HAHAHA this 90s glamour shot of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

This is Dwayne Johnson, star of ring and screen. It’s unclear when this photo was taken, but it appears to be just as he was undergoing the transformation into becoming The Rock.

There’s a whole lot going on here. Let’s break it down.

There was this period in the late 90s where style was defined by the J.Crew catalog running face-first into The Sopranos. This photo is a duality of mysteries. From the waist up Dwayne defines this ideal. A dark turtleneck with the sleeves rolled up ever so slightly, chain proudly displayed on the outside of said turtleneck. It let people know you meant business, and probably smelled exactly like a vat of CK One.

Then there’s the waist down. The term “mom jeans” is overused, often used as parlance for the oft-overlooked “dad jeans.” These are the definition of dad jeans. Neither baggy nor fit, always worn slightly above the waist with a tasteful belt. They’re the pants of a man ready to look at some skill saws at The Home Depot, because darn it he watched three episodes of This Old House and is convinced the finished basement needs wainscoting.

The fanny pack, oh lord the fanny pack. A leather fanny pack no less. It’s not tight like a Disney World tourist, instead the satchel hangs slightly under-slung as if to say “I’m relaxed, but organized.” What the heck did a circa-1998 Dwayne Johnson keep in a fanny pack?

If you’ve ever had a formal photo of glamour shot taken then you know this position well. It’s the patented “one arm lean, hands through belt loops.” Over-used to the extreme, straight out of the Olan Mills playbook, this pose is designed to be masculine but non-threatening.

Here’s what happened: They tried the belt loop thing, but quickly worked out that his arms were too long. So an enterprising photographer grabbed that fanny pack. We just answered our question, it’s full of tissue paper. What a shame.

This is the hidden gem of the photo, the Easter egg if you will. Dwayne Johnson decided to have his photo shoot at a local high school or park, somewhere like that. After finding the perfect set of stairs to serve as a backdrop he was asked to lean on a nearby wall.

“And mess up this J.Crew sweater? No thank you.”

After some back-and-forth they finally settled on grabbing a paper towel to protect Dwayne’s elbow. There would be no pulled threads on this day, not a single one.