Dwayne Johnson celebrates his birthday on May 2, and regardless of the millions…and millions that he earns from his absurdly successful acting career, he will always be The Rock.

Of course, he didn’t start off as “The Rock.”

In the video below, Johnson looks back on his WWE debut that took place at Madison Square Garden on the Survivor Series pay-per-view event on November 17, 1996.  Then billed as Rocky Maivia, he was a long way from becoming “The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment,” but even The Rock had to start somewhere.

Seriously, that hair alone was ridiculous (which he acknowledges), never mind his gear.

Eventually, crowds everywhere would soon sour on the squeaky clean Maivia. As if almost by fate, a knee injury put Johnson on the shelf for four months, and when he returned in August 1997, The Rock was born.

The rest is history.

Dwayne Johnson Now Owns “The Rock”

In January 2024, it was announced that Johnson joined the Board of Directors of TKO Group Holdings, Inc., the parent company of WWE. On top of that, the actor/wrestling icon now owns the rights to his nickname, “The Rock.”

Johnson said, in part, in a statement, “Being on the TKO Board of Directors, and taking full ownership of my name, ‘The Rock’, is not only unprecedented, but incredibly inspiring as my crazy life is coming full circle … I’m very motivated to help continue to globally expand our TKO, WWE, and UFC businesses as the worldwide leaders in sports and entertainment — while proudly representing so many phenomenal athletes and performers who show up every day putting in the hard work with their own two hands to make their dreams come true and deliver for our audiences. I’ve been there, I’m still there and this is for them.”

On top of the news of Johnson joining TKO’s Board of Directors and owning “The Rock,” it was also announced on the same day that WWE’s flagship show Raw will begin airing on Netflix beginning in January 2025. This is the first time in its 31-year history the show won’t be airing on linear television.

Raw on Netflix will impact viewers in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Latin America. Additionally, for non-U.S. countries, Netflix will also feature SmackDown, NXT, all documentary/original series and all of WWE’s premium live events.

Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria said in a statement, “We are excited to have WWE ‘Raw,’ with its huge and passionate multigenerational fan base, on Netflix. By combining our reach, recommendations, and fandom with WWE, we’ll be able to deliver more joy and value for their audiences and our members.”