John Hanson
On Friday night, pro wrestler and Hollywood megastar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will induct his grandmother, Lia Maivia, into the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame.
Johnson posted on social media, “She was a trailblazer. She was a protector of our family. She was the real Final Boss.”
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Hall Of Fame
Johnson comes from a long line of pro wrestlers and those in the business.
His grandmother was an imposing figure as a booker in her time.
NBC News reports, “Johnson will induct Lia Maivia, one of the first women promoters of professional wrestling, into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024 on Friday, he said in a video on social media earlier this week. Maivia, Johnson’s grandmother, and his late grandfather, legendary wrestler Peter ‘High Chief’ Maivia, established one of the most prominent families in the sport. They were both Samoan.”
Johnson said in his post, “She took over my grandfather’s wrestling company here in Hawaii, and she made a promise to my grandfather when he was dying on his deathbed and she said, ‘I’m going to take over the company and I’m going to make your dream come true that it’s going to be a success.”
The story continues:
The late promoter took over Polynesian Pro Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance’s territory in Hawaii, after her husband died in 1982, according to the WWE. There, she was tasked with promoting “A Hot Summer Night,” a widely anticipated lineup that included the likes of Andre the Giant, Ric Flair and Rocky Johnson, her son-in-law. The event that drew more than 20,000 people.
Maivia, who died in 2008, posthumously joins her husband in the Hall of Fame.
The couple are also credited as a matriarch and patriarch of the Anoa’i family, one of wrestling’s most famous lineages. The family includes not only Johnson but also Rikishi, Roman Reigns, Jimmy and Jey Uso, among several others.
The Rock Took Care Of His Grandmother
Johnson has always honored his family and his grandmother in particular.
He wrote in a previous social media post, “She was one of the first-ever female wrestling promoters and operated her business out of HAWAII with an iron fist and some violence when she felt it was necessary. Her tough business practices caught up with her as she was indicted by the FBI on extortion charges.”
Maivia was eventually acquitted. But, Johnson noted that the FBI later charged her with illegal immigration, froze her assets, and deported her!
“By 1991 my grandma was homeless. In 1992 I was able to identify a legal loophole and get her back — legally — into the U.S. I was also able to secure social security for her — legally — and moved her into a little one-room apartment in Tampa, Florida,” he wrote.
“Once I started making some decent money in WWE, I bought her a condo where she would live happily for the rest of her life, a few miles away from us in South Florida.”
Maivia died at 77 years old in 2008.