Rocky Johnson

Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles; August 24, 1944 – January 15, 2020) was a Canadian professional wrestler. Among many National Wrestling Alliance titles, he was the first Black Georgia Heavyweight Champion as well as the NWA Television Champion (2 times). He won the World Tag Team Championship in 1983, along with his partner Tony Atlas, to become the first black champions in WWE history. He is the father of actor and former WWE wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and the grandfather of Simone Johnson (Ava Raine). Early life Johnson was born Wayde Douglas Bowles in Amherst, Nova Scotia, where he was raised, the fourth of five sons of Lillian (; 1919–1996) and James Henry Bowles (1888–1957). A Black Nova Scotian, he was descended from Black Loyalists who immigrated to Nova Scotia after escaping from a plantation in the United States after the American Revolutionary War, and also had part-Irish ancestry. The Loyalist lineage traces back to Dembo Sickles, son of a chief in present day Benin who was captured by slavehunters and brought to Prince Edward Island in 1785 and bought his freedom in 1803, his granddaughter Maria Sickles migrated to Nova Scotia later in the same century. At the age of 16, Johnson moved to Toronto, where he began wrestling and worked as a truck driver. Initially, he trained to be a boxer and eventually sparred with greats such as Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, but was always fascinated by wrestling.