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'Love you, brother': The Rock's heartwarming surprise for lifelong friend

Riley Morgan
·Sports Reporter
·3-min read
Dwayne, The Rock, Johnson (pictured right) laughing and surprising his friend Bruno Lauer (pictured left) crying with a new car.
Dwayne, The Rock, Johnson (pictured right) surprising his friend Bruno Lauer (pictured left) with a new car. (Image: Instagram)

Dwayne, The Rock, Johnson has a big heart and the former WWE superstar got into the festive spirit over the holidays and delivered a heartwarming moment to a lifelong-friend captured in a beautiful video.

Johnson, the 48-year-old former WWE superstar turn Hollywood actor, has become one of the biggest names in the entertainment industry after his career switch.

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The humble actor has always been one to give back to those that have helped him succeed throughout his extraordinary life.

But in the latest video on set of ‘Young Rock’ - a movie about his young life - Johnson surprised his old friend ‘The Wippleman’, real name Bruno Lauer, with a brand new Ford F-150 pick-up truck.

Johnson accompanied the video with a caption of why he wanted to give back to his friend Lauer, 55, in a light-hearted story.

“My life (especially my teenage years) has been full of the wildest twists and turns - yet God and the universe had always found a way to put a few people in my path that would change the trajectory of the road I was going down,” Johnson wrote.

“Meet one of my lifelong friends, Bruno Lauer — or I prefer to call him, “Downtown Bruno”. My mom and I were evicted off the island of Hawaii and I was sent to Nashville, Tennessee to live with my dad.

“When I landed in Nashville, I quickly found out I wasn’t gonna live with my dad.

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“Instead, I told I was gonna live with a guy named Bruno. Who at the time lived in a tiny room at a spot called the Alamo Plaza motel.

“Bruno could’ve (and should’ve) said hell no, I’m not takin’ in some kid who I don’t know.

“But he didn’t. He took this punk kid in and we became lifelong friends.”

The Rock surprises Lauer with car

Johnson went on to explain Lauer helped him purchase his first car years later, when he was just 15 years old.

So to show his gratitude, Johnson bought Lauer the Ford-150.

Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, enters the ring to talk smack about his upcoming opponent John Cena during the WWE Raw event at Rose Garden arena in Portland, Ore., Monday February 27th, 2012.
Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, enters the ring to talk smack about his upcoming opponent John Cena during the WWE Raw event at Rose Garden arena in Portland, Ore., Monday February 27th, 2012. (Photo by Chris Ryan/Corbis via Getty Images)

When Johnson reveals the moment it was Lauer’s car, his old friend broke down in tears.

Lauer was hired by the WWE in 1991. He went on to become notorious for his work as a heel manager.

He still works with the company and owner Vince McMahon behind the scenes.

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