Life came full circle for ‘The Rock’ when he stepped out for a combative night. After building an entire career out of making Kevin Hart look puny, Dwayne Johnson faced retribution. The stars came out for a major night in combat sports ahead of UFC 317. Ahead of Topuria vs Oliveira, it was Hall of Fame night. The man of the hour? UFC light heavyweight champion, Vitor Belfort, along with an equally star-studded squad comprising Dwyane Johnson and, not surprisingly, Shaquille O’Neal.

O’Neal and Belfort’s friendship dates back to his Lakers era. But another bond that has lasted since the ’90s has been the ‘Big Shamrock’ and ‘The Rock’. For over three decades, Shaq has been making the Black Adam star look like his own action figure.

On the night Shaq inducted Belfort into the Pioneer Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame class of 2025, O’Neal also ran into his old Hollywood buddy. Shaq even shared four backstage snapa of his reunion with Johnson and the latter’s wife, Lauren Hashian. In true Shaq style, he opted for no captions. Pictures, after all, speak a thousand words.

And this was a thousand-word epic on Dwyane Johnson‘s dwarf-able stature. Like the days the Big Aristotle strutted the NBA court in his supersize form, the 7’1″ president of the Big Man Alliance made the former wrestler look ‘petite.’ The differences in their height were so stark, Johnson was in the comments complaining, “Got me out here lookin’ like Kevin Hart 😂 Love U big brother 👊🏾 ” Well, now Dwayne knows how Hart feels.

Hart, though, has the talent to look larger than life, the way he hilariously brought Shaq down a peg at the last All-Star Weekend. At 6’5″ (with two inches here or there) and a build like that, Johnson is not used to the Kevin Hart treatment. Understandably, he couldn’t cope and had to whine under Shaq’s post.

Even Lauren Hashian is a respectable 5’8″. And with heels, she was barely under Shaq’s shoulder. What’s more? Shaq took pleasure in Johnson’s misery with laughing emojis under his comments.

Having said that, notably, around the time both Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne Johnson were transitioning into Hollywood alongside their pro-sports careers, they formed the friendship of the century.

Shaquille O’Neal has challenged Dwayne Johnson for three decades

A few years ago, an old picture of the duo resurfaced, and it was wild how prime Rock (with those sideburns) could still look like so small in front of the Lakers legend. One time, Johnson stood between Shaq and Charles Barkley. And who would’ve thought Chuck could look that ginormous?

However, Shaq is coming after Johnson in other ways. Shaquille O’Neal hosted Bert Kreischer on The Big Podcast, and the duo declared every intent to steal the best comedic duo from Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson.

“Kevin and Rock it’s over. Me and Bert’s gonna take over. Beware of Bert and Shaq. I’m challenging all movie studios to write a movie for me,” Shaq said, and even invited movie studios to sign them. That war comes later. Shaq’s challenger tonight was Israel Adesanya.

Tonight, though, was about their dear friend Belfort.