The Rock Celebrates Anniversary of His First Wrestling Match for WWE
Today marks 25 years since Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson competed in his first pro wrestling match, [...]
Today marks 25 years since Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson competed in his first pro wrestling match, where he took on the Brooklyn Brawler at a WWE event in Corpus Christi, Texas. Johnson recapped everything that went into that first bout, including the nightmare of coming up with his ring gear, by writing, "5 years again TODAY, I had my first ever pro wrestling match in 1996 in front of 15,000 people in Corpus Christi, Texas for @WWE. Not only had I never wrestled an actual real match before, but I had NEVER wrestled in front of people. And I was so broke, the only thing I could afford to buy was a pair of white volleyball knee pads.
"I called my uncle, 'King Haku' (pictured with Andre the Giant) and asked if I could borrow a pair of his wrestling trunks (he loved purple) and I borrowed a pair of my dads old wrestling boots that his tag team partner, George Wells used to wear (pictured in the ring)," he continued.
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He then recapped how the match went.
"That was a good strategy because the very first thing I heard when I walked thru the curtain as my name was announced to the arena, "Dwaaaaaayne Johnsoooon" was. 'YOU F—ING SUCK' from a drunk fan 😂😂😂 True story 👍🏾 Man I look at this picture in complete awe and gratitude for the wild, unpredictable journey and at times - the tough roads this hard working, fanny pack wearing kid would go down. And for the record, the man I'm wrestling is the legendary Brooklyn Brawler. He was gracious enough to let me win my first ever match.
"Which is why it was important to me to lost my very last match. May sound strange, but that's how you give back to the wrestling business when you leave it. You lose. And you move on down the road," he concluded.
Johnson went on to become one of WWE's biggest stars, winning 10 world championships across his career. His last match (not counting the quick squash over Erick Rowan at WrestleMania 32) came against John Cena at WrestleMania 29.
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