Decades old flyer from when a Hollywood and WWE icon's grandfather performed in the city

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Pro wrestling legend Peter Maivia performed at Coventry's Drill Hall in the 1960s



A recent discovery of old leaflets advertising professional wrestling in Coventry has revealed the founding father of a legendary dynasty once performed right here in the city.

To the uninitiated, the name Peter Maivia may not mean much, but his grandson went on to become one the most recognisable figures in the world.

Every now and then someone from the world of professional wrestling becomes so well known they transcend the entertainment sport and become household names.

Here in the UK, we've had Bid Daddy and Giant Haystacks, the much-loved figures of pro wrestling this side of the pond, but the US is where the biggest stars often hail from.

From Hulk Hogan to John Cena, there has been many stars who've almost become too big for the ring, moving over into movies and general celebrity.

But arguably none have been quite so famous as Dwayne Johnson, AKA WWE's The Rock.

Mr Johnson went from king of the wrestling ring to one of the highest paid Hollywood stars of today, thanks to movies such as Jumanji, Hobbs and Shaw and Moana.

Despite his movies raking in billions of pounds at the box office, his grounding is very much in pro wrestling, with members of his family on both his mum and dad's side heavily involved in the sport.

His grandfather on his mother's side was Peter Maivia, known for being head of the famous Samoan wrestling dynasty. Maivia and his family were a huge part of the industry, so much so they often toured the world.

A recent discovery of old flyers, believed to be from the 1960s, advertises when the star brought his trade to Coventry's long-since gone Drill Theatre.

As luck would have it, the discovery was made by a Binley man with connections with a modern wrestler - Coventry's very own James Meikle, AKA Big Jim.

"I was visiting a close friend who lives in Binley and his neighbour was having a clearout and found a stack of posters and programs from events he attended in his younger days," Big Jim told CoventryLive.

"Knowing that we have both been involved in the scene, he thought we might be interested in them."

"Interested" is perhaps an understatement. Big Jim has been involved in the wrestling scene since he was a teenager, himself touring the country and the rest of Europe on the pro wrestling circuit often performing in front of audiences in their thousands.

He also professed to a passion for history, particularly when concerned with his home town of Cov and his profession of wrestling - so the discovery was right up his street.

He said: "I am a bit of a buff in both Coventry history and wrestling history so these were a great find for me.

"There were lots of names that I've seen through old World of Sport videos online or know through older fans or wrestlers, and of course the name Peter Maivia caught my eye because of the famous Samoan wrestling dynasty.

"The family is legendary in wrestling with names like Yokozuna, Rikishi, Roman Reigns and of course The Rock, who is the grandson of Peter Maivia and carried the name in his early wrestling days as Rocky Maivia.

"We believe the event would have been on the mid 1960s and the Drill Hall which once stood at the bottom of the City Arcade which is now the Vicroft Court flats site.

"I've always been a bit fan of the old style of wrestling advertising posters so I will definitely be hanging on to these for a long time."

So how did the head of a professional wrestling family end up performing here in Coventry?

Jim explains: "At one time the British Wrestling scene was considered the best in the world, and it wasn't uncommon for bigger names from overseas to tour the UK.

"Promoters have always used international wrestlers to add a bit of extra interest to an event and having a wrestler from Samoa would have been something unique."