Happy 48 The Rock: From depressed rugby player, WWE legend to A-List Hollywood star

New York, May 2: The action star in Hollywood Dwayne Johnson turned 48 on Saturday (May 2). And he is certainly one of the biggest stars of our generation. Johnson, an American-Canadian actor, made his first steps to stardom though in the rings of World Wresting Federation (WWF) that later was rechristened to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Johnson has enthralled the WWE fans under his ring name - The Rock - over two decades now and is often called as the 'People's Champ.' MyKhel looks at some interesting facts on his birthday.

1. The wrestling legend

Rock began his career as a sportsman - an American rugby player for Calgary Stampeders. But an omission from the team led him to depression. Later his coach asked him to comeback by he refused to pursue a career in wrestling with WWF. And Rock literally did not have to look back since then. He is a highly decorated wrestler, having won the world championship 10 times, two inter-continental titles and five tag-team crowns. He is also a Royal Rumble winner. His father - Rocky Johnson - and grand father -- Peter Maivia - too were wrestlers with WWF, making him a third generation superstar.

2. India connection

The Rock has a large following in India too among wrestling and movie fans. The connection was further strengthened when he was paired with Priyanka Chopra in the Bay Watch, an adventure film inspired by the 1990 TV show goes by the same name which had David Hasselhoff in the lead role. It made the Indian market further opened up for the Rock.

3. A-List Hollywood actor

The Rock's first acting role was in The Mummy Returns (2001), and played his first lead role in The Scorpion King (2002). He has since starred in numerous successful films like The Game Plan (2007), Get Smart (2008), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Tooth Fairy (2010), Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), GI Joe: Retaliation (2013), Hercules (2014), San Andreas (2015), Central Intelligence (2016), Moana (2016), Rampage (2018), and Skyscraper (2018), Jumanji (Welcome to Jungle and Next Level) (2017, 2019) and some more films are on their way to the movie halls.

4. A money spinner

The Rock has grossed big money through his films over the years. Since 2001 his films have grossed USD 3.5 billion in USA alone and a whopping USD 10.5 billion the world over, pushing him to the top chart busters in Hollywood like Denzil Washington, Nicholas Cage, John Travolta, Richard Gere, Harrison Ford, Robert Browny Jr etc