Highlights
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's popularity soared in the early 2000s through the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) and since then he has crossed over into movie stardom....
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's popularity soared in the early 2000s through the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) and since then he has crossed over into movie stardom. Johnson, born May 2, 1972, in Hayward, Calif., came to South Florida in 1990 to play football for the University of Miami Hurricanes, where he was a "walkon" non-scholarship player, playing defensive tackle behind Warren Sapp, an eventual first-round draft choice and all-pro. After college, he played football for two months with the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL (Canadian Football League), then was released. He followed his father's and his grandfather's footsteps and became a professional wrestler. After a short training stint in 1995, he competed for the WWF under the names Flex Cavana and Pidlaoan Rock, then Rocky Maiavia (a combination of his father's and grandfather's names), before turning "babyface," in wrestling lingo and become the Rock. His signature lines included: "If you smell what the Rock is cooking," referring to himself in the third person. He also would raise just one eyebrow for "the People's Eyebrow" and refer to wrestlers who continually lost matches as "jabronis." In Hollywood, he achieved success with The Mummy Returns (2001), The Scorpion King (2002), a remake of Walking Tall (2004) and Disney's The Game Plan (2007). He essentially retired from wrestling in 2003, although he makes guest appearances with the WWE. He also has appeared on Saturday Night Live numerous times, done commercial endorsements and organized a charity to help dole out a portion of the reported $33 million-plus he has earned as a professional wrestler. He graduated from the University of Miami in 1995 and owns a home in Davie, Florida.
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It's time for The Rock to step up his game
Dear Dwayne,Two weeks ago I wrote about your return to WWE and quantified your statement: "I am never, ever going away." I'm not one to repeat subjects too often, but in this case I simply couldn't avoid it.On Tuesday's episode of #AftermathTV on...Tags: WrestleMania, Movies, USA Network (tv network), Hulk Hogan, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.
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Brock Lesnar may turn WWE into the 'next big thing'
This past weekend I had a chance to soak in the WrestleMania 28 festivities from Miami – the Hall of Fame, Fan Axxess, the event itself at Sun Life Stadium and Raw the next night. Truly, for any WWEfan that came to participate in the crowd chants...
Tags: WrestleMania, Ultimate Fighting Championship, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., Twitter, Inc., Sun Life Stadium
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Finding work as role players
Upon learning of Bubba Smith's death at age 66 this week, football fans may have remembered him as one of most fearsome defensive players of the 1960s, a stalwart in college at Michigan State and a key player in leading the Baltimore Colts to a victory in...Tags: Larry Csonka, NBC (tv network), Dance, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., Marilyn Monroe
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Ray Lewis: Hollywood's next great action hero?
A few months removed from his popular appearances in those amazing Old Spice commercials, Ravens linebacker and action hero Ray Lewis is at it again. This time, Lewis has teamed up with Saints quarterback Drew Brees for a Pepsi Maxx commercial in the form...Tags: Drew Brees, Ray Lewis, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, O.J. Simpson, ESPN (tv network)
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The Rock flexes his acting chops in 'Walking Tall'
Sun StaffWhen word got out that The Rock, the pro wrestler-turned-actor with the trademark upturned eyebrow, would be playing the lead character in a remake of Walking Tall, quite a few eyebrows were raised. After all, The Rock, who is of Samoan and African-...Tags: Minority Groups, Movies, Action (genre), Uma Thurman, Wrestling
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Firefighters deserve high-fives and another fete
NOW THAT was a cool coincidence: "Firefighter Appreciation Day 2001" at Oriole Park fell in the midst of the diehard, underground inferno that put the city's Fire Department to an extraordinary test. Too bad many of the firefighters who deserved the...Tags: Transportation Accidents, Raytheon Company, Seafood and Fishing Industry, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Randallstown
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'G.I. Joe': Top 10 reasons Paramount bumped it from summer
24 FramesParamount says it has delayed its new "G.I. Joe" movie, "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," for nine months in order to convert it to 3-D, but many in Hollywood are doubtful that's the real reason for the move.... -
Paramount delays 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' release until 2013
Paramount Pictures has delayed the release of its sole summer action movie,"G.I. Joe: Retaliation," from June 29 until March of next year, an unexpected shift that leaves the studio without a big-budget "tentpole" hitting theaters in 2012. The move...
Tags: The Hunger Games (movie), DreamWorks Animation SKG Incorporated, Walt Disney, G.I. Joe: Retaliation (movie), Star Trek (movie, 2009)
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Google launches new smarter search
As Microsoft's Bing is becoming more social by adding integration with your Facebook friends, Google's search is getting smarter and sharper as the company introduces a new feature called Knowledge Graph. The search tool, being rolled out starting...
Tags: Google+, Microsoft Corp., NBC (tv network), Newt Gingrich, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
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Words of inspiration for grads (and everyone else)
It's a time of pomp, circumstance and usually some great advice. With commencement season upon us, it's time to share some of the best of those words of wisdom. And thanks to the growth of webcasts, podcasts and social media, many of these messages are...
Tags: Marco Rubio, NBC (tv network), Sanjay Gupta, Graduation, Gloria Estefan
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Hasbro CEO Goldner goes Hollywood to sell toys
Reuters* "Battleship," "G.I. Joe" hit theaters this summer * "Transformers" movies generated $1.6 bln in toy sales * Hasbro spends around $1 million to develop scripts By Ronald Grover April 24 (Reuters) - Three weeks into its international run, the...Tags: Movies, Peter Berg, Toy Industry, Steven Spielberg, Companies and Corporations
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CinemaCon: Dwayne Johnson is 'franchise Viagra,' says director
24 FramesDwayne "The Rock" Johnson talks about his new film "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" at CinemaCon in Las Vegas....
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