As a former professional sports star and action movie regular, it will not be a surprise for many to learn that Dwayne Johnson is a good deal taller than 6ft. Hollywood actors are regularly believed to be taller than they really are, so it can be taken as read that “The Rock” probably towers over many of his co-stars these days.

 Previously the owner of the XFL sports league – and now co-owner of the all-new United Football League, Johnson will be interested in how the inaugural season is going and as keen as anyone to see the prices for games listed on all the best online betting sites. But this is one man who has a lot of strings to his bow.

As the son of a professional wrestler, Johnson may have had a head start on others when it came to carving out a career of his own in the ring. But he never saw wrestling as the start and end of his career. Now he is one of the most well-known – and well-liked – people on the planet and still searching out more professional avenues to be successful.

An Introduction to The Rock

Where to begin with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson? Born in Hayward, California in 1972, Johnson lived in New Zealand for a while before moving back to the US. His family continued to move around and he attended school in North Carolina, Hawaii, and Tennessee before graduating from high school in Pennsylvania.

He excelled in a number of sports but played football in college before turning professional. He then became a wrestler – and a world champion at that – before trying his hand at acting. His winning personality and strongman looks won him a number of high-profile roles and he was soon a box office star as well. 

Some sharp investments have seen Johnson succeed in the world of business and now he is able to combine his accomplishments in the world of sports and show business to become a highly influential personality in both. He has remained hugely popular and is one of the few people in the media spotlight who seems to be liked by just about everybody.

Sports Career

There will be some of you who may disagree about wrestling being a real sport at all. Classified as sports entertainment, it may not be as respected as some other major league sports but its stars certainly need to be in the best of shape to be as successful as The Rock was.

But Dwayne Johnson had already appeared in highlights reels and sports reports as a college athlete, winning the national football championship with the University of Miami Hurricanes in 1991. But he went undrafted by the NFL and played two months in the Canadian Football League before being cut.

That rejection, so early in his professional life, obviously only spurred Johnson on to succeed, as he turned his hand to his father’s profession and ended up signing with the then-WWF in 1996. Just a year after having to give up his dreams of a professional football career, he was now a top wrestler.

Moving from Sports to Show Business

 It was his move to the sports entertainment world that probably did more to help Johnson’s chances of becoming a mainstream show business star. It is unlikely that any of what happened would have come to pass if he had relied on following a successful NFL career with a move into TV and film roles. 

The natural drama of wrestling helped The Rock win a wider range of fans and after winning multiple world championships in the ring, he embarked on gaining a foothold in Hollywood. He would return to wrestling again and again throughout his career but his instant success in movies catapulted him into the A-league.

Hollywood Star

Even before Johnson first left the wrestling ring he was being lauded as a mainstream star. He appeared in music videos, TV shows, and even hosted Saturday Night Live. His first movie, The Mummy Returns in 2001, was a huge success and he has starred in two or three films almost every year since.

In the last ten years or so, Johnson has made the funny action star role virtually his own, while also becoming more comfortable with a wider range of parts. He continues to play superhero types, voice animated family movies, and uses his natural comic talents in a way rarely seen by former sports stars.

The Business of Sports

 Dwayne Johnson has never been just a dumb jock that made a bit of money through sports. His career achievements away from the field and ring have shown that he is a multi-faceted character. But he has also been able to use his money to invest in pro sports and to become part of the power behind the game.

In 2020, he was part of a consortium that purchased the XFL sports league, with a view to re-launch in 2022. Those plans had to be put on hold because of the global pandemic but the league started play again in 2023. After a successful inaugural season, it was announced that XFL would merge with the USFL to become the UFL. Johnson and his partners now own a 50% share of the new league.

The Future for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

Is there anything that this man cannot do? Johnson has shown time after time that he can achieve success in just about anything he puts his mind to and that trend does not seem to be ending anytime soon.

Johnson seems almost untouchable when it comes to controversy and continues to be one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars. With his investments continuing to grow, it is likely that he will be at the forefront of the mainstream for quite a while yet.