The Rock is Santa in disguise. Along the years, he’s made many headlines for giving cars to members of the family, friends or former associates whom he considered instrumental to his career, or simply people he’d never met and wanted to do something nice for.
As a joke, The Rock, a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson, occasionally calls himself Dwanta on social media. His gift of choice is always a car and, perhaps because of his imposing stature, he seems to prefer trucks and SUVs.
This is again one of those times. The recipient is Dwayne’s first manager, Brune Lauer a.k.a. “Downtown Bruno,” who used to go by the name Harvey Wippleman back in the day when Dwayne was just 15 and had flown from Hawaii into Nashville, ready to start his career as a wrestler. Bruno took him in, and they lived in his trailer in Walls, Mississippi.
Bruno was also the man who bought Dwayne his first car, as they hilariously recall in the video at the bottom of the page. It was a run-down Thunderbird that they bought off a crackhead for $40, which they drove off right away, to later discover a second crackhead in the back. They still owe that crackhead another $40 since that’s what he’d asked for the car.
To repay Bruno for his kindness and generosity and for playing such an important part in Dwayne’s career, the star bought him a Ford F-150, which literally brought the man to tears. Choking, he even says traveling to meet Dwayne again “would have been gift enough.”
“Merry Christmas, Bruno and since you helped me ‘buy’ my first car – I figured I could return the favor and buy you one that 100% does NOT have a crackhead in the back seat,” Johnson writes on Instagram, in the caption to the video showing the moment Bruno gets his gift.
Here it is. For a guy as big and tough as The Rock, he sure can make (man) tears flow freely.
This is again one of those times. The recipient is Dwayne’s first manager, Brune Lauer a.k.a. “Downtown Bruno,” who used to go by the name Harvey Wippleman back in the day when Dwayne was just 15 and had flown from Hawaii into Nashville, ready to start his career as a wrestler. Bruno took him in, and they lived in his trailer in Walls, Mississippi.
Bruno was also the man who bought Dwayne his first car, as they hilariously recall in the video at the bottom of the page. It was a run-down Thunderbird that they bought off a crackhead for $40, which they drove off right away, to later discover a second crackhead in the back. They still owe that crackhead another $40 since that’s what he’d asked for the car.
To repay Bruno for his kindness and generosity and for playing such an important part in Dwayne’s career, the star bought him a Ford F-150, which literally brought the man to tears. Choking, he even says traveling to meet Dwayne again “would have been gift enough.”
“Merry Christmas, Bruno and since you helped me ‘buy’ my first car – I figured I could return the favor and buy you one that 100% does NOT have a crackhead in the back seat,” Johnson writes on Instagram, in the caption to the video showing the moment Bruno gets his gift.
Here it is. For a guy as big and tough as The Rock, he sure can make (man) tears flow freely.