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World Wrestling Entertainment announced that Lia Maivia, who was a long-time promoter in Hawaii, the wife of the late Peter Maivia and grandmother of former WWF champ Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, has passed away. The cause of death was not mentioned in the WWE.com article. Maivia was 81.
Maivia took over the promotional end of NWA Polynesian Pro Wrestling when Peter Maivia passed away in 1982. Lia Maivia had strong connections with New Japan Pro and World Class in Dallas, Texas in the 1980s. Working with booker Lars Anderson, among the talents who worked the territory at the time were Kevin Von Erich, Don Muraco, Jimmy Snuka, Ric Flair (defending the NWA title) and future son-in-law Rocky Johnson.
At the time, Maivia was considered something of a viper and as ruthless as one could imagine when it came to promotional wars. The word at the time was not to cross her, because it would be to your own physical detriment, something that Lars Anderson found out as he was heavily beaten after a falling out with the company.
Maivia's nastier side was publicly chronicled in-depth in Bruno Lauer's autobiography, which was released earlier this year. In the book, Lauer wrote about working in the office during the latter days of the company and how hard he fought to get on her good side, not really doing so until the end of his tenure there. Still, when running into her years later at a Wrestlemania event, he noted in the book, "She was very cordial to me, but in general, she was still a nasty b**ch."
In more recent years, a softer Maivia was seen at ringside for a number of major matches featuring The Rock, especially during the end of his in-ring career.
Maivia was last seen publicly at the 2008 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in Orlando, where she accepted Peter Maivia's induction into the Hall. Maivia's daughter Ata married Rocky Johnson, who was also inducted into the Hall last March. Both were inducted by Dwayne Johnson, one of the highlights of the event.
PWInsider.com sends our condolences to the family and friends of Lia Maivia.
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