The Rock's 10 Biggest WWE "What Ifs"

10. A Bad Start

Before Dwayne Johnson was The Rock, he was Rocky Maivia, a cheery, squeaky clean babyface who was the recipient of a colossal push right from the off. His first WWE match saw him get the win in the traditional Survivor Series match, and three months down the line he was Intercontinental champion.

The fans saw through the transparent attempts to make a new star on the quick, and rained boos and death threats upon the increasingly less smiley Maivia. Johnson went out injured, tweaked the character, and the rest was history.

If he hadn’t debuted with such an objectionable character, though, would he ever have made the necessary adjustments? Had he slipped seamlessly into the midcard and not raised the ire of the fans via his special treatment, would he have had the opportunity to reinvent himself?

Given the sheer talent of the man, you’d have to imagine that he would have ascended in due course, but without that spark of audience discontent, the heel turn he eventually made would likely have been far less dramatic, and effective.