Roman Reigns is part of the legendary and iconic Anoa'i family, with his father and uncle known to wrestling fans as Afa and Sika of The Wild Samoans. Things get a little complicated here as despite not being related by blood, they considered Peter Maivia their uncle, and he's obviously the grandfather of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
The two families are extremely close, and that "blood brother" connection has been passed down from generation to generation. As a result, Dwayne isn't related to Roman Reigns by actual blood, but they consider each other cousins due to The Rock being an honorary member of the Anoa'i family. Now, the Head of the Table has recalled his first meeting with Dwayne.
"I think it was Biloxi, MS, and this is when Dwayne, I think he had just started turning into The Rock and started to display that persona and I remember seeing him," Reigns said on the Out of Character with Ryan Satin podcast. "I was young, early teens, and I was with the twins, The Usos’ younger brother, who’s about a year and a half younger than them and we’re just kind of walking out of catering. Here comes Dwayne, and man, he was just super nice. This was the first time I think I ever met him."
"Kind of real loud, and just huge ‘Hello’, and a big hug and a big greeting and then later on, we’re just sitting on one of the cargo crates, one of the backstage set crates, and we didn’t even realize we were right in front of the set. We’re sitting there for 30 minutes or so waiting on their dad. Dwayne was actually doing a promo on the backstage set right in front of us, so it was pretty funny that we didn’t even realize what was about to take place the next couple of decades and how big he’s gonna get, but man, from the very beginning, he was family."
It's fascinating to get this insight from Roman, especially when it comes to the special connection between the two men (and their families). Rumours continue to persist that a WrestleMania match is on the horizon, though Johnson's busy Hollywood schedule - and potential insurance issues - might mean it's a tag team match that also features Jimmy and Jey Uso.
If it's happening, then chances are the stage will be set at this year's Survivor Series when The Rock makes his rumoured WWE return to mark the 25th anniversary of his debut in 1996.