Featured Image Credit: @therock/Instagram
Topics: US News, Dwayne Johnson
Dominic Smithers
Dwayne Johnson once gave the most incredible gift to the man who helped him when he was homeless as a teenager.
Now, Johnson's rise to fame is nothing short of meteoric. He was at one point homeless as a teenager and he even missed out on making the NFL draft. But he later became one of the biggest names in the WWF - now WWE - and then the highest paid actor in the world.
To this day, the 50-year-old remembers the people who helped him along the way to achieve his dreams.
And years later, Johnson - also known as The Rock - tried to return the favour to a man who took him in when he was evicted from his home in Hawaii as a kid.
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That man was Bruno Lauer, who let Johnson stay with him in a 'tiny room' at a hotel.
Writing about that period in a post on Instagram back in 2020, Johnson said: "My mom and I were evicted off the island of Hawaii and I was sent to Nashville, Tennessee to live with my dad.
"When I landed in Nashville, I quickly found out I wasn’t gonna live with my dad. Sh*t happens, plans change and that’s the way it goes.
"Instead, I told I was gonna live with a guy named Bruno, who at the time lived in a tiny room at a spot called the Alamo Plaza motel.
"Bruno could’ve (and should’ve) said, 'Hell no, I’m not takin’ in some kid who I don’t know'. But he didn’t.
"He took this punk kid in and we became lifelong friends."
Almost a decade later, at the time of the 'infamous $7 bucks in my pocket' story, 'The Rock' was trying to launch his wrestling career in Memphis, and again Lauer offered him a helping hand, letting him stay in his trailer while he got back on his feet.
He even gave him "his last $40 bucks" so The Rock could "hustle a crackhead out of his car one night at a honky tonk in Nashville".
"But the hustle was on me, because when I took off down the road there was a second crackhead passed out on the floor in the back," the former wrestling star added.
So to thank him for his generosity, Johnson gifted Lauer a brand new motor - this time without the crackhead.
"I love you, brother. Your kindness and heart – helped change my life’s trajectory. And when you’re ready to retire from the business you just say the word. I got you covered," said the actor.
"Enjoy your new ride and give Walls, Mississippi my love and gratitude."
Overwhelmed, Lauer said: "I can’t believe it, I love you so much, before this, without this, with nothing. I love you man, not ‘cause of this, ‘cause of who you are."