Wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson passed away due to a massive heart attack in January 2020. His son paid an emotional tribute to him and thanked him for being the father that he was.
For decades now, Dwayne 'the rock' Johnson has been adored and admired for his looks, style, spirit, courage, and for simply the man he is. On February 8, 2020, he thanked his dad for all of it and more.
Dwayne's dad and WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson passed away last month due to a heart attack. Senior Johnson's death was confirmed on January 15 by the WWE.
“WWE is saddened to learn that Rocky ‘Soul Man’ Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles), a WWE Hall of Famer, former World Tag Team Champion, and father of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, has passed away at age 75,” the organization wrote on its website.
Dwayne recently shared a video of the heartfelt eulogy he said on his father's funeral as he struggled to hold his tears back. He stepped onto the podium and took a few moments to gather himself before speaking.
“Man, I wish I had … I wish I had one more shot,” the Fast & Furious star began. “I wish I had one more shot to say goodbye … to say I love you, to say thank you, but I have a feeling he’s watching. He’s listening.”
Explaining the moment he heard about his dad's demise, he said that he was pulling off from work when the news was broken to him and he couldn't believe it. “You know how you have those moments where you try and shake yourself out of it, and you’re like ‘No, it’s not a dream. … My dad’s gone.’”
“In that moment, I just thought ‘Well, what do I need to do? What’s the next thing that I need to do?’” “And I heard a voice say, ‘Well, hey, the show must go on,’ and that was my dad. That was my old man who told me that,” Johnson said as clips of his dad’s days as a wrestler played on a screen behind him, PEOPLE reported.
He went on to call him a "trail-blazer" and "barrier-breaking" wrestler who fought all odds to make his undisputed position in a white man's world. Moreover, he attributed his own success as a human being and as a father to the man who brought him up.
"You loved us with the capacity of which you could - given all the givens," he said. "Raised me with an iron hand and a tough complicated love. A love that now, as a father and man, I’ve learned to refine as I raise my own children," he added.
He stopped for a few moments again and in his shaky voice said, "What’s amazing to me now, after a day like today after we come here and we give our respect and our love, he’s galvanized, he’s responsible for galvanizing families now."
"Because through processes like this, we’ve all lost loved ones, but guaranteed when we walk out of these doors, we’re going to hold each other a bit tighter, we’re going to hug each other a bit harder, we’re going to kiss each other and we’re going to say, ‘I love you,’ and we’re going to be a bit more present.”
The actor and father-of-three concluded the speech with these beautiful words, “I wish your soul at rest and at ease. No more pain, no more regret."
His words show the pain of a child who's lost the most important person in their life. "I love you and now I have an angel to call by name."
We wish his soul rests in peace. May you have the strength to get through this tough time.
References:
https://people.com/movies/dwayne-johnson-shares-eulogy-he-delivered-father-funeral-service/
