The actor posted a series of videos on his Instagram over the weekend showing his mom’s reaction to his over-the-top gift. The first video, set to “Over the Rainbow,” shows Ata getting emotional as she takes in her new home for the first time. As she enters, there’s also a sign over the door that reads “Le Samoana” in reference to their Samoan heritage. “When I was a little boy, I hated when my mom would cry ~ these days, I’ll happily take her tears of joy,” Johnson wrote in the caption of the post. “I surprised my mom and bought her a new home. Took me and my design team 8 weeks to get it ready, where she could walk thru [sic] her front door for the very first time and everything she saw was brand new and a total surprise.”
The former WWE star went on to explain that he’s “been lucky enough to have bought her a few homes over the years, but this one is special as she’s told me over and over these past few years, ‘After a lifetime of traveling, I want this home to be my last. That’s my dream.’” He added, “Mom, there’s no greater feeling than to make you happy ~ welcome home. I always say, if you got a good mom then you got a shot at becoming a good, caring human being. Let’s all give our mamas a big grateful squeeze this weekend and make ‘em happy.”
Johnson then also shared a video of a “very cool moment” where he got to show his mom one of the unique, personal touches he had incorporated into the interior design. He explained, “Brought my mom into her new family room where we placed her vintage ukuleles up on the wall and I was able to unearth pictures of our ancestors that she hasn’t seen since she was a child growing up in Samoa. She misses her mom and dad. I miss them too. Thank you God for blessing me with a little bit of work ethic to make stuff like this happen. Enjoy your new home mom!!”
And in the final clip, the Red Notice star introduced Ata to her “new ‘Smackdown Room’” where “she keeps the coolest Rock/DJ memorabilia.” Johnson said that over the years her old Smackdown rooms have become too crowded, so when he was designing her new house, “I had these cool built ins made and just added only a few memorabilia items-Posters, University of Miami game balls, movie awards, championship titles etc. Figured she can add whatever she wants from here.” He went on to explain that while this is her favorite room to bring guests, “It’s my least favorite because the last thing I want to do is stand in a DJ Shrine while people look around as my mom takes them thru [sic] at all the stuff I’ve done. No thanks. But, truth is, when I’m BY MYSELF, these Smackdown rooms she creates have such positive energy and beautiful mana. Always a good reminder for me to never forget where I came and always be grateful for grind.” He concluded, “Welcome home mom.”
