The Rock Changed Harvey Wippleman's Life Over Course Of Decades-Long Friendship

Life is hard, but sometimes you meet people along the way that will make that journey a little easier for you. For Downtown Bruno –best known to fans as Harvey Wippleman– one of those people was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Bruno was a staple of the Memphis wrestling scene before heading north to WWE in the 1990s to manage the likes of Sid Justice, Kamala, and Giant Gonzalez. It was during that time that he met the teenage son of Rocky Johnson and quickly became friends. While speaking to "Wrestling Then And Now," Wippleman discussed how this meeting changed his entire life.

"[The Rock is] one of the five people in this world I would literally die for," said Wippleman as he recalled their decades-long friendship. Though he admittedly can't remember exactly how long it's been since they've known each other ("I'm the worst about that. I don't remember what I had for breakfast."), the former WWE Women's Champion now has "Young Rock" to help him remember. In addition to being portrayed on the show by Ryan Pinkston, Bruno also works as an executive consultant for the NBC series.

This is just one example of how Johnson stays connected to his roots and remembers those who helped him along the way. Bruno also reminisced about a recent visit where they returned to the trailer park where they briefly lived together and greeted the current residents. But on top of getting him a job, Wippleman also shared that Rock gifted him a new car as well. "Dwayne just made my life and bought me a brand new pickup truck for Christmas two years ago. It just changed my life. He's a wonderful person."