Now known by his real name Dwayne Johnson, The World Of The Rock charts the journey of “the most electrifying man in all of entertainment” all the way from his high school football days through a massively successful wrestling career and on to his current Hollywood megastar status. Published by reference-bible maestros DK in conjunction with WWE, it’s no surprise that the majority of the book focuses on pro-wrestling, with only a few short sections devoted to his early life and appearances on the silver screen.
Coming from a family whose wrestling history dates back to the 1960s and is still heavily involved in the world of sports entertainment today, The World Of The Rock devotes its first few pages to some of the family’s major players before moving swiftly on to The Rock himself. The evolution of his character, career highlights, catchphrases and signature moves are all touched upon by way of an introduction for those who may only be aware of Dwayne Johnson the movie star, rather than his previous alter-ego.
After familiarising ourself with our subject over around 50-something pages, we’re strangely taken back to a slightly out of place section about American football before returning to wrestling once again. The most detailed parts of the book can be found here, with the inclusion of statistics, anecdotes, and even archival concept art by WWE’s costume designers. We’re taken through The Rock’s entire WWE career from beginning to end, with plenty of time taken to look at some of his greatest rivalries and most important matches, before finally rounding things off with half a dozen pages covering his exploits in Tinseltown.
While we’re never truly given any sort of in-depth information and long-time wrestling fans might not find too much that they didn’t already know, as far as reference books go, The World Of The Rock does pretty much as good a job as anyone could manage with such a brief amount of time. The 160 glossy full-colour pages provide a decent round-up of a side of Dwayne Johnson that newer fans might not even realise even exists. Taken as more of an introduction for newcomers rather than an exhaustive biography, it serves to both inform movie fans about the history of a modern action hero and remind older fans of some of The Rock’s greatest moments. And it might even encourage some folk to check out the world of pro wrestling for the first time, which can only be a good thing!
THE WORLD OF THE ROCK / AUTHOR: STEVEN PANTALEO / PUBLISHER: DK / RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 4TH
