Wearing his father’s title belt, the actor wrote, “dreaming of one day becoming a pro wrestling champion.”
Dwayne Johnson is throwing it back to 1983.
The Hobbs Shaw star shared a photo of himself as a boy wearing a jacket and white boots with a championship belt slung over his shoulder in a sweet Instagram throwback on Thursday.
“A lil’ throwback action to 1983, when I was 11 years old – I used to LOVE putting on my dad’s wrestling trunks, boots, jacket and championship belts – dreaming of one day becoming a pro wrestling champion ,” Johnson wrote in the caption.
He added, “Only thing I forgot to wear was my training bra!! C’mon afro tits, you’re gonna be late for school! #thankgodforpuberty#afrotits#stillaBMF .”
Johnson’s father, Rocky Johnson, died earlier this year at the age of 75. The Canadian professional wrestler joined the WWE in 1983 and began wrestling with Tony Atlas. The two became a part of the first African American tag team — known as The Soul Patrol — to win the World Tag Team Championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
Johnson posted a heartfelt homage to his father on Instagram after his passing in January.
Johnson wished she had one more chance to tell her father, “Dad, I love you, before you crossed over to the other side.” However, you were abruptly and violently taken from me. disappearing without a trace in an instant. I’m hurting. However, we are aware that it is only discomfort and will eventually pass.
The actor posted another old picture of himself last week, this one seemingly from one of his yearly school picture day sessions.
Johnson posted a photo of himself smiling at the camera while wearing a button-down shirt with several colours. He wrote, “Throwback to 7 years old in Hawaii, and just drippin’ cool with my buck teeth, aloha shirt and WTF is going on with my afro matted down on one side!?.” as the caption.
He went on, “There’s no way this stud doesn’t grow up to be the Sexiest Man Alive,” alluding to the title PEOPLE gave him in 2016.
Dwayne Johnson and Rocky Johnson. PHOTO: JIM SMEAL/BEI/SHUTTERSTOCK
Closing out his caption, Johnson then added a slew of hashtags, including, “#HellooooLadies” and “#KingOf2ndGrade.”
Fans of the actor will get a deeper look into Johnson’s early years when his upcoming NBC comedy series, which is based on and inspired by his life, premieres next year.
The show filler, titled Young Rock, stars Adrian Groulx as Johnson at age 10, and Bradley Constant as Johnson at age 15. Following his recruitment to play football at the University of Miami, Uli Latukefu, a standout player for Marco Polo, will take over as Johnson for the next 18 to 20 years of age.
Joseph Lee Anderson will portray Johnson’s late father Rocky Johnson, while Stacey Leilua has been cast as Johnson’s mother Ata Johnson in other roles. In addition, Ana Tuisila will play Lia Maivia, Johnson’s grandmother and Ata’s mother.
Over the next 18 months, Young Rock will film in Australia, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In January, a straight-to-series order was given to the comedy.