Dwayne Johnson began his professional wrestling career by auditioning for WWE while working for other companies. In 1996, he ultimately signed with the company.

Before him, Dwayne Johnson’s father and grandpa were wrestlers. They wrestled as Peter Maivia and Rocky Johnson, so he chose to merge their identities and go by the moniker Rocky Maivia.

Unfortunately, he was not well-liked by the public. The crowd, who were searching for tougher figures, didn’t like his immaculate and decent attitude.

Johnson wanted to make his character more edgy. He changed his gimmick to be more sinister, ditched the name Rocky Maivia, and began calling himself The Rock.

That’s why people call him the rock.