Dwayne Johnson Shares Video Of Touching Eulogy He Delivered At His Father's Funeral
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has shared a video of the emotional eulogy he delivered at the funeral of his father, wrestling Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson, who died at age 75 last month.
The “Jumanji” actor posted the video to Instagram on Friday, writing in the caption that his father “lived a full and meaningful life.”
Rocky “Soul Man” Johnson, who earned a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008, joined Tony Atlas, another Black wrestler, as the first Black World Tag Team champions in 1983, back when the WWE was called the World Wrestling Federation.
In the video, the younger Johnson highlighted his father’s impact.
He said that trailblazers like his father “do things that have never been done, but impactful things, and things that actually move the needle in an industry. And he did that.”
The actor then noted that his father broke into pro wrestling in the mid-1960s and into the ’70s when “racial tension and divide was very strong,” adding that his father starting his career with an “all-white audience” helped change attitudes and behaviors.
Dwayne Johnson further reflected on his father’s impact as a Black man in an overwhelmingly white industry, noting that his dad “fought for racial equality at a time when it was needed.”
He ended his eulogy by saying, “I’ll see you down the road, Soul Man.”
In a letter to his father on Instagram, the actor wrote: “You trail blazed and even harder, you changed people’s harsh behaviors toward a man of color.
Paving the way for me, my family and generations to come.”
A famed former wrestler himself, The Rock made his debut in the ring in the 1990s. He said on “Live With Kelly and Ryan” last year that he “quietly retired” from wrestling because he was “lucky enough to have just a really wonderful career.”
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
