On April 3 at WrestleMania XXVII, The Rock opened the show by cutting a promo. After appearing in numerous backstage segments, The Rock came to ringside to restart the main event between Cena and The Miz as a No Disqualification match, after it had ended in a draw. As revenge for the Attitude Adjustment Cena had given him on Raw, Rock hit Cena with the Rock Bottom, allowing The Miz to pin him and retain the WWE Championship. After the match, Rock attacked Miz and hit him with the People's Elbow. The following night on Raw, Cena challenged The Rock to a match at WrestleMania XXVIII the next year, which Rock accepted. They then worked together to fend off an attack by The Corre, which at the time consisted of Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, and Ezekiel Jackson. The Rock appeared live on Raw in his hometown of Miami to celebrate his 39th birthday.

Dwayne Douglas Johnson was born on May 2, 1972 in Hayward, California, the son of Ata Johnson (née Maivia) and professional Wrestler Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles). His maternal grandfather, "High Chief" Peter Maivia, was also a Wrestler, and his maternal grandmother, Lia Maivia, was one of wrestling's few female promoters, taking over Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling after her husband's death in 1982, until 1988. Johnson's father is Canadian, of Black Nova Scotian, and a small amount of Irish, descent. His mother is of Samoan ancestry. His father was part of the first black tag team to win the World Tag Team Championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Through his mother, he is considered a non-blood relative of the Anoa'i wrestling family. His cousin, Savelina Fanene, is also a Wrestler working for WWE under the ring name Nia Jax.

Johnson was a promising football prospect and received offers from many Division I collegiate programs. He decided on a full scholarship from the University of Miami, playing defensive tackle. In 1991, he was on the Miami Hurricanes's national championship team. When an injury sidelined him, he was replaced by Future National Football League (NFL) Hall of Fame player Warren Sapp. While attending Miami, Johnson met his Future wife, Dany Garcia, who graduated from the university in 1992 and later became a member of its Board of Trustees. She also founded a Miami-based wealth management firm. In 2006, the couple donated $2 million to build a living room at the University's Newman Alumni Center.

Johnson made his WWF debut as Rocky Maivia, a combination of his father and grandfather's ring names, although his real name was acknowledged by the announcers. He was initially reluctant to take this ring name but was persuaded by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross. He was given the nickname "The Blue Chipper" and his lineage was played to on TV, where he was hyped as the WWF's first third-generation Wrestler. Maivia, a clean-cut face character, was pushed heavily from the start despite his wrestling inexperience. He debuted on Monday Night Raw as a member of Marc Mero's entourage on November 4, 1996 and had his first match at Survivor Series on November 17, in an eight-man elimination tag match; he was the sole survivor by single-handedly eliminating Crush and Goldust. WWF fans generally rejected him because of his cheesy character. On February 13, 1997, he won the Intercontinental Championship from Hunter Hearst Helmsley on Monday Night Raw. Maivia successfully defended the title at In Your House 13: Final Four against Hunter Hearst Helmsley and at WrestleMania 13 against The Sultan. He defeated Bret Hart by disqualification in a title defense on March 31 episode of Raw is War. On April 20 at In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker, he lost to Savio Vega by countout, retaining the title for the final time. Audiences became increasingly hostile toward Maivia, with chants of "Die, Rocky, die!" and "Rocky sucks!" being heard during his matches.

Johnson married Dany Garcia on May 3, 1997. Their daughter, Simone, was born on August 14, 2001. On June 1, 2007, they announced they were splitting up amicably. Soon after the divorce, Johnson began dating Lauren Hashian, the daughter of the late Boston Drummer Sib Hashian. They first met in 2006 while Johnson was filming The Game Plan. Their first child, daughter Jasmine, was born on December 16, 2015. In December 2017, Johnson announced he and Hashian are expecting their second child, a girl.

The Rock's entertaining promos and ensuing popularity led to a face turn, in which he called himself "The People's Champion". This led to a feud with Mr. McMahon, who said he had "a Problem with the people" and would thus target "The People's Champion". A double turn occurred at Survivor Series, when The Rock defeated McMahon's associate, Mankind, in the finals of the "Deadly Game" tournament for the vacant WWF Championship in a fashion reminiscent of the Montreal Screwjob. The Rock allied with Vince and Shane McMahon as the crown jewel of their stable, The Corporation. On December 13, 1998 at the pay-per-view named for him, Rock Bottom: In Your House, The Rock had a rematch with Mankind for the WWF Championship. Mankind appeared to win the match when The Rock passed out in the Mandible Claw submission move, but Mr. McMahon ruled that since The Rock did not tap out, he retained his title.

Johnson began his acting career on television while wrestling. In his first television acting job, in 1999, he played his own father in an episode of That '70s Show called "That Wrestling Show". Nearly a year later, he appeared in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Tsunkatse" as an alien Wrestler who fought popular character Seven of Nine. While Johnson was away from WWE, the company continued to sell "The Rock" merchandise, and he continued to be featured prominently in the opening montages of their television shows.

Johnson attended the 2000 Democratic National Convention as part of WWE's non-partisan "Smackdown Your Vote" campaign, which aimed to influence young people to vote. A supporter of the Republican Party at the time, he had a speaking role at the 2000 Republican National Convention that same year. In 2017, he told GQ Magazine that he was registered as an independent.

Johnson began his career in theatrical roles in blockbuster action films The Mummy Returns (2001), The Scorpion King (2002), the action comedy The Rundown (2003), and the remake of Walking Tall (2004). He played a supporting role in Be Cool (2005) and was the primary antagonist in Doom (2006). Roles in Gridiron Gang (2006) and Reno 911!: Miami (2007) soon followed. Johnson played against type in Southland Tales (2007). He played a cocky famous American football player in The Game Plan (2007) and Agent 23 in Get Smart (2008). He presented the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 80th Academy Awards in February 2008. He was nominated for the Favorite Movie Actor award at the 2008 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for his role in The Game Plan but lost out to Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

In 2002, Rock was listed on E!'s 25 Toughest Stars. In 2003, he was listed in VH1's 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons and was No. 13 in People Magazine's 50 Favorite TV Stars.

The Rock returned on January 30, 2003, episode of SmackDown! to publicly criticize Hulk Hogan and make it clear that because of the success of his Hollywood career, WWE was no longer a priority and thus reestablishing him as a villain for the first time since 1999. Rock defeated Hogan again at No Way Out and drafted himself to the Raw brand where he had various feuds, including one with The Hurricane. He also performed "Rock concerts", segments in which he played the guitar and mocked the show's host city.

On August 23, 2004, episode of Raw, The Rock returned and took out Jonathan Coachman and La Résistance. In October 2005, The Rock did a tell all interview with WWE.com, he talked his contract with WWE, movies and feelings on a dream match with Shawn Michaels. On March 12, 2007, The Rock appeared on a WWE show after nearly three years, via a pre-taped promo shown during Raw. He correctly predicted that Bobby Lashley would defeat Umaga at WrestleMania 23 in Donald Trump and Vince McMahon's "Battle of the Billionaires" match. On March 29, 2008, The Rock inducted his father, Rocky Johnson, and his grandfather, Peter Maivia, into the WWE Hall of Fame. During his induction speech, he roasted Wrestlers John Cena, Santino Marella, Chris Jericho, Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. In September 2009, he appeared at a World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) show to support the pro wrestling debut of Sarona Snuka, the daughter of his long-time friend and mentor Jimmy Snuka. On October 2, 2009, the ten-year anniversary of SmackDown, The Rock (with his usual flattop hair shaved off) cut a promo via pre-recorded video.

In 2006, Johnson founded the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation, a charity working with at-risk and terminally ill children. On October 2, 2007, he and his ex-wife donated $1 million to the University of Miami to support the renovation of its football facilities; it was noted as the largest donation ever given to the university's athletics department by former students. The University of Miami renamed the Hurricanes' locker room in Johnson's honor.

Johnson briefly lived in New Zealand with his mother's family, settling in Grey Lynn. He attended Richmond Road Primary School, before returning to the U.S. with his parents. In the United States, he attended Shepherd Glen Elementary School and Hamden Middle School in Hamden, Connecticut, then spent 10th grade at President william McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. As he entered 11th grade, his father's job required his relocation to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where Johnson began playing football at Freedom High School in the East Penn Conference. He was also a member of the school's track and field and wrestling teams.

In 2011, The Rock's return generated a lot of interest. An average of 4.7 million people watched that episode of Raw, with 7.4 million tuning in during The Rock’s promo. His return also led the following episode of Raw on March 7 to be the highest rated episode of that year. In that same year, The Rock wrestled his first match in years at 2011 Survivor Series in Madison Square Garden. The event sold out in less than 90 minutes. The Rock was also part of the highest rated Raw segment in 2012 in a segment on Raw 1000 with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan which drew a 4.3 rating and was also part of the highest rated overrun of that year (4.4) the same night. The night after the 2013 Royal Rumble on January 28 which saw The Rock win the WWE Championship for the first time in over a decade was the highest rated Raw episode of that year.

Leading up to WrestleMania, The Rock and Cena had several Verbal confrontations on Raw. On March 12, 2012, episode, The Rock hosted his first "Rock Concert" segment since 2004, mocking Cena in his songs. He opined that, having beaten Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin at previous Wrestlemanias, beating Cena would make him the greatest Wrestler of all time. On April 1 at WrestleMania XXVIII, The Rock faced Cena in the main event hyped for a year and billed with the tagline "Once in a Lifetime". When an overconfident Cena attempted the People's Elbow on The Rock, he countered with a Rock Bottom for the pin and the win. The following night on Raw, The Rock praised Cena for putting up a good fight, calling their match "an honor". He then vowed to once again become WWE Champion.

Johnson became known for reinvigorating film franchises after portraying Marvin F. Hinton / Roadblock in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and reprising his role as Luke Hobbs in Fast & Furious 6, while also starring in true-story films Pain & Gain and Empire State; all of which were released in 2013. That same year, he hosted and produced the TNT reality competition series The Hero. He won the Favorite Male Buttkicker Award at the 2013 Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards. In May 2013, it was announced that he would executive produce and star in Ballers, an HBO comedy-drama series about NFL players living in Miami, Florida. By December of that year, Forbes named Johnson the top-grossing actor of 2013, with his films bringing in $1.3 billion worldwide for the year. Forbes credited the success of Fast & Furious 6, which grossed $789 million globally, and Johnson's frequent acting work as primary reasons for him topping the list.

As of 2014, Johnson resides in Southwest Ranches, Florida. In recognition of his Service to the Samoan people, and because he is a descendant of Samoan chiefs, Johnson had the noble title of Seiuli bestowed upon him by Malietoa Tanumafili II during his visit there in July 2004. He received a partial Samoan pe'a tattoo on his left side in 2003, and in 2017 had the small "brahma bull" tattoo on his right arm covered with a larger half-sleeve tattoo of a bull's skull.

On May 21, 2015, Johnson set a Guinness World Record for most selfies in three minutes, taking 105 selfies with fans during the premiere of San Andreas in London.

In March 2016, Johnson partnered with the American fitness apparel manufacturer Under Armour to release "Project Rock". The first item in his partnership with Under Armour, a gym bag, sold out in a couple of days. His second item, a black T-shirt sporting the wrestler's iconic "brahma bull" sold out after being worn at WrestleMania 32. Johnson also released an alarm clock app as part of "Project Rock" that received more than one million downloads in its first week of release. In 2016, Johnson started a YouTube channel titled "The Rock" with the help of online personality Lilly Singh. His first video was called "The YouTube Factory" and featured several internet stars. He was featured in the site's yearly video series "YouTube Rewind" in 2016.

In 2016, Johnson co-starred with Kevin Hart in the action-comedy Central Intelligence and had a lead voice role in the Disney animated film Moana, in which he voiced the Polynesian demigod Maui. He reprised his role as Luke Hobbs in The Fate of the Furious, which was released on April 14, 2017. Johnson starred in two other blockbuster movies that year, Baywatch and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle as Mitchell "Mitch" Buchannon and Dr. Smolder Bravestone, respectively. The latter became his biggest film in the U.S., grossing over $400 million. In 2018, Johnson starred in the science fiction action film Rampage. His next film, Legendary Entertainment's action-thriller Skyscraper, written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, is scheduled for July 2018. In April 2017, it was reported that he was filming a comedy film about a family of WWE fighters, titled Fighting with My Family.

Johnson will star in Universal Pictures' $160 million budget Red Notice, written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. It will be the second time the two will be collaborating after Central Intelligence and Skyscraper. Filming is set to begin in 2019 with a potential 2020 release date.