News broke on Wednesday afternoon that former WWF Tag Team Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson died at the age of 75 on Wednesday. Shortly after the story broke, WWE put out a statement regarding Johnson’s death, which read “WWE is saddened to learn that Rocky ‘Soul Man’ Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles), a WWE Hall of Famer and former World Tag Team Champion, has passed away at age 75.”
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The statement then went on to recap Johnson’s career, which included stints in Georgia Championship Wrestling, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Championship Wrestling From Florida, NWA Hollywood Wrestling, Big Time Wrestling, NWA Mid-America and NWA San Francisco. He wrestled in WWF from 1982-85 and captured the WWF Tag Team Championships in 1983 alongside Tony Atlas as The Soul Patrol. Johnson retired from wrestling in 1991 and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008.
“The “Soul Man” retired from the ring in 1991, but his imprint would continue to be felt on WWE for years to come. Post-retirement, Johnson would go on to have a hand in training his son, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson,” the statement continued. “The Rock would become one of the biggest stars in the history of sports-entertainment and carried on Johnson’s name with pride. In 2008, Johnson achieved the highest honor in sports-entertainment when he was inducted by The Rock into the WWE Hall of Fame where he will be forever enshrined as one of sports-entertainment’s most influential performers.
“WWE extends its condolences to Johnson’s family, friends and fans,” it concluded.
