Though it's been a good three years since Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson last wrestled, - putting his pro wrestling career on the backboard to focus on his acting - his most recent Instagram post reminded fans that he has the sport deeply ingrained into his history and blood. The 47-year-old posted a rare, and pretty epic, black-and-white throwback photo of his ex-wrestler grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia, and the iconic French wrestler André the Giant. “What a crazy throwback from the 70’s,” Johnson began in the caption. “Here’s the ‘8th Wonder of the World’ André the Giant, using my 315lb grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia as a booster seat and making my granddad look like a little boy.”
Dwayne's grandfather, Fanene Leifi Pita Maivia, better known by his stage name, High Chief Peter Maivia, was an American-Samoan pro-wrestler, and according to Johnson, best friends with André The Giant, who was a pro-wrestler himself, famous for his absolutely gigantic stature. “They were the best of friends, wrestled nightly, tough as hell and as you can see by their smiles and open energy – they lived like to the absolute fullest,” he continued. “My grandfather died when I boy so I never got to know him as a man. Would’ve loved to have raised a tequila with these men.” Just as Dwayne said, André did, in fact, make his late grandfather appear quite tiny in comparison, when the man clocked in at a hefty 315 Lbs. The High Chief tragically passed away in 1982 of cancer, after which Dwayne posthumously inducted him into the WWE Hall of Fame. Johnson previously, and briefly, revealed his Grandfather's identity in a Tweet which explained how his character Maui, from the movie Moana, was "partly inspired by my late grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia of Samoa." He concluded the caption with, "#grateful."
