Former WWF Tag Team Champion Rocky Johnson died at the age of 75 on Wednesday, as was announced by the Cauliflower Alley Club. Johnson, the father of WWE Superstar and Hollywood A-Lister Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, made his wrestling debut as part of the National Wrestling Alliance in 1964. After a brief stint with the World Wide Wrestling Federation in 1969, Johnson worked for the WWF from 1982-85. Johnson and Tony Atlas, known as The Soul Patrol, captured the WWF Tag Team Championships in November 1983 by beating the Wild Samoans. The pair made history in the process by becoming the first black wrestlers to hold the titles.
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Johnson retired from wrestling in 1991. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2008 by his son, Dwayne.
Horrible news to pass along. We just learned that Rocky Johnson passed away today at the age of 75. His accolades in this business, all the people he influenced, all his accomplishments, and we are so deeply sorry and wish his family nothing but the most love at this time pic.twitter.com/3AvzVwylPH
— CauliflowerAlleyClub (@CACReunion) January 15, 2020
Born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada, Johnson met his future wife Ata Maivia after he and her father High Chief Peter Miavia wrestled as tag team partners. The pair married in 1970 and had Dwayne on May 2, 1972. Johnson would go on to train Dwayne alongside Pat Patterson starting in 1991. “The People’s Champ” would debut in 1996 and go on to be a 10-time world champion in the WWE.
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Image Courtesy of WWE
