WATCH: Young Dwayne Johnson Watches From the Crowd as His Legendary Father Wrestled in 1984

Dwayne Johnson comes from a family that is richly steeped in wrestling history. He is a third-generation wrestler who followed in the footsteps of his legendary father Rocky Johnson and grandfather Peter Maivia.

They come from the Anoa’i family known for its pro wrestling exports. Moreover, even The Rock’s daughter also recently signed with WWE and made her debut on NXT.

Such a rich family tradition meant that DJ already had big shoes to fill in when made his WWE debut. But even before that, the Hollywood star got a firsthand experience of what his father was all about as a wrestler when he got to see him wrestle at an event.

A rare clip shows a much young Rock seated at ringside while his father Rocky Johnson showed his in-ring prowess.

Dwayne Johnson watched his father wrestle as a youngster

Dwayne Johnson carried the baton of the proud Anoa’i family in pro wrestling admirably. As a child, he grew up in a family of wrestlers who had achieved great success in their careers.

The Rock didn’t even have to look that far for inspiration as his own father, the late Rocky Johnson. Johnson began his wrestling career in 1966 and won many NWA singles and tag team titles.

In 1983, he signed with WWE and formed a formidable tag team with the legendary Tony Atlas. The duo won the tag team titles incidentally defeating Johnson’s family members Afa and Sika, the Wild Samoans.

With this, they also became the first African-American pair to the tag team championship. Hence, The Rock was already tasked with keeping up this legacy when he started out as a pro wrestler.

In fact, a rare clip shows he got a close glimpse of the greatness of his father when he sat in the crowd and watched his father and Tony Atlas team up for a match in Champion Wrestling in 1984.

Johnson and Atlas would retain the tag team titles, beating Charlie Fulton and Pete Doherty, with a young Brahma Bull looking on.

READ MORE: “I Was Crying Constantly”: Having Dealt With Mother’s Suicide Attempt, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Opened Up on Dealing With Depression as a Teenager

In the video, a teenage Rock is wearing a tracksuit top and unlike today has a full head of hair! The future WWE Champion looked on anxiously as his father battled inside the ring. Another 12 years later, The Great One would make his WWE debut and build his own legacy.

Rocky Johnson would come to the aid of his son in WWE during his early days. He notably appeared at WrestleMania 13 and helped The Great One fend off an attack after his match. The Rock even got to induct his father into the WWE Hall of Fame in  2008.

In 2020, Rocky Johnson passed away at 75. Dwayne Johnson then posted a video on Instagram with a long emotional tribute to his father. There is little doubt that it inspired The Rock when he saw his father wrestle that day.

The people in the arena that night had no idea that the innocent-looking kid in attendance would one day become one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.

Watch This Story: Broke teenager to highest paid Hollywood actor the evolution of Dwayne The Rock Johnson