Wrestling: Rocky Johnson dies at the age of 75

We are a little bit over two weeks into 2020. In a short amount of time, the wrestling world has seen many legends pass. They include Pampero Firpo (January 9th), Kazuo Sakurada (January 12th), and the biggest one as of now being La Parka II (January 11th). It saddens me to say that we can add someone else to that list.

Late Wednesday night, it was reported that legendary Candian wrestler Rocky Johnson had passed away. He was 75 years old. While he was impactful in the ring, he also is known for being the father of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He was born on August 24, 1944, in Canada to Lilian and James Bowles. It’s worth noting that Rocky Johnson’s real name was Wayde Bowles. When he was sixteen years old, he would end up moving to Toronto and began training. At first, he was training to become a boxer and would end up sparing with such icons as Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. However, he always had a love for pro-wrestling.

He would go all-in on training for a professional wrestling career in 1964. Not long after he would debut, he legally changed his name from Wayde Bowles to Rocky Johnson. He would end up having a match for the WWWF in 1969. It’s worth noting that he wouldn’t actually become apart of the WWF until 1982. He began his wrestling career with the NWA. Throughout the 1970’s he would end up getting countless NWA title matches with Harley Race and Terry Funk. However, the feud he is most known for in the NWA was his feud with Jerry “The King” Lawler.

He would end up joining the WWF in 1982 and would end up having a short run of three years with the company. He would end up feuding with such guys like Don Muraco, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, and others. However, he is known for teaming with Tony Atlas. While they were teaming up, they would be known as The Soul Patrol. The Soul Patrol’s biggest win was when they defeated the Wild Samoans to win the WWF Tag titles. They would become the first African American tag team to win the belts. It’s worth noting that the next time that the WWF put the belts on an African American team was in 1994 when Men on a Mission would end up winning them at a house show in London.

He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008.

Every promotion from AEW to WWE sent out something about his passing on their various Twitter accounts. We at Caveman Radio Show send our condolences to The Rock and his family during this difficult time.