On the evening of Wednesday, January 15, the world of wrestling lost one of its greatest stars. Rocky Johnson, the father of WWE legend and Hollywood superstar Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, passed away at the age of 75.

Rocky, who had the distinction of being the first African-American WWE tag team champion, died in his home in Lutz, Florida. Following the news of his death, heartfelt tributes to the athlete poured in, and no tribute was more poignant than the one delivered by Dwayne himself.

Now The Rock has opened up in an emotional video about the cause of his father's untimely death.

In a video posted on his official Instagram account, the wrestler stated to the camera: "As you know, I lost my old man a few days ago. I lost him just like that, didn't get a chance to say goodbye to him. I would 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. I didn't get a chance to say that, but such is life, as many of you know."

He added that Rocky died as a result of deep vein thrombosis, stating: "He had not been feeling well. He'd been battling a cold and infection and on Tuesday he had what's called a deep vein thrombosis, which is essentially a blood clot in the leg. It was a big old 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."

On January 17, The Rock posted a moving tribute to his late father on Instagram. Posting a picture of his dad, Dwayne wrote:

"I love you.
You broke color barriers, became a ring legend and trail blazed your way thru this world. I was the boy sitting in the seats, watching and adoring you, my hero from afar. The boy you raised to always be proud of our cultures and proud of who and what I am. [sic]"

He continued: "Son to father. Man to man. That’s when my adoration turned to respect. And my empathy turned to gratitude. Grateful that you gave me life. Grateful you gave me life’s invaluable lessons. Dad, I wish I had one more shot to tell you, I love you, before you crossed over to the other side. But you were ripped away from me so fast without warning. [sic'"

He added: "Now I’ll carry your mana and work ethic with me, as it’s time to move on because I have my family to feed and work to accomplish.

"Finally, I want you to rest your trailblazing soul, Soulman. Pain free, regret free, satisfied and at ease. You lived a very full, very hard, barrier breaking life and left it all in the ring. I love you dad and I’ll always be your proud and grateful son. Go rest high. [sic]"

On the evening of Wednesday, January 15, the world of wrestling lost one of its greatest stars. Rocky Johnson, the father of WWE legend and Hollywood superstar Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, passed away at the age of 75.

Rocky, who had the distinction of being the first African-American WWE tag team champion, died in his home in Lutz, Florida. Following the news of his death, heartfelt tributes to the athlete poured in, and no tribute was more poignant than the one delivered by Dwayne himself.

Now The Rock has opened up in an emotional video about the cause of his father's untimely death.

In a video posted on his official Instagram account, the wrestler stated to the camera: "As you know, I lost my old man a few days ago. I lost him just like that, didn't get a chance to say goodbye to him. I would 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. I didn't get a chance to say that, but such is life, as many of you know."

He added that Rocky died as a result of deep vein thrombosis, stating: "He had not been feeling well. He'd been battling a cold and infection and on Tuesday he had what's called a deep vein thrombosis, which is essentially a blood clot in the leg. It was a big old 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."

On January 17, The Rock posted a moving tribute to his late father on Instagram. Posting a picture of his dad, Dwayne wrote:

"I love you.
You broke color barriers, became a ring legend and trail blazed your way thru this world. I was the boy sitting in the seats, watching and adoring you, my hero from afar. The boy you raised to always be proud of our cultures and proud of who and what I am. [sic]"

He continued: "Son to father. Man to man. That’s when my adoration turned to respect. And my empathy turned to gratitude. Grateful that you gave me life. Grateful you gave me life’s invaluable lessons. Dad, I wish I had one more shot to tell you, I love you, before you crossed over to the other side. But you were ripped away from me so fast without warning. [sic'"

He added: "Now I’ll carry your mana and work ethic with me, as it’s time to move on because I have my family to feed and work to accomplish.

"Finally, I want you to rest your trailblazing soul, Soulman. Pain free, regret free, satisfied and at ease. You lived a very full, very hard, barrier breaking life and left it all in the ring. I love you dad and I’ll always be your proud and grateful son. Go rest high. [sic]"