When Vince McMahon Jr. introduced The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) to the wrestling world at a 1996 WWE Survivor Series elimination match it established the beginning of a partnership that resulted in years of wrestling excitement, Johnson’s film career, and a vibrant spring football organization, the UFL. The men already had quite a bit in common. Their families had been friends for three generations.
Family Friends Become Co-Workers
WWE founder McMahon followed his grandfather, Jess McMahon, and father, Vince McMahon, Sr., into wrestling promotion. His grandfather, Jess, promoted matches featuring professional wrestler Peter Fanene Maivia, Dwayne Johnson’s grandfather. Peter’s daughter, Ata Johnson, married professional wrestler Rocky Johnson, the tag team partner of her brother, Peter Maivia Jr. Ata’s mother, Ofelia ‘Lia’ Fuataga, worked as one of the first female wrestling promoters, but her dad also wrestled for promoter McMahon, Sr., son of Jess, and dad of Vince Jr. With each generation following the other into the family business, it surprised no one when Dwayne Johnson, Rocky’s and Ata’s son, went to work in the WWE.
A Shared Love of Football
McMahon, Jr. and The Rock share a love of football so deep that they’ve both owned the same football league. McMahon founded the XFL in 1999 as a partnership between the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and NBC. The league had one season of play in 2001 before folding.
In 2018, McMahon re-started the league, which ceased operations halfway through its first season when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Its entire staff got furloughed and McMahon hoped to sell the league to recoup losses. Enter his old family friend, a wrestler he gave his first match in 1996. Dwayne Johnson had played college football at the University of Miami but had just missed playing in the pros.
Rather than playing in the league of second chances, as it has become known, Johnson wanted to buy it, partnering with his ex-wife and business partner, Dany Garcia, owner of The Garcia Companies and RedBird Capital. In August 2020, the deal went through, according to Pro Football Network, continuing the connection between the WWE and pro football.
The Two Families Today
Today, Johnson and Garcia have expanded McMahon Jr.’s dream league. In December 2023, the XFL owners purchased the struggling USFL, a similar spring football league, according to Fox 13. The merger of the two organizations gave birth to the UFL, which contains two conferences, the XFL and the USFL.
The McMahon and Johnson families could continue their co-working into a fifth generation because they’ve already established the fourth! McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie, and son, Shane, both went into wrestling as a career. Stephanie retired from wrestling in 2022, according to The Cinemaholic, but she married Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Chief Creative Officer and professional wrestler, so there’s still a family connection in the wrestling organization.
Shane also became a professional wrestler. His contract with the WWE ended in June 2023, and he’s been searching for a new wrestling home. The oldest of Johnson’s three daughters, Simone, entered the sport in October 2022, wrestling in the WWE as Ava Raine, firmly establishing the fourth generation of partnership.
What about a fifth generation? Shane McMahon’s son, Declan, plays college football but already has plans for a wrestling career. Fans will have to wait and see if any of Johnson’s daughters produce a future pro wrestler.
