Fans often bring their favorite celebrities special gifts and mementos when they get the chance to meet them. One fan, however, went above and beyond to give Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson something incredibly meaningful.
Johnson shared the emotional encounter with a fan named Steven on Instagram. While on a press tour in London for Disney‘s upcoming live-action Moana film, Johnson crossed paths with Steven, who came prepared with two vintage wrestling magazines featuring Johnson’s grandfather, Peter Maivia.
Johnson captioned the post, “INCREDIBLY COOL gift from an awesome fan – a vintage wrestling magazine with my grandfather on the cover,” adding, “As you see by his pictures, my grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia was the inspiration behind my character MAUI🪝from MOANA. Thank you Steven 🫱🏾🫲🏼I got the best fans in the world!!!”
‘It means so much to me’
In the Instagram clip, Johnson greets fans who have been waiting to meet him. Just as he’s about to leave, he notices Steven holding up a vintage wrestling magazine. He stops in his tracks and says, “Wow, look at that, man! Wow. Let me see.” Flanked by security guards, Johnson makes his way over to Steven and asks if he can take a look at the magazines, realizing there are two.
“These are for me?” Johnson asks. Steven explains that one magazine is from New Zealand and the other is from Britain. “Yeah, my grandfather used to wrestle here, man. In London…This is crazy. He’s the inspiration for Maui.”
Steven tells Johnson that the magazines are actually a gift for Johnson’s mom, whom he met at WrestleMania in Dallas. “We had a chat about your grandfather, and I told her about the magazines. And she said she’d love to see them someday,” Steven says.
Johnson says he’ll personally deliver the magazines to his mother, adding, “I’m gonna make it very ceremonial. This is gonna mean so much to her. It means so much to me. Thank you.”
The two men shake hands before recording a video together on Steven’s phone.
Who was Peter Maivia?
Johnson comes from a long line of famous wrestlers, including his grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia.
According to WWE, Maivia was a wrestler born in Samoa sometime in the 1930s. His wrestling career began in the early 1960s after he moved to New Zealand, where he found success throughout the South Pacific and Hawaii.
He came to California in the 1970s, where he began winning championships. Maivia joined what was then the World Wide Wrestling Federation in the late ’70s, gaining popularity for his persona as a Samoan High Chief. He also appeared in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice.
After leaving the World Wide Wrestling Federation, Maivia remained involved in professional wrestling, taking on a role with the National Wrestling Alliance’s Hawaiian operations in 1980. His life was cut short after a battle with cancer. He died at age 45 in June 1982.
