Jan. 15, 2025, marked the fifth anniversary of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s father’s passing, and the world-renowned star shared a reflective post about the lessons he has learned since then. The Rock revealed he got into a fight with his dad, Canadian professional wrestler Rocky Johnson, just a few weeks prior to his death and his biggest regret is not patching things things up with his dad before it was eventually too late.
“I know a lot of guys out there, like me, had a very complicated relationship with their dad,” the Moana star said in his Instagram video. “And now we’re in this club where our dads are walking in the clouds. The day before Christmas Eve we got into a massive fight on the phone. And we never reconciled. And I regret that. I will always regret that.”
He continued by sharing one of his biggest wishes, saying, “And now that he’s gone, I never had that chance to say goodbye, never had the chance to reconcile. I just wish, man, that I could hug him one more time, and kiss him on the cheek and look him in the eyes and say, ‘We’re good. We’re good.’”
The 52-year-old WWE veteran then shifted his focus to urging his viewers to reconcile with their paternal figures. He told them he hopes they don’t wind up feeling his pain and to extend the olive branch to their fathers, even if it isn’t easy.
“What I wanna tell you guys out there, if you still got your dad around, heal that. And reconcile that. Because you don’t want to be in a position like me, where sh*t’s f**ked up, you know you want to talk about it, it’s uncomfortable… but take that leap. And I’d rather you be uncomfortable and reconcile and make whole with your dad while he’s here, while you can,” he said.
“And then all of a sudden, you wake up and you’re having to write the eulogy for his funeral. So if you got our old man around, get uncomfortable, pull him aside, and say, ‘Let’s do our best to kind of squash this.’”
Rocky Johnson was an accomplished athlete, as he was the first Black Georgia Heavyweight Champion and the NWA Television Champion twice. In 1983, he became the first Black champion in WWE history alongside his partner Tony Atlas when they took the victory at World Tag Team Championship. Rocky died of a pulmonary embolism at the home at the age of 75.
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