know, just that.

Speaker 4 (00:53):
You say goodbye, I say I love you, say thank you,
I respect you. But you know, I have a feeling
he's watching, he's listening.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
I know my dad will be saying, kay, fave the tears.

Speaker 4 (01:11):
You know, you try and you think about, well, what
am I gonna write? And this is you know you
don't Yeah, you don't know what to write for eulogy.
It's your dad. You don't expect it, as you guys know,
you know, he went very quick. I was on my
way to work the other day on January fifteenth, and
I was just pulling into work and we were shooting
that day and it was the very first day of production.

(01:33):
And then I get a call from my wife Lauren,
who said, you know, hey, I just spoke to Cora.
It seems like something's going on with your dad. And
Lauren was with our she was with our babies, she

(01:59):
was with my mom, and.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
She said, you know, I really can't talk.

Speaker 4 (02:04):
She goes, I think you should call coor though, So
of course I called Korakra.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
You know, she broke the news to me.

Speaker 4 (02:09):
And right when she broke the news, I was literally
just pulling it and I'm looking at the whole crew,
hundreds of guys and women milling around and carrying equipment
and waving at me in the truck and waving back,
and it all got really foggy, and it seemed like
it was just a big dream. And you know how
you have those moments you can try and shake yourself out.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Of it and you're like, no, it's not a dream.
My dad's gone.

Speaker 4 (02:33):
And in that moment, I just thought, well, what do
I need to do.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
What's the next thing that I need to do?

Speaker 4 (02:39):
And I heard a voice say, oh, hey, show must
go on, and.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
And that was my dad.

Speaker 4 (02:53):
That was my own man who told me that, you know,
this idea about the show must go on. It just
reminded me of, you know, what my dad was and
what he represented to our business and to our wrestling business,
and something that you know, we're all very proud of
because many of us are in this wrestling business and

(03:13):
it is in your blood. Once it's in your blood,
it never goes away. The phrase of trailblazer is connected
to my dad's name, my dad, Rocky Johnson. Trailblazer never
been done. When you do things that have never been done,
but impactful things and things that actually moved the needle

(03:34):
an industry.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
And he did that and for my dad when he
broke into the.

Speaker 4 (03:39):
Business in the mid sixties and throughout the late sixties
and into the seventies in the United States where racial
tension and divide was very strong, and in the sixties
and the seventies, you have a black man coming in,
it's an all white audience.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
There is good luck, dude, wuldn't you say.

Speaker 4 (03:57):
In all these small little towns that eventually I would
go on to but at that time changed the audience
behavior and actually had them cheer for this black.

Speaker 5 (04:06):
Man, a man that had been a pop star all
over the United States for the.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
Past decade, introducing Rocky Johnson.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
This h each other. Is he excited or is he
and not?

Speaker 4 (04:22):
When he was wrestling against other black men, because he
was usually the only black guy in the territory, he
was wrestling against other white wrestlers. And I thought that
was really unique, and I thought that was really powerful,
and I thought that it deserved to be said. And
that's what this man did. You know, we celebrated and
we gave honor to doctor Martin Luther King yesterday and
I woke up this morning and my heart, of course

(04:44):
it's heavy, but there was a lightness to it that
I thought, Wow, you know, it's very appropriate because you know,
my dad fought for racial equality.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
At a time where it was needed.

Speaker 5 (04:53):
We are the first black tat chapters of the world ever.

Speaker 4 (04:58):
Thought Doctor Martin Luther King would be very proud out
of my dad. When you think of my dad's name,
you think hard work, you think barrier breaking, you think
you know that being the hardest worker in the room,
always working out, taught me how to work out when
I was a very at very young age. Hard work, discipline,
those are things and tenets that that are synonymous with

(05:18):
my dad's name. What's amazing to me now after a
daylight today, after we come here and we give our
respects and our love, he's galvanized. He's responsible for galvanizing
families now and families coming together just a bit closer,
because you know, through processes like this and we all
go through this, we all go through this and we've.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
All lost loved ones.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
But guarantee, when we walk out of these doors, we're
going to hold each other a bit tighter. We're going
to have each other a bit harder. We're going to
kiss each other, we're going to say I love you,
and we're going to be a little bit more present.
And I think that's the beautiful irony about my dad
and all the things that his name is synonymous with
all over the years. Now, his name is synonymous with

(06:03):
the power of love and bringing people together.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
It's very appropriate for the soul. Man.

Speaker 4 (06:09):
I wish your soul at rest and at ease. There's
no more pain, no more regret. I'm sorry, Just give
me a second. Thank you for bearing my names. Give

(06:33):
me a second. I'm so happy he had friends a
place like this that he could come to and all
of you who have been in his life, and all
of you have said really wonderful things, all the messages
that you sent me. He would be very happy at this.

(06:54):
It would make his heart full. This isn't goodbye, this
is just I'll see it down the road. We'll see
it down the road. I thank you guys so much
for your time. And I love you all. I thank you,
we love you all. My family, thank you guys very much.

(07:16):
And I'll see it down the road.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
So many.

Speaker 5 (07:24):
Father and son rocking the house here, Ladies and gentlemen
at Rostomanias you carry the family name, you carry your
grandfather's name, you carry my name.

Speaker 3 (07:33):
And I said in that crowd, and I watch you,
and I was so proud.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
My dad was a hero to me.

Speaker 4 (07:40):
He was larger than life, legendary matches I witnessed as
a kid.

Speaker 2 (07:44):
He was able to cross all lines and become one of.

Speaker 4 (07:46):
The most dynamic and formidable performers of his time. It
is my great honor to welcome, congratulate, and induct into
the two thousand and eight WWE Hall of Fame my
dad Johnson.

Speaker 5 (08:02):
I would also like to thank my beautiful daughter, Wanda,
my son, Curtis, and for Dwayne.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
For everything you'd done for me.

Speaker 5 (08:12):
You made me proud by continue our family resting legacy,
by continuing our family rest And I know in the
beginning I resisted you from entering the business because they
knew it was extremely difficult, and I only agreed to
train you on one condition that I would not go
easy on you.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
And let me tell you I didn't.

Speaker 5 (08:38):
I will tell you follow Selly. I will tell you
a story that's not on this script. He got sassy
with me one time. It's about a mile and a
half from home, and he wanted sympathy, and it was
porn down rain and I said, if you want sympathy,

(08:58):
go home to your mother and get it.

Speaker 3 (09:00):
He said, that's exactly where I'm going. He took his
bag and he left.

Speaker 5 (09:05):
But I will say this from the bottom of my heart,
and I love him very much. He's my son and
he always will be, and I'm very proud of him.
I would like to be remembered for help him pay
the road for other black athletes, but I'd also.

Speaker 3 (09:24):
Like to remember for paving the road for.

Speaker 5 (09:26):
All athletes, no matter race, color or creon. Thank you,
and may God bless each and every one of you.

Speaker 1 (09:38):
Thank you, and a terrific job on the production editing
and storytelling by our own Greg Hangler. And you were
listening to Dwayne the Rock Johnson eulogize his father, Rocky
Soulman Johnson. In the end, there you were listening to
Rocky Soulman Johnson himself the father and son affair. It's

(10:01):
not a dream, the Rock said, Dad's gone. I heard
a voice, though the show must go on. My dad
taught me that he fought for racial equality, breaking barriers,
hard work and discipline, always working out, always working hard.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
That's what my dad taught me.

Speaker 1 (10:22):
His name is associated though, in the end, with the
power of love and bringing people together. He would be
very happy with this. It would make his heart full.
And he closed with those words, I'll see you down
the road, soul Man. Dwayne the Rock Johnson gulogy to
his father Here on our American Stories