Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles; August 24, 1944 – January 15, 2020) was a Canadian boxer and professional wrestler. During his wrestling career, he became a National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Georgia Champion and an NWA Southern Heavyweight Memphis Champion, as well as winning many other championships. Along with his partner Tony Atlas, he was part of the first black tag team to win the World Tag Team Championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He was the father of actor and former wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Early life

Rocky Johnson was born Wayde Douglas Bowles in Amherst, Nova Scotia, where he was raised, the fourth of five sons of Lillian (née Gay) (1919–1996) and James Henry Bowles (1888–1967). A Black Nova Scotian, he was descended from Black Loyalists who immigrated to Nova Scotia after escaping from a southern plantation in the United States after the American Revolutionary War. At the age of 16, Johnson moved to Toronto where he began wrestling and worked as a truck driver. Initially, he trained to be a boxer and eventually sparred with greats such as Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, but he was always fascinated by wrestling.

National Wrestling Alliance (1964–1982)
Johnson began his career as a professional wrestler in 1964, in Southern Ontario; soon after his debut, he legally changed his name to his “Rocky Johnson” moniker. In 1969 he wrestled for the World Wide Wrestling Federation Tag team with Earl Maynard. Where it was announced at the San Francisco Cow Palace that Earl Maynard would not be able to wrestle that night because he was involved in a fatal car accident (Earl Maynard was never killed in a fatal car accident. He owned a Gym in Culver City’s, Fox Hills area in the early to mid-80s).

He was a top contender in the National Wrestling Alliance in the 1970s, receiving title matches against then-World Champions Terry Funk and Harley Race. He was well-suited for tag team wrestling, winning several regional tag team championships in the NWA. Johnson wrestled off and on in the Memphis promotion, often feuding with Jerry Lawler, winning Lawler’s crown at one point. He also wrestled under a mask as “Sweet Ebony Diamond” in the Mid-Atlantic area.

World Wrestling Entertainment (1982–1985)
In 1982, he feuded with Don Muraco, Greg Valentine, Mike Sharpe, Buddy Rose, and Adrian Adonis. He was then paired with Tony Atlas as a tag team. They defeated the Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika) for the Tag Team Championship on November 15, 1983. They were the first black tag team to hold the tag title. Together, Johnson and Atlas were known as “The Soul Patrol”.

Retirement
After retiring in 1991, Johnson along with Pat Patterson, trained his son Dwayne to wrestle. While he initially resisted his son’s entry into what he knew to be an extremely difficult business, Johnson agreed to train him on the condition that he wouldn’t go easy on him. Johnson was instrumental in getting Dwayne (later dubbed “Rocky Maivia” after both Rocky Johnson’s and Peter Maivia’s ring names) signed to a WWF developmental deal. Initially, Johnson had an on-camera presence at his son’s matches and jumped into the ring on his behalf after he was attacked by The Sultan and The Iron Sheik at WrestleMania 13. Johnson was not seen on-camera again after the Rocky Maivia character flopped, and soon Dwayne achieved crossover popularity as a cocky heel, The Rock.

In early 2003, Johnson was hired as a trainer for the WWE developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling, but was let go in May. He made a return to the ring and defeated Mabel in a boxing match at Memphis Wrestling on November 29, 2003. On February 25, 2008, Johnson was announced as an inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame along with his father-in-law, “High Chief” Peter Maivia. Both Johnson and his father-in-law were inducted into the Hall of Fame on March 29, 2008, by his son, The Rock.

On December 20, 2019, Johnson joined the Board of Directors of the International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Personal life
Johnson recounts in his autobiography Soulman that he met his first wife Una Sparks at a dance while he was training to become a boxer. Una was from Cherrybrook, Nova Scotia, and a devout Jehovah’s Witness. They had two children, Curtis and Wanda, whom he introduced at his 2008 Hall of Fame induction. While married to Una, he became romantically-involved with Ata Maivia, daughter of wrestling legend “High Chief” Peter Maivia. Ata met Rocky after Maivia and Johnson were tag team partners in a match on the independent circuit. Maivia disapproved of the relationship—not because of anything personal against Johnson, but because of his chosen profession, as he knew first hand how hard it was for wrestlers’ families who were at home while they were constantly on the road. Their son Dwayne was born May 2, 1972.

To provide for his two families, he adopted a frugal lifestyle while on the road, subsisting on beer, sliced cheese, and bologna, “and unlike most of the other boys, I wasn’t a partier”. He does not reveal if Una knew about Ata and Dwayne, but states that she gave him an ultimatum to quit wrestling or “we would have to go our separate ways” as Jehovah’s Witnesses “didn’t believe in blood sport”. Johnson states that he and Una parted amicably, and “we’re good friends”. He obtained a divorce in Texas, then filed for a marriage license in Florida a few days later on December 21, 1978, to marry Ata; they divorced in 2003. He was married to a speech pathologist named Sheila at the time of his death.

Death
Johnson died on January 15, 2020, at the age of 75 in his Lutz, Florida home.

Source: -wikipedia