The Evolution of The Rock in 6 stages

He is part of Hollywood's A-list, top billing blockbuster films such as the Fast and Furious series, Jumanji and Moana and is one of the busiest and most successful actors in the world.

However, way back in November 1996, Johnson was only known to WWE audiences as happy-go-lucky babyface Rocky Maivia; a ring name that paid homage to his father, former Tag Team Champion, Rocky Johnson and his grandfather, the warrior, High Chief Peter Maivia.

Maivia would later transmute into The Rock, the 10 time World Champion and the most electrifying man in sports entertainment. Rock would headline three consecutive Wrestlemania's between 1999 and 2001 and would main event two more in 2012 and 2013 when he returned to the company after a prolonged absence due to his incredibly successful Hollywood career.

Rock was born on May 2, 1972, the son of Rocky Johnson and Ata Maivia and grandson to Peter Maivia and Lia Maivia.

Despite growing up around the wrestling business, Rock elected to instead pursue a career in American Football. However, in 1995 he was cut from his team, the Calgary Stampeders after just two months.

After his Football career didn't pan out, Rock elected to follow his father and grandfather into wrestling.

With his familial connections, he quickly got a foot in the door with WWE and with just 12 months of training under his belt, was thrust into the spotlight at the 1996 Survivor Series.

In the following slideshow, SK revisits Rock's entire career and the evolution of the man, who is and may forever be, the biggest superstar the wrestling business has ever produced.

#6 Die Rocky Die to WWE Champion (1996-1999)

The Rock wins his first WWE Championship at Survivor Series 1998

The Rock's WWE career began when he made his debut in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match, as part of a team that consisted of Jake Roberts, Marc Mero and Barry Windham. Rock eliminated both Crush and Goldust to become the sole survivor.

The rocket was stuck to the young man's back and just three months later, he dethroned Hunter Hearst Helmsley (the future Triple H) to win the Intercontinental title.

However, these early successes bred resentment amongst the WWE fanbase who felt as if WWE were foisting the third generation superstar on them and reacted negatively, by chanting "Die, Rocky Die" and "Rocky sucks."

Rock recognised the problems with his bland face character and approached WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon with a proposal. He wanted to turn heel. McMahon complied and Rock turned heel on the fans and joined the Nation of Domination in late 1997.

The future WWE Champion began experimenting with his promo's and mannerisms and soon became one of the hottest acts in the company. When he became Intercontinental Champion for the second time in December 1997, he reigned until August 1998, by which time he was deemed ready for main events.

Three months later, a now face Rock became WWE Champion at Survivor Series 1998. However, he turned heel in winning the belt, revealing he had been in cahoots with the McMahon's and sold out to the Corporation.

Rock engaged in a classic four-month conflict over the title with Mankind, including classic, brutal bouts at Royal Rumble 1999 and St. Valentine's Day Massacre. The three-time WWE Champion lost the belt to Stone Cold in the headliner of Wrestlemania XV, but by then he was established as the second biggest star in the company behind the "Rattlesnake."

Rock was a bonafide headliner and pay per view draw. He also turned face again the following month and the character that everyone knows today was born.

#5 Bigger Than Stone Cold (2000-02)

The Rock's popularity surpassed Stone Cold's in 2000

When Stone Cold's neck, severely injured at Summerslam 1997 by Owen Hart, finally gave out in November 1999, he underwent neck surgery which benched him until September 2000.

In his absence, Rock went from the second biggest star in the company to the biggest. Surpassing Stone Cold, in popularity and mainstream appeal, Rock in 2000, guested on Saturday Night Live to huge acclaim and teamed up with Wyclef John to release the hit LP, "It Doesn't Matter." Rock became a sensation and huge national celebrity.

When Stone Cold returned in late 2000, he couldn't re-create the same spark he had when he left and was firmly the number two babyface. Not content with being an also-ran and believing his character had become stale, Stone Cold turned heel on The Rock at Wrestlemania X-7.

This led to the best performances of Austin's career but sapped his drawing power. However, Rock remained as popular as ever.

His mainstream celebrity saw him deluged with offers from Hollywood and a bit part in "The Mummy Returns", led to his first starring role in "The Scorpion King" and another in the comedy action flick, "Welcome to the Jungle."

Rock's fame was about to lead him out of WWE and into Hollywood permanently and he, therefore, dropped his ninth World Championship to Brock Lesnar at Summerslam 2002.

#4 Part-timer (2003-04)

The Rock brought out a new side to himself in 2003

After an absence of six months, The Rock finally returned to WWE television on the January 30, 2003 edition of Smackdown wherein he derided Hulk Hogan and advised the fans that WWE was no longer his priority.

If Hollywood truly was Rock's sole focus, his performances didn't show that. Rock cut the best and most entertaining promo's of his career as he had a riot playing the new self-absorbed character.

His interactions with the likes of The Hurricane and Goldberg made for some incredible television. However, after less than three months back with the company, Rock accepted an offer to appear in the 2004 remake of the 1970's exploitation movie, Walking Tall.

Following his loss to Goldberg at Backlash 2003, Rock left and would not return for almost a year until a one-off match at Wrestlemania XX, where he teamed with Mick Foley to battle the Evolution team of Randy Orton, Batista and Ric Flair.

#3 Movie Star (2005-10)

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in a mid-2000's publicity still

The Rock's WWE deal expired at the end of 2004 and WWE, perhaps miffed at Rock's lack of appearances between 2003 and 2004, elected not to renew it.

Following his April 2003 loss to Goldberg, Rock made just one further PPV appearance before his contract expired at Wrestlemania XX. He appeared on just a handful of Raw's in that 18 month period too. Rock's priority was Hollywood, not WWE.

Between 2005 and 2010, Rock starred in the following movies:

Doom, Be Cool, Southland Tales, Gridiron Gang, The Game Plan, Get Smart, Planet 51, The Other Guys, Faster, Tooth Fairy

The vast majority of these productions were not hits, but Johnson's electric charisma ensured that he kept landing Hollywood roles. However, resentment from the WWE locker room at Rock's success would soon boil over when John Cena voiced his frustration at Rock's absence from WWE by publicly calling him out via media outlets.

#2 WWE Comeback (2011-13)

The Rock main evented Wrestlemania's 28 and 29 with John Cena

John Cena's words stung The Rock and the most electrifying man accepted an offer from WWE to return to television, ostensibly as a character, leading up to his role as Wrestlemania "host."

Rock made his first live appearance in a WWE ring for seven years, when he marched down the aisle on February 14, 2011, Raw and cut an incredible promo on Cena, mocking the former WWE Champion for his attire and character.

Rock continued to mock Cena prior to Wrestlemania and on the big show itself, he screwed Cena out of the WWE Championship when he challenged champion, The Miz. On the post-Wrestlemania Raw, Rock and Cena agreed to fight at the following year's Wrestlemania in 2012.

However, Rock unexpectedly returned to the ring that November, ironically teaming with Cena at Survivor Series to defeat The Miz and R-Truth in a tag team bout.

He went on to beat Cena in his hometown of Miami, Florida at Wrestlemania 28. On Raw 1000, in July he set up his next feud, with WWE Champion, CM Punk, which culminated in a heated clash at the 2013 Royal Rumble event with Punk's title on the line. Rock won his 10th World title and successfully defended the strap versus Punk at the following month's Elimination Chamber event.

At Wrestlemania 29, Rock met Cena again, with the title on the line. This time Cena, evened the score to become the new champion.

#1 Mainstream Superstar (2014-present)

Dwayne Johnson is one of the most famous names in the world

The movie star, Dwayne Johnson was rumoured to be booked to win the 2019 Royal Rumble and headline Wrestlemania 35 versus his cousin, Roman Reigns. Obviously, with Reigns' cancer diagnosis, that bout, if it were ever on the cards, is not any longer.

With recent hits at the box office with Rampage and Skyscraper, would Johnson as The Rock wrestle in WWE in 2019?

It's possible of course but seems unlikely due to the immense issues that Rock's injury sustained in his Wrestlemania 29 title defence versus John Cena caused. Filming of the movie, Hercules was delayed and insurance premiums shot up while Rock went through rehabilitation due to torn abdominal and abductor muscles.

It is therefore unlikely that Rock would return to the ring unless he has a hefty space in his schedule to potentially recover from any injury.

It seems much more likely, however, due to Johnson's packed Hollywood schedule that he is a candidate to headline WWE's 2019 Hall of Fame class over Wrestlemania weekend instead.