A look back at Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson's 'electrifying' wrestling career

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is a retired professional wrestler who rose to WWE/WWF stardom at the turn of the 21^st century.

Johnson is a third-generation wrestler after his father and grandfather were successful wrestlers. He made his WWF debut in 1996 under the name 'Rocky Maivia,' honoring his relatives.

In early 1997, he won and defended the Intercontinental Championship. Wrestling fans started to turn against Johnson, and in late 1997, in response, he decided to turn heel and was re-branded as The Rock.'

He flourished as a heel and after feuds with 'The Nation' and 'Triple H,' the wrestling star had his eyes set on something big – the WWF Championship. He won the title twice, defeating 'Mankind' and 'The Big Show' before losing it to 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin at WrestleMania XV.

Towards the turn of the century, 'The Rocks' stardom continued to grow, losing in high-profile fights to 'The Undertaker' and 'Big Show' in the WWF Tag Team Championship, and losing to long-time rival 'Triple H' before returning to top form, securing his fourth WWF Championship.

In May 2000, he lost his WWF title in a grudge match against rival 'Triple H' but rebounded back in June of the same year, claiming the title and winning it for the fifth time.

After a series of title defenses, he lost his title to Kurt Angle in October 2000. 'The Rock' won the WWF Tag Team Championship with 'The Undertaker' and claimed his first WCW Championship in August 2001.

Towards the end of 2001, 'The Rocks' main rival was Chris Jericho, losing his WCW title on two separate occasions to Jericho. However, the pair did claim the tag team title together.

Between 2002 and 2004, 'The Rock' didn't win any significant titles. Instead, he settled feuds with people such as Steve Austin in a match at WrestleMania XIX.

At the end of 2004, Johnson's contract at the WWE expired, leading him to focus on his acting career. He returned for one-off events, such as his father's induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Johnson returned to the WWE in February 2011, hosting WrestleMania XXVII and hurled abuse at John Cena. With the help of other WWE superstars, the pair attacked each other, agreeing to fight each other properly in the next edition of WrestleMania.

Cena and 'The Rock' formed a tag team to defeat the Awesome Truth Team, made up of wrestlers, 'R-Truth' and 'The Miz.' The pair, however, did get their grudge match, with 'The Rock' prevailing over Cena, claiming the WWE Championship.

Several WWE Championship attempts later, he defeated CM Punk in January 2013 to win the title. In April of the same year, Cena took the title away from 'The Rock,' but they couldn't fight the rematch because Johnson suffered a severe injury.

After his injury, Johnson made several surprise appearances at various WWE events, such as WrestleMania 30 and the Royal Rumble in 2015.

He continued to appear at the odd event before confirming his retirement from wrestling in August 2019.

After announcing his retirement, Johnson confirmed his come back for one last dance, fighting at SmackDown's 20^th anniversary.

'The Rock' is one of the most successful Wrestlers of all time, winning 29 championships/awards, including eight WWE Championships and five WWF Tag Team Championships.