Rocky Johnson
Wayde Douglas Bowles (1944-2020) was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, and is descended from Black Loyalists who fled a plantation in the United States. At 16, he moved to Toronto. Initially, he trained to be a boxer and later began wrestling; he supported this by driving a truck. Rocky Johnson began professional wrestling in 1964 in Southern Ontario, and his stage name was inspired by Rocky Marciano, a black heavyweight boxing champion. 1970 was a contender in the National Wrestling Alliance, known as “Sweet Ebony Diamond,” winning title matches against then-World Champions Terry Funk and Harley Race, as well as several NWA regional tag team championships.
In 1991, Johnson trained his son Dwayne to wrestle, later dubbed “Rocky Maivia” after Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia’s grandfather, and in 2003, Johnson continued to train for the WWE developmental territory.
