Dwayne Johnson reveals his wrestler dad Rocky died following huge heart attack

Dwayne Johnson's dad died following a 'massive heart attack', the actor has revealed in an emotional post to fans on Instagram.

Rocky Johnson, who like his son was also a famed wrestler, passed away on January 15 at the age of 75.

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But Johnson has said that he 'didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to him'.

“I’d give anything right now to give him a big ole hug and a big ole kiss before he crossed over and just say thank you and I love you and I respect you,” he told fans.

“But I didn’t get a chance to say that, but such is life, as many of you know.”

He went on: “A lot of you guys wanted to know what happened to my dad. He had not been feeling well, had been battling a cold and infection and on Tuesday he had what’s called a deep vein thrombosis, which is essentially a clot in the leg.

“It was a big ole blood clot that broke free, traveled up his body, and went right to his lung, clotted his lung and he died very quickly from a massive heart attack, just like that.”

The Rock added that his father ‘went quick’.

“That did give me great comfort in knowing that it wasn’t prolonged,” Johnson said.

Rocky Johnson, born Wayde Douglas Bowles and known as the Soul Man, was a pioneering pro wrestler, and with partner Tony Atlas became the first ever black WWE tag team champions – then know as the World Wrestling Federation – in 1983.

The WWE posted a message of condolence on its website last week.

“In 2008, Johnson achieved the highest honor in sports-entertainment when he was inducted by The Rock into the WWE Hall of Fame where he will be forever enshrined as one of sports-entertainment’s most influential performers,” it wrote in a statement.

“WWE extends its condolences to Johnson’s family, friends and fans.”