Some may know pro wrestler Tonga Fifita as WWF’s (sometimes King) Haku, others may know him as the delightfully terrifying Meng from WCW. To Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, however, he’s just Uncle Tonga: a guy his grandfather helped train, and someone who had a very important hand in setting Johnson on his path to becoming one of the most well-known and successful pro wrestlers of all-time. This Christmas, Johnson showed his appreciation by giving him a very special gift:
Cool thing this Xmas was I didn't BUY my Uncle this truck. I gifted him my custom made personal one. #Silverback👍🏾🎅🏾 https://t.co/OhgDTCW2Oc
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) December 28, 2015
Johnson took to Instagram to explain just how much a simple pair of trunks from his uncle changed his life forever:
…I get a call from WWE saying “Vince McMahon wants to see you wrestle immediately. He’s flying you to RAW tomorrow and you’ll have a tryout match.” I thought holy shit that’s awesome, buuuut there’s a few problems: For me, I wasn’t just having “a tryout match”, because I had never actually HAD a real match in my life. Ever. WWE thought that I already had multiple matches under my belt, but little did they know. What they also didn’t know was that I was broke as hell and didn’t actually own wrestling gear – no boots, knee pads or most importantly.. wrestling trunks.
I went to Sports Authority and bought some bright ass white volleyball knee pads, called my Uncle and asked if he had ANY trunks I could use for my tryout. He said all I have is a pair of shiny purple trunks (purple was his signature color), I told him I don’t care if the trunks are all the colors of Skittles, I’ll happily wear them. When I picked the trunks up from him I’ll never forget the monster hug he gave me, look me in the eyes and said, “I’m so proud of you. Go get ’em nephew!”
Johnson gave his cousin, WWE Diva Tamina, a new car back in 2013, so this is just a thing he does for his family members. Though, realistically, if I were exorbitantly wealthy, I would probably shower Meng with expensive gifts just for being Meng. But, you know, all of the nice stuff he did for The Rock also seems like a pretty decent reason, I guess.
