Dwayne Johnson, aka "The Rock" is a third generation wrestler. His father, Rocky Johnson, and his grandfather, Chief Peter Maiva were professional wrestlers. "The Rock" continued the family tradition and became the most successful wrestler in his family. However, his father and grandfather were arguably just as talented.
Rocky Johnson, the Rock's father, had many skills has a wrestler. He could beat his opponent in different ways. He was a fan favorite, and was considered a scientific wrestler. However, he could brawl with his opponent if he needed to. Johnson was a body builder who possessed outstanding strength and agility.
Johnson had a repertoire of effective wrestling moves. Johnson could implement an arm drag take down or use a high toss to escape a lock. At times, he beat his opponent with a hip toss, a drop kick or a body slam. Other times, he won with a back body drop or a sunset flip. Drop kicks or the full Boston crab were often his finishing moves.
Johnson and Tony Atlas won the World Wrestling championship over the Wild Somoan brothers. The match went back and forth between the two teams. The Somoan brothers, Afa and Sikka, were managed by Captain Lou Albano, who consented to the match under the condition that neither side could be disqualified. Albano tried numerous times to interfere with the match. While one of the Wild Somoan brothers held Atlas, Albano tried to hit Atlas with a chair. At the last minute, Atlas maneuvered out of the hold, and Albano inadvertently hit the Somoan brother with the chair, which knocked him to the canvas. Atlas proceeded to pin the Somoan brother, which gave Atlas and Johnson the tag team championship. This is one of the highlights of Atlas and Johnson's career.
Rocky Johnson said that he knew that his son would be a good wrestler. Johnson said "It was in his blood. I was a wrestler. His grandfather was a wrestler and he played football, and he said "My love is wrestling.'I said ok, I'll train you." Johnson said he knew his son would be a star because when he came home from breaks in college, he always wanted to train.
Chief Peter Maivia is sometimes overlooked. Since he wrestled in the 1970s and early 1980's many wrestling observers do not know much about him. However, he had a very successful and interesting career. maivia's bio on the WWE website states that "while the third generation of that family-The Rock- is the most well known, it all started with his grandfather, the legendary High Chief Peter Maivia." His bio states that Maivia "quickly took to his profession, winning numerous championships in the South Pacific and Hawaii before finally coming to the Unites States in 1970." Maivia experienced success as a tag team wrestler and as an individual wrestler.
After experiencing great success in San Francisco and Los Angeles,Maivia wrestled in Texas before he joined the WWE in the late 1970's. His WWE bio states that in the WWE Maivia wrestled (Superstar) Billy Graham for the WWE championship while he formed "a successful tandem with Bob Backlund." Maivia also helped train Graham, Wild Somoan Afa and Rocky Johnson- his future son in law.
In 2008 Chief Peter Maivia and Rocky Johnson were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Both inductions began with a speech from The Rock. Maivia was inducted posthumously because he died in 1982. Rocky Johnson received his induction and gave an acceptance speech.
The Rock spoke about his grandfather with sincerity. Regarding Maivia, the Rock said "He was many things to many people, but to my family he was everything." During the induction a brief clip of Maivia was shown to the audience. Several wrestlers discussed Maivia's contribution to professional wrestling. During the clip, the Rock said "My grandfather was the first Somoan wrestler to become known on a world wide basis." The Rock continued by saying that Maivia had a "magnetic personality that inspired me to be part of this business, inspired me to be a professional wrestler. My dad and my grandfather are the cornerstone of my career." The Rock continued by saying that he wanted to make his family proud through his wrestling.
Atta Johnson, Peter Maivia's daughter and the Rock's mother, formally inducted her father into the hall of fame. She said " My father was a soft spoken, gentle giant of a Somoan man with a loving generous heart and a beautiful, beautiful voice.He always had a uekele handy , and with a smile and a song that man lived his life to the fullest." Johnson went on to recognize the dedication of all of the professional wrestlers to their chosen profession. Regarding her family, she said "We have loved this wrestling business all of our lives. Here we are. The Hall of Fame. I love you."
The Rock began his speech about his father by saying "What the "soul man", my dad, was able to accomplish during his career was no small feat. At a time of tremendous racial disparity, he was able to cross all lines and become one of the most dynamic and formidable performers of his generation."
Then The Rock discussed some of his personal memories of his father's career . He said "I remember night after night watching him perform all over the country , being awed by his quickness, by his agility. He was an amazing performer. He moved like no one else. And I remember watching him when I was a kid. He used to throw these amazing drop kicks and I used to say to myself when I become a professional wrestler I want to throw a drop kick just like that." The Rock joked that when he first tried to drop kick an opponent, he only reaches his knees. He soon realized that he could not incorporate drop kicks into his wresting repertoire.
The Rock ended his speech by discussing how proud he was of his dad. The Rock said ""My dad was a hero to me. And I thought like all professional wrestlers he was larger than life." Then The Rock remembered some of the famous matches that his father was involved in. Finally, before he introduced his father, he said "There was nothing like watching a Rocky Johnson comeback."The Rock's speech was sincere and genuine.
Rocky Johnson walked onto the stage accompanied by a great applause. Johnson said "I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever be standing here accepting this award." Johnson went on to describe how he grew up in a small town in Canada. He described his experience in the National Wrestling Alliance and his eventual move to the WWE in 1983. He talked about how proud he was of himself and Tony Atlas for becoming the "first black tag team champions of the world."
During the speech the fans shouted "Thank you Rocky!" Rocky Johnson responded by saying "Without you, I would not be standing here." Rocky Johnson proceeeded to say that he believed his father in law was watching down on them from heaven. Johnson said "I know he is looking down on all of us with a smile on his face."Johnson then expressed gratitude for becoming the first non-Somoan high chief. He thanked his son for all he had done for him and thanked him for continuing the family's wrestling legacy.
The Rock benefitted from the wrestling legacies of his father and grandfather. Both inspired him to develop his wrestling skills. His father trained him to be the best wrestler that he could become. The Rock would not have been as successful without the examples of his father and his grandfather. Additionally, The Rock continued the legacies of his father and grandfather.
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