Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has always lived his life very publicly and openly. Recently, Rock suffered a great loss when his father, WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson, passed away at the age of 75 and in the spirit of openness, The Rock shared the eulogy he gave for his father on his Instagram.
In the Instagram video, many professional wrestling personalities were highlighted as they paid their respects to not only Rocky Johnson but the Rock and his family. Vince McMahon, Triple H, Roman Reigns, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Pat Patterson among others, could all be seen sharing tender moments with The Rock as The Rock's words played in the background.
Rock spoke about how his father was a trailblazer and how even in his passing, he is now synonymous with bringing people together through love.
“I wish I had one more shot. You know, just to say goodbye. Say I love you. Thank you. I respect you. But, you know, I have a feeling he's watching, he's listening. I know my dad would be saying 'kayfabe the tears,'” Rock began. “You know, the wrestling community is a very tight community. It's a global business, but it's a very, very tight community. And they believe a show must go on. You know, this idea about the show must go on. It just reminded me of, you know, what my dad was and what he represented to our business, into our wrestling business and something that, you know, we're all very proud of because many of us are in this wrestling business. And it is in your blood. And once it's in your blood. It never goes away. The phrase of "trailblazer" is connected to my dad's name. It means when you do things that have never been done.
“Our uncles, who were so proud of Afa & Sika, you guys are trailblazers, never been done. My grandfather, Peter Maivia, trailblazer, never been done. Hulk Hogan, trailblazer, never been done. My dad, Rocky Johnson, trailblazer, never been done. When you do things that have never been done, but impactful things and things that actually move the needle and industry. And he did that. You know, this man did that. The other side to it that I wanted to point out that I thought was important to say is that when somebody is a trailblazer, that means that they've actually they have the ability to change behavior, an audience’s behavior, people's behavior.”
Continuing on, Rock, fighting back emotions, would thank his professional wrestling family for coming together and wish his father a beautiful farewell.
“I'm so happy he had friends, a place like this that he could come to and all of you who have been in his life and all of you have said really wonderful things, all the messages that you sent me. He would be very happy at this. It would make his heart full,” he continued. “This isn't goodbye. This is just 'I'll see you down the road. We'll see you down the road. Thank you guys so much for your time and love. I love you all. Thank you. We love you all, my family. Thank you guys very much. And. I'll see you down the road, Soulman.”
At the end of the video, footage played of The Rock and his father sharing their won WWE moment together in the ring at WrestleMania 13 in 1997. You can see the full eulogy embedded in the Instagram post above.
