10 Biggest WWE Survivor Series Debuts
2. The Rock (1996)
Jim Ross prophetically spoke on Dwayne Johnson one day being 'The Man' as Rocky Maivia gleefully charged down the Madison Square Garden aisle for his main roster launch.
The commentator and then Head Of Talent Relations knew he was on to a megastar with the third generation talent, but the future Rock was showered in dated WWE bullsh*t destined to sink him before he could even properly set sail.
Despite winning the match as his team's sole survivor in a game effort to promote the newcomer, he's a literally a head-to-toe failure as a character.
His hair seemingly knew it first, bouncing so hard off his skull it looked as though it was trying to escape the scene. Blinding Madison Square Garden spotlights couldn't compete with Rocky's 'overjoyed-just-to-be-there' fizzog flashing his pearly whites. And on a recent podcast, company insider Bruce Prichard could only offer "...it was Polynesian" as trite justification for the laughable ceremonial strands flapping from his action star physique.
He'd arrived at least, and just a year later would be well on the way to phenomenal success. But in November 1996, The Rock was still in a hard place.