If you can smell what the Rock is cookin' then you're no doubt familiar with superstar wrestler Dwayne Johnson's swaggeringly cocky alter ego. With his trademark right eyebrow raised and a penchant for implementing the patented "People's Elbow" to unwary opponents, the self-proclaimed "Most Electrifying Man in Sports-Entertainment" slammed, crashed, and crushed his way to becoming the youngest Intercontinental Champion in WWF history at the age of 24 before winning the WWF title record six times. After conquering the world of sports-entertainment, Johnson next set his sights on conquering Hollywood.
Hailing from Miami, FL, Johnson became a third-generation wrestler after shifting from a career in professional football to professional wrestling when an injury sidelined his gridiron aspirations. After flexing his acting muscles on television in Saturday Night Live, That '70s Show (in which he played his own father), and The Net, the Rock made his feature debut with his role as the dreaded Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns (2001). Returning as the same character the following year in the appropriately titled The Scorpion King, Johnson did little to enhance his reputation of a trained thespian, though he did get the summer film season off to a rousing start for audiences hungering for some energetic escapist fun. Recalling John Milius's 1982 hit Conan the Barbarian (another film that launched the cinematic action career of a little known athlete named Arnold Schwarzenegger), the sword and sand adventure raked in 36 million dollars on its opening weekend and stuck at the top of the box office in the weeks following its impressive debut. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide