Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), better known by his former ring name The Rock, is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. He gained mainstream fame as a wrestler in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), originally known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1996 to 2004, and was the first third-generation superstar in wrestling history. Johnson was quickly given a push in WWE, first as "Rocky Maivia", and then as "The Rock", a member of the Nation of Domination. Two years after he joined the WWF, Johnson won the WWF Championship, and became one of the most popular wrestlers within the company for his engaging interviews and promos. In 2001, he began acting and occasionally returned to the ring. Dwayne now primarily focuses on acting. Johnson is also an actor, with his first leading role in 2001, in The Scorpion King. For this film, he received the highest salary for an actor in his first starring role, earning $5.5 million. He has since appeared in movies such as The Rundown, Be Cool, Walking Tall, Gridiron Gang, The Game Plan, Get Smart, Race to Witch Mountain, Planet 51 and Doom.