Rocky Johnson, Father of The Rock, passes away at 75

WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson, father of WWE Legend Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, passed away at the age of 75.

Rocky was born Wayde Douglas Bowles, but would eventually change his legal name to Rocky Johnson shortly after his debut for the National Wrestling Alliance in 1964.

During his time in the NWA, Rocky won multiple heavyweight and tag team championships throughout the country before signing with WWE in 1982 towards the end of his career. Rocky would form a team with fellow WWE Hall of Famer Tony Atlas, known as The Soul Patrol.

Atlas and Rocky would make history on November 15, 1983 when The Soul Patrol defeated the Wild Samoans to win the WWF Tag Team Championships. The duo were the first African-American tag team to win the titles and would pave the way for future African American tag teams.

Rocky retired from professional wrestling in 1991 and would help train his son Dwayne as he prepared for his wrestling career. Rocky would come up with Dwayne's first wrestling moniker, Rocky Mavia, which came from his name and The Rock's grandfather, High Chief Peter Mavia.

Rocky Mavia debuted for WWF at the 1996 Survivor Series pay-per-view, but would eventually be repacked under his current moniker The Rock, where he would go on to win the WWE Championship - becoming the first African American to hold the title.