Rocky Johnson

“The system in which I came up in was that every territory had to have a black, a white... if you went to Texas you had to have somebody that was a cowboy or one that was from Mexico. There wasn't that many Afro Americans in the business at the time so I moved around a lot. But every time I moved around, I made money.”

“Back when I was competing I had a lot of fans wanting my autograph, wanting to take my picture, but nothing like what my son is dealing with.”

“When I wrestled, I always considered myself an athlete and a wrestler.”

“I worked for promoters that I couldn't stand and they couldn't stand me. But they knew if they put my name out there, I would sell out for them.”

“Promoters know the business.”

“I cant remember the last time I went in the ring feeling whole. The pain is something you learn to live with. Some guys don't and they don't last.”

“I had my own mind made up in that I was going to do my own thing. I wasn't going to copy from this guy or that guy.”

“I kept myself in shape, and the stuff they were doing in the South, I wouldn't go for. They wanted to whip me on TV, like they used to do with the slaves and all that. I said, 'No. I came in as an athlete, and I'll leave as an athlete.' And they respected me for that.”

“They call Florida the wrestling graveyard because it's where we all end up. The weather is easier on us here.”

“A good promoter is one that treats you with respect and as a human being.”

“When I first got started I had no idea my career would last as long as it did.”

“When you drop-kick someone you have maybe a second's time to jump into the air, hit your opponent directly with both feet and then land without getting hurt. If you lose your balance in the air, though, you'll wind up with cracked ribs and bruised kidneys.”

“I met Muhammad Ali in Toronto when he was still Cassius Clay... We got to talking and it was like we knew each other for 50 years. We just clicked.”

“I wasn't an Uncle Tom and I never was gonna be.”

“I'm glad my son doesn't have to be labeled black or Samoan or mixed. He has instead been labeled as the best.”

“It seems every bouncer, every bodybuilder wants to become a wrestler. Every day, people will come up to me and ask about it. So few actually make it but if you do make it you can now make into the millions. You have to know your character and have a lot of ability.”

“I like to think I proved a wrestler's skin color doesn't matter.”

“I am proud of my family.”

“I was headstrong.”

“I worked with guys in Japan that were champions and they came over here for six months or a year and they treated them like garbage.”