Legends: “Soul Man” Rocky Johnson
Our resident philosopher and historian, Jay Shannon, profiles “Soul Man” Rocky Johnson, the third inductee into this year’s WWE Hall of Fame.
Rocky Johnson is better known, these days, as the father of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. In his time as a wrestler, he was a history maker. The Canadian Superstar was one half of the first African American WWE World Tag Team champions. Rocky also had a fantastic singles career. He truly deserves his place in the Hall of Fame. He also truly deserves the title of Legend.
An Early Start
Wayde Bowles grew up outside Toronto. He began wrestling while he was still in his teens. Rocky had many trainers, but his first was Rocky Bollie. Johnson would use the first name of Rocky as a tribute to his trainer. After three years of training and experience, Rocky got his first taste of gold by teaming with Don Leo Jonathan. They took the NWA Canadian tag belts from John and Chris Tolos in Vancouver, BC.
The best tag team partner, ever
In 1970, Rocky relocated to the Los Angeles market. He had great success as both a singles and tag performer. The Los Angeles and San Francisco territories had a good working relationship at the time, so Rocky was “loaned” to San Francisco from time to time.
In San Francisco, Rocky would hold singles and tag titles, also. He would feud with Pat Patterson. The two became off-screen friends. Patterson would be instrumental in getting Rocky a job with the WWE, a few years later. Also in San Francisco, Rocky received further training from Peter Maivia.
While training with Maivia, Johnson met Peter’s daughter, Ata. Over the strong objections of the Maivia family, Rocky and Ata began to date. They would eventually marry. In 1972, Ata gave birth to son, Dwayne. He would grow up to be, of course, The Rock.
The NWA Years-East Coast Version
In 1974, Rocky packed up the entire family and moved to Georgia. While in Georgia, Rocky would hold several titles, including the Georgia Heavyweight title. Rocky’s stay in Georgia would only last a year, before the family moved again.
The next stop for the Johnson camp was Florida. There Rocky feuded with J.J. Dillon, “King” Curtis Iaukea, and “Killer” Karl Kox over various titles. Rocky’s focus in Florida was on singles titles. He never found a solid tag team partner in the Sunshine State.
In early 1976, Johnson got a call from his father-in-law, Peter Maivia, who was working for Fritz Von Erich’s Dallas (Texas) territory. Once again, the gypsy life of a wrestler took over and the whole kit and kaboodle relocated to Dallas. In Dallas, Johnson teamed with Jose Lothario to take the tag titles. Johnson also matched wits with his father-in-law, Peter Maivia, taking the Texas title from him. Johnson would also upset possibly the toughest Texas wrestler of all time, Bruiser Brody, for the Brass Knuckles titles, before losing it to fellow Hall of Famer, Dusty Rhodes.
Heading out west, again
After a very successful run in Texas, Rocky headed back to the west coast. This time he ended up in the Pacific Northwest area. This was one of the top territories of the time. It produced numerous superstars, including Roddy Piper, Chris Adams, Greg Valentine, Buddy Rose and Matt Borne. Johnson would team with future World Class superstar, “Iceman” King Parsons, to take the tag titles. He would also win the tag belts with Brett Sawyer (younger brother of Buzz Sawyer). Johnson also took the top singles title from “Crippler” Rip Oliver before leaving for the biggest segment of his career.
Making history
Pat Patterson had talked for many yearsto the WWF brass about Rocky Johnson. When the WWF began to expand, Patterson pushed for Johnson to be brought on-board. Johnson had a good run as a singles competitor, but his greatest success came in late 1983. Just before the MTV era of the WWF kicked off, Johnson was teamed with another African American wrestler, Tony Atlas. In November of 1983, Johnson and Atlas upset the Wild Samoans, w/”Captain” Lou Albano, for the tag titles. They were the very first black team to hold the titles. They would drop the belts to Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch in April of 1984. Johnson would wrestle for the WWF for a few months after losing the tag titles. He then moved on.
A family reunion
Peter Maivia’s widow, Lia, contacted her son-in-law, about coming to Hawaii to wrestle. Once in Hawaii, Johnson was teamed with his real-life brother, Ricky. They held tag gold on multiple occasions. The time in Hawaii helped to solidify the family unit. Dwayne, the young son of Rocky and Ata, began to show interest in the business. He received a great deal of learning from his uncles, cousins and father. The family decided to head back to the mainland to take an offer from an old friend in the Florida area.
Settling down..at last
Johnson finished up his active wrestling career in and around Florida. The family settled in Davie, Florida, where Rocky still lives. Dwayne went on to become a stand-out star in football in Florida, before his father trained him for the wrestling ring. Johnson took occasional bookings in the Tennessee, Georgia and Florida territories. As the territorial markets began to dissolve, Rocky Johnson switched his focus to training. He is credited for helping not only his son, but also Brock Lesnar. In 2003, Johnson was tapped to assist Ohio Valley Wrestling as a trainer. Johnson would be released later that same year.
Johnson ran into some personal issues that rocked his life. Rocky and Ata divorced and Rocky found himself in some legal trouble. Eventually, Rocky was able to sort out his issues and re-marry. Rocky has been working with some young talent for the Florida Championship Wrestling group. He is still a semi-active wrestler, working only a few shows from time to time.
In Conclusion:
“Soul Man” Rocky Johnson was a trailblazer in wrestling. He was and is a great role model for the up-and-coming stars in the sport. While he has stumbled in his personal life, he has shined as a professional in the ring. Johnson’s partner went into the Hall of Fame last year. Johnson was snubbed last year, but the people in charge of the Hall of Fame decided to make it right by including him, this year. Johnson was a journeyman that won gold all over the US and Canada. Rocky Johnson is a wrestler that should be honored for his in-ring abilities and his training skills. He is another man that I’m pleased and honored to include into the ranks of Legends.
– Jay Shannon
JayofPWD@SBCGlobal.net
(2/28/08)
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