Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Dwayne Johnson, James Bond, Film and TV, Celebrity
Anish Vij
The Rock’s grandad once got beaten up by Sean Connery and it was rather epic, to say the least.
For those unaware, Dwayne Johnson comes from a family of prestigious wrestling heritage. The famous third generation Anoa'i wrestling family has produced many legendary figures in the fight game, such as Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka, Rikishi, Yokozuna and, not to mention, the likes of Roman Reigns, the Usos, and Nia Jax.
Johnson's own father - 'Soul Man' Rocky Johnson - was also a superstar in his own right and was one half of the WWE's first Black world tag team champions, along with Tony Atlas.
However, it was Johnson's grandfather - 'High Chief' Peter Maivia - who arguably started it all off in the 60s and 70s by winning titles in various NWA territories, after later joining the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which we now know as the WWE.
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Anyway, Maivia happened to play a small role in 1967's You Only Live Twice, as he shared big screen with Sean Connery's James Bond.
You could tell he was a pro wrestler as he took it upon himself to do his own stunts and fight choreography on the film.
Well, as per 007 Wiki, Maivia played 'the Dodge Driver', who 'was an unnamed fictional henchman working for Japanese industrialist and SPECTRE member Osato'.
With regards to how the plot played out, as reported by Screen Rant: "Sean Connery's James Bond heads to Japan to investigate the theft of a spacecraft.
"After attending a sumo wrestling match, Bond witnesses the murder of a fellow MI6 agent, then takes out the killer, steals his clothes, and poses as him long enough to get driven back to the Osato Chemical company offices.
"When the driver figures out he's been duped, he and Bond have a brief but entertaining brawl. During the fight in You Only Live Twice, Maivia finds a sword and takes a few slices at Bond, who eventually sidesteps the bigger man and blasts him in the back of the head with a small but heavy statue."
Although the fight only lasted a couple minutes, it was definitely one of the more unexpected duels back then.
It was more of a rarity back then to see wrestlers in Hollywood flicks, and times have certainly changed.
On the one hand, I'm sure Johnson is grateful to his grandfather for kicking things off for the American-Somoa family.
But on the other hand, it's safe to say that 'The Rock' has taken things to a new level and has set the bar pretty high for the other hopeful wrestlers out there.
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