10 Best Ways Wrestlers Responded To Crowd Signs

1. The Rock - Die, Rocky, Die

Jade Cargill Beer Break Fan Sign
WWE.com

What better way to react to a wrestling sign, than using that sign to fuel a character turn that would put you on the path to genuine superstardom? For The Rock, that's exactly what he did.

Erroneously, some fans look back at The Rock's 1997 heel turn and incorrectly remember a whole bunch of arenas chanting "Die, Rocky, Die!" to Rocky Maivia. While there were plentiful "Rocky Sucks" chants in those arenas, "Die, Rocky, Die!" was only ever a thing in sign form.

Those signs started to crop up prior to Maivia suffering a knee injury in April '97, and the subsequent return to action of Rocky would see him embrace these signs as a way to springboard his career.

Making direct refences to the "Die, Rocky, Die!" mantra - which Maivia took creative license with by saying that slogan had been chanted at him - Rocky Maivia turned heel, paired up with the Nation of Domination, and we were off to the races with The Rock's rise to becoming one of the biggest stars the industry has ever seen.

Dwayne Johnson has always been a smart man, and he was well aware of how badly his cheesy babyface act had been rejected by fans. Once "Die, Rocky, Die!" signs popped up, Johnson used these to facilitate a career-changing turn.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.