Dwayne Johnson shares honest views on parents’ tumultuous relationship

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has shared candid reflections on the tumultuous relationship between his parents, the late Rocky Johnson and Ata Johnson. The Smashing Machine star recently opened up about a childhood defined by his parents’ “explosive and volcanic” marriage.

“My dad was a pro wrestler at a time when it was the Wild West,” Dwayne Johnson explained. “There weren’t million-dollar contracts. It was paycheck to paycheck and just trying to survive.”

The 53-year-old actor recalled his father’s struggle with addiction, noting that Rocky often focused on his career and himself while Ata stayed home to raise their son. According to the Jungle Cruise star, his mother sacrificed her own aspirations to support the man she loved. “All she wanted was to be seen, and she was never seen,” Johnson observed.

The wrestler-turned-actor described the painful experience of witnessing a relationship’s decline as a man battles his demons. “I watched their fights,” Johnson shared, adding, “I heard their fights, which is even worse.”

Rocky and Ata Johnson married in 1978 and eventually divorced in 2003. Dwayne Johnson also touched upon his own fractured relationship with his father, who passed away from a pulmonary embolism in January 2020.

Last year, Johnson’s daughter Ava, has subtly made her romance with Tatyanna Dumas official.

Ava — whose real name is Simone Garcia Johnson — took to her Instagram account on Sunday to share a PDA-filled video of herself with 26-year-old WWE star.

The video showcased many intimate moments with her fellow wrestler, including the pair kissing, holding hands and enjoying time together in a swimming pool.

“Crying, screaming, throwing up,” she wrote along the video, adding, “am so lucky.”

The couple’s soft launch had been building for weeks as they both posed with Dwayne at the London premiere of his biopic The Smashing Machine. However, Ava’s latest post marks the first time she has openly acknowledged the relationship.

On November 30, Ava shared a post-Thanksgiving photo dump that included her leaning in to kiss Tatyanna on the cheek while resting a hand on her stomach.