The Rock’s Grandfather Was André the Giant’s BFF, Because Awesome Runs in the Family

Philip Ellis
Photo credit: Emma McIntyre/VMN19 - Getty Images
Photo credit: Emma McIntyre/VMN19 - Getty Images

From Men's Health

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson just shared the ultimate throwback photo which shows that being awesome isn't a new development in the family, but something that goes back through the generations. In an Instagram post, Johnson revealed that his grandfather was a good friend of French wrestling legend André the Giant. Talk about legends supporting legends. (Literally. It looks like André is actually sitting on him.)

"What a crazy throwback from the 70’s," he wrote. "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. They were the best of friends, wrestled nightly, tough as hell and as you can see by their smiles and open energy - they lived life to the absolute fullest. 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. Would’ve also loved to have wrestled them too - those would’ve been fun ass kickin’s for me to take."

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What a crazy throwback from the 70’s. 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. 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. 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. Would’ve also loved to have wrestled them too - those would’ve been fun ass kickin’s for me to take 😉 #thegiant #andthehighchief 🥃

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Jul 11, 2019 at 4:52pm PDT

André the Giant, a.k.a. André René Roussimoff was a World Heavyweight Champion with the WWF (now WWE). In 1987, the same year that he took on his rival Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania III, André won over a whole new host of fans with his most famous film role, playing Fezzik in Rob Reiner's fantasy adventure film The Princess Bride alongside Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest and Fred Savage. He died of congestive heart failure in 1993.

This isn't the first time Johnson has used social media to share stories about his grandfather. Back in 2013, he shared a photo of Maivia, a Samoan-American wrestler who was inducted posthumously into the WWE Hall of Fame, calling him the "toughest man in the history of wrestling." He also tweeted in 2017 that Maivia was the inspiration for Maui, the folkloric figure he played in Disney's Moana.

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High Chief Peter Maivia. A proud High Chief of Samoa. Widely considered the toughest man in the history of wrestling. In a fight he once bit another man's eye out. A savage when pushed. And yet the most loving, caring & kind hearted man I have ever known. He died 31 years ago today. I miss you Grandpa. (and I hope IMYP?)

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Jun 14, 2013 at 7:30am PDT

In April this year, Johnson shared a photo of Maivia's tombstone in Hawaii, where he was spending some "alone time" with him and his grandmother, captioning the image: "Alofa forever in our hearts." That's not a typo, he didn't mean aloha: alofa is the Samoan word for love — something Johnson seems to have in spades.

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