Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Jonhson Sets the Record Straight About His Racial Identity

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Interestingly, The Rock still finds himself having to answer questions, make corrections and be very clear regarding his racial makeup—despite his enormous success. On his Twitter account, a user tweeted about The Rock’s race in relation to his prior WWE victories.

The conversation all began when some suggested WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon purposely kept Kofi Kingston from becoming a champion during SmackDown Live.

“This is a very believable storyline, in that it features Vince McMahon going to extraordinary lengths to stop a black man becoming champion,” one Twitter user said.

Another wrote, “Ever heard of @TheRock?”

Then some began asking whether Johnson considers himself to be one of the few Black people to win the top belt in the WWE.

The Twitter user wrote:

“Cool, he identifies as Samoan in WWE and was booked that way after Nation days. Was never booked, proclaimed, or titled as First black champion. And hardcore wrestling fans don’t name him as such as well. Thus nobody calls him a black champion. Anoa’i family background angle”

This caused The Rock to respond with a clarification and correction to ensure that there is no future confusion of his race:

“Glad I came across this and I’ll give you guys some context & truth. I identify as exactly what I am – both. Equally proud. Black/Samoan. And my friend, let me expand your thoughts a bit here – I transcended race in wrestling so there was no “booked that way”. Thx guys”

In a 2017 interview with GQ magazine, The Rock revealed that most white people often mistake his race for being someone of Greek descent. This is also largely due to the fact that in many of his movies his racial identity is ambiguous to say the least. In late 2018, Johnson announced a new deal with Netflix to star as Black American folk hero, John Henry.

Nevertheless, The Rock has made it clear from the beginning of his career what his heritage is—and that he is very proud of it.