Hollywood actor and WWE superstar Dwayne Johnson has posted a heartfelt tribute to his late father, the great Rocky Johnson, on what would have been his 82nd birthday.
Rocky was born on August 24, 1944 in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada. He sadly passed away from a pulmonary embolism on January 15, 2020, at the age of 75 (per IMDb).
His son, now 54 and the star of movies like “Black Adam” and “Moana,” followed in his footsteps as a professional wrestler. Rocky’s in-ring career lasted around 40 years, starting in the early 1960s and ending in the early 2000s. Dwayne took to wrestling in the 1990s following an ill-fated football career.
Both men are now legends of the industry. Rocky entered the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008, while Dwayne is considered one of the biggest stars of all time, having been integral to the WWE’s success during its iconic Attitude Era.
Dwayne — who took his in-ring mantle of “The Rock” from his father’s name — has taken to social media to commemorate his dad’s heavenly birthday.
Dwayne Johnson Remembers His ‘Pops’ With Awesome Photograph
Dwayne Johnson posted his heartfelt tribute to his late dad, Rocky Johnson, on his Instagram account, sharing it with his 381 million followers.
The post includes a single black-and-white photograph with both Dwayne and Rocky in it. Rather hilariously, the 15-year-old Dwayne looks as though he could be the same age as his father.
Johnson’s caption on his post begins, “Happy heavenly birthday to the OG Rock, my pops Rocky “Soulman” Johnson 🕊️.”
It continues, “Raised me the best of his capacity, and with a very tough hand.”
The caption goes on, “My dad’s on my right, his training partner, Tracy is on my left.”
Johnson then says, “I’m 15yrs old here, always angry about something and never smiled much back then.”
He then joked, “But at least I looked like a 58yr old DEA agent and kickin’ puberty’s ass 🤣.”
The caption concludes, “Happy Birthday Soulman 👊🏾.”
Dwayne’s fans and followers headed to the comments section of his post en masse to have their input on it and to join the star in wishing Rocky a happy heavenly birthday.
Dwayne’s Followers Pay Their Own Tributes to ‘Badass’ & ‘Legend’ Rocky Johnson
GettyThe comments section of Dwayne Johnson’s birthday post for his late dad, Rocky Johnson, is awash with comments from his followers. They include tributes and memories of Rocky.
One follower commented, “Happy heavenly birthday 🎂 🥳 to the Legend Soulman ❤️❤️❤️.”
Another of Dwayne’s followers recalled, “🙏🏼🎂🙏🏼Rocky Johnson was BadAss ,I remember him since back in the Freddie Blassie and John Tolos days .. Good Times.”
Somebody else wrote, “Happy heavenly birthday to your dad. I still remember him (looking like that-so intimidating) walking to the school to pick you up 💪.”
Several followers also noted Dwayne’s appearance in the picture, with one of them saying, “there’s no way you were 15 here, dawg.”
Meanwhile, the late Hulk Hogan’s son, Nick Hogan, commented, “Your dad, Vince [McMahon] and my mom all have the same birthday?!?!?! 🤯”
Last but not least, one Instagram user said, “Happy heavenly birthday sir and continue to rest very well 💯 🤝 🙏.”
We’d like to send our own heavenly birthday wishes to the late Rocky Johnson. We also hope Dwayne Johnson is coping well at what must be a very emotional time for him.
