Rocky Johnson

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Rocky Johnson
Rocky Johnson - December 29, 1975 - WRESTLING PROGRAM NORTH SIDE COLISEUM (cropped) .jpg
Data
Surname Wayde Douglas Bowles
Ring name Sweet Ebony Diamond
Drew Glasteau
Rocky Johnson
Additions to names Soulman
height 188 cm
Fighting weight 112 kg
birth August 24, 1944
Amherst , Nova Scotia , Canada
death January 15, 2020
Lutz , Florida , United States
nationality CanadaCanada Canada
Announced from Toronto , Ontario
Trained by Peter Maivia
Rocky Bollie
Kurt Von Steiger
debut 1966
retirement 1991

Wayde Douglas Bowles (born August 24, 1944 in Amherst , Nova Scotia , † January 15, 2020 in Lutz , Florida ), better known by his ring name Rocky Johnson , was a Canadian wrestler . Johnson's greatest achievement during his engagement with the World Wrestling Federation was receiving the WWF Tag Team Champion title with Tony Atlas . This made them the first purely dark-skinned team to receive the highest team title in wrestling. His son is the actor and wrestler Dwayne Johnson , from whom he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008 . His brother James was also active as a wrestler under the name Ricky Johnson .

Career

In his career, Bowles appeared as "Soulman" Rocky Johnson for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and many other promotions. The highlight of his career was winning the WWF Tag Team title together with Tony Atlas , whose tag team The Soul Patrol was the first dark-skinned tag team to hold the title.

Bowles was a top challenger to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship several times in the 1970s , competing against well-known wrestlers such as Terry Funk and Harley Race . He was able to win several tag team titles and went to the World Wrestling Federation in 1983, where he formed the tag team The Soul Patrol together with Tony Atlas . They defeated the Wild Samoans ( Afa and Sika Anoai ) on November 15, 1983 to win the WWF Tag Team titles .

Bowles married Ata Maivia, the daughter of "High Chief" Peter Maivia , and became a member of the Samoan wrestling family that produced several successful wrestlers. In 1972 their son Dwayne was born.

After ending his career in 1991, he first worked as a truck driver, later he coached his son Dwayne with Pat Patterson . Although he originally did not support his entry into the wrestling business, Bowles used his influence to put him under contract with the WWF. At first he accompanied his son, who initially went to the ring under the name "Rocky Maivia" (a combination of his father's first name and his grandfather's last name) and intervened in matches several times in his favor.

Bowles briefly coached Ohio Valley Wrestling in 2003 , but was fired that same year. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 29, 2008 .

successes

  • Championship Wrestling from Florida
    • 1 × NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Championship
    • 2 × NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship
    • 1 × NWA Florida Tag Team Championship - with Pedro Morales
    • 1 × NWA Florida Television Championship
  • Georgia Championship Wrestling
    • 1 × NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship
    • 1 × NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship - with Jerry Brisco
  • Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
    • 1 × NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship
  • NWA All-Star Wrestling
    • 1 × NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) - with Don Leo Jonathan
  • NWA Big Time Wrestling
    • 1 × NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship
    • 2 × NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship
    • 1 × NWA Texas Tag Team Championship - with Jose Lothario
  • NWA Detroit
    • 1 × NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit Version) - with Ben Justice
  • NWA Hollywood Wrestling
    • 1 × NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship
    • 1 × NWA Americas Tag Team Championship - with Earl Maynard
    • 2 × NWA Beat the Champ Television Championship
  • NWA Mid-America
    • 1 × NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Memphis Version)
  • NWA San Francisco
    • 1 × NWA United States Heavyweight Championship
    • 4 × NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) - 1 × with Pepper Gomez and 3 × with Pat Patterson
    • 2 × NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship
  • Pacific Northwest Wrestling
    • 1 × NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship
    • 2 × NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship - 1 × each with Brett Sawyer and Iceman Parsons
  • World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

literature

  • Mick Foley: Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks . HarperCollins, 2000, ISBN 0061031011 , p. 768.

Web links

Commons : Rocky Johnson  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Simon Binz: Dwayne The Rock Johnson mourns his father Rocky Johnson. In: Nau . January 16, 2020, accessed January 16, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Johnson, Rocky
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bowles, Wayde (real name); Bowles, Wayde Douglas (full name); Ricky Johnson (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Amherst , Nova Scotia , Canada
DATE OF DEATH January 15, 2020
Place of death Lutz , Florida , United States