Young Rock Season 3 shares insight into Dwayne Johnson’s jump to Hollywood, and how Sean Connery’s James Bond from the 1960s connects to that choice.
In Young Rock Season 3, Dwayne Johnson continues to shed key details into his past. From a failed footballer to the legend who’d own the gift of gab in the WWE (formerly the WWF), to the superstar who’d go on to play Black Adam, Johnson has a uniquely storied history. Interestingly, most of Johnson’s flashback stories — exaggerated as they are — do pivot on mostly family and friends.
One tale, however, does go further back to someone he didn’t get to work with as he got older: his grandfather, Peter Maivia, aka the High Chief. The Samoan-American professional wrestler kicked his career into high-gear in Hawaii where he’d eventually become the stepfather to Johnson’s mother, Ata, before dying in 1982 when Johnson was 10. Interestingly, as Johnson tied Maivia to his own decisions, confessing that the James Bond franchise played a crucial role in both their evolutions.
Maivia was a henchman in 1967’s You Only Live Twice. His fight IQ and creativity were so good, James Bond actor Sean Connery had him do more on set, despite the director not crediting Maivia for his fight coordination. Maivia eventually got the role as stunt coordinator, bonding with Connery and speaking to him about race issues in the business. Maivia got Connery to seek out other roles in the industry, accepting that one shouldn’t be shoehorned into a specific corner.
As for Maivia, Connery encouraged him to do his own thing due to how brilliant the wrestler was at storytelling and conceptualizing grand brawls. It’s the reason Maivia enlisted Pat Patterson (who’d go on to become Vince McMahon’s right-hand man in WWF) as his creative partner to start their own promotion when he got back home. In time, both would work for McMahon, but Johnson mentions how this business and Connery’s endearing words passed down to Lia (Ata’s mother), encouraging the family to keep dealing in show business.
Young Rock Uses the 007 Story As Major Inspiration
In Young Rock’s fictional political meeting in the future, Johnson confesses how the Connery story always stuck with him. Maivia kept it going as well, which is why Johnson decided to incorporate that showmanship in the then-WWF. He loved the bravado of his father Rocky Johnson’s friends, such as Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan, as well as Patterson — who became his mentor as the Rock in the Nation of Domination.
However, the 007 tale is special because it inspired his grandfather to believe and do more. He broke out of the box he felt he was meant for, and grew his brand across the world. Thus, when Johnson felt like he hit a ceiling in wrestling, he thought that Hollywood was the next natural step. It played a big part in the early Maivia dynasty and his own formative identity. Johnson used the Connery bit as motivation and took the risk to reshape his life path in a field many didn’t think his family belonged. Ultimately, 007 healed Maivia and made him more confident, which is what Johnson used to eventually take Hollywood by storm, whether as a superhero or comic relief.
