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Long
before he became known as "The Rock's father, Rocky Johnson
built a notable career in professional wrestling, winning some
of the sport's top titles and winning the hearts of fans from
around the world. A former boxer, Johnson worked as a
sparring partner for Muhammed Ali and George
Foreman.
Johnson began
wrestling before entering the world of professional wrestling
in the late 1960's. He won the Canadian Tag Team
Championship in Vancouver with Don Leo Jonathan and the North
American Heavyweight Championship in 1969. Johnson's
career took him around the U.S. as he wrestled in California,
Memphis, Georgia, and Florida, winning championship gold in
each promotion.
Johnson had a heated feud
with Jerry "The King" Lawler in
Championship Wrestling Association (CWA). Fans cheered
Johnson as he won the Southern Heavyweight Championship from
the much hated (at the time) Lawler. At one point Rocky
even had possession of Lawler's crown
as well. Lawler was furious and challenged Johnson to a
match. After defeating Johnson for the Southern belt
(with the help of a chain), he put the belt up against the
crown. Johnson had the match going his way until Dennis
Condrey and Phil Hickerson entered the ring and beat down
Johnson. As Condrey and Hickerson held Johnson, Lawler
whipped him with a leather strap. Lawler then ran off
with his crown However Johnson's battle with Lawler was
far from over.
Johnson also wrestled under a
mask as Sweet Ebony Diamond in Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling (MACW) where he held the MACW Television
Championship on two separate occasions and the MACW
Heavyweight Championship on one. Sweet Ebony teamed with
Ric "Nature Boy" Flair as both men
shared a common foe in Greg "The Hammer"
Valentine.
Perhaps his biggest success was
when Johnson entered the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in
the early 1980's teaming with Tony Atlas. The two defeated the
Wild Samoans for the WWF Tag Team Championship and became the
first African Americans to hold the WWF Tag Team belts.
Johnson continued to
wrestle through the mid-80's before retiring. He then
helped his son Duane Johnson (aka The Rock) train for a career
in professional wrestling and appeared with him at a few of
his matches including one at Wrestlemania XIII.
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