The Rock Says He Identifies As Both Black and Samoan

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has cleared up on what he identifies as in a Twitter thread.

The Hollywood star responded to a fan on Twitter who in a debate regarding his ethnicity, said that The Rock “identifies as Samoan in WWE and was booked that way.”

The former WWE Champion cleared up the confusion regarding what he identifies as and wrote, “Glad I came across this and I’ll give you guys some context & truth.

Glad I came across this and I’ll give you guys some context & truth.
I identify as exactly what I am – both. Equally proud. Black/Samoan.
And my friend, let me expand your thoughts a bit here – I transcended race in wrestling so there was no “booked that way”. Thx guys
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) March 20, 2019

The Twitter thread stemmed from a comment which said that “Vince McMahon is going to extraordinary lengths to stop a black man becoming champion.” The man in question here is Kofi Kingston, who is currently involved in a top storyline with his WWE Championship pursuits. Despite a valiant fight this SmackDown Live in a gauntlet match and defeating the roster’s best five back-to-back, Kofi was blindsided by Vince McMahon who then put him in another match against Daniel Bryan which he was unable to win. New Day even thought of quitting the company, but Kofi said that if they quit now then it will be a win for Daniel Bryan and Mr. McMahon.

Rock, on the other hand, has been open and public about his dual ethnicity. He had also revealed that the character he voiced in Moana named Maui, was partly inspired by his late grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia of Samoa. Rock’s mother Ata Johnson is Samoan, while his father is of Black Nova Scotian heritage. Rock is considered a non-blood relative of the Anoa’i wrestling family through his mother.