Dwayne Johnson discussed his parents Rocky and Ata Johnson's 'explosive and volcanic relationship' and how he grew up watching their marriage decline
The Smashing Machine actor, 53, grew up surrounded by the professional wrestling business as the son of the late wrestler Rocky Johnson and Ata Johnson, herself the daughter of Samoan-American wrestler Peter Maivia and his wife, wrestling promoter Lia Maivia.
In an interview with Variety published on Sunday, January 4, Johnson recalled moving around the country at a young age with his parents due to his dad’s wrestling career. “My own mom and dad had an explosive and volcanic relationship,” he said. “My dad was a pro wrestler at a time when it was the Wild West. There wasn’t million-dollar contracts. It was paycheck to paycheck and just trying to survive.” The professional wrestler turned actor added, “And my dad struggled with his addictions and focused on his career and himself, while my mom was at home, raising me. She had to give up her own dreams and support the man that she loves. All she wanted was to be seen, and she was never seen.” “And I grew up watching that kind of decline in a relationship when a man battles his own demons. I watched their fights. I heard their fights, which is even worse,” Johnson said. Johnson’s parents were wed from 1978 to 2003, when they divorced. Rocky died aged 75 of a pulmonary embolism in January 2020. Johnson recently recalled his own fractured relationship with his father before Rocky’s death in a recent interview with Good Charlotte’s Joel Madden on the latter’s “Artist Friendly” podcast. “We got into this huge fight Christmas 2019 … it was awful,” he said during a December 2025 episode of Madden’s podcast, per EWrestlingNews. “One of the biggest fights we ever got into about some just some stupid … and then about a month later, he passed away. And we weren’t talking.”“He called me and I didn’t take the call … I was at my kid’s game. I thought, ‘I’ll call him back.’ And then like a day or two later, he’s gone,” he shared.“I love you,” he wrote alongside a video of his father’s professional wrestling career highlights. “You broke color barriers, became a ring legend and trail blazed your way thru this world. I was the boy sitting in the seats, watching and adoring you, my hero from afar. The boy you raised to always be proud of our cultures and proud of who and what I am. The boy you raised with the toughest of love. The intense work. The hard hand. The adoring boy who wanted to know only your best qualities. Who then grew to become a man realizing you had other deep complex sides that needed to be held and understood. … That’s when my adoration turned to respect. And my empathy turned to gratitude.” He added, “I’m in pain. But we both know it’s just pain and it’ll pass. Now I’ll carry your mana and work ethic with me, as it’s time to move on because I have my family to feed and work to accomplish. Finally, I want you to rest your trailblazing soul, Soulman. Pain-free, regret-free, satisfied and at ease. You lived a very full, very hard, barrier-breaking life and left it all in the ring. I love you dad and I’ll always be your proud and grateful son. Go rest high.”
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