10 Incredible Wrestlers Fans WROTE-OFF Before They Were Famous

By his own admission, The Miz used The Rock as a template to superstardom during his time on reality television. It's pretty safe to assume he was talking about the eyebrow-raising, elbow-dropping main eventer who was drenched in cool between 1998-2002, not the poodle-haired young rookie who played before regrettable chants like: "Die, Rocky, Die" in 1997.

That was a baptism of fire for Rocky Maivia. He'd landed on the roster with a bang at the 1996 Survivor Series, and it looked like the handsome newcomer had the WWF at his mercy heading into the new year. Or not. Fans thumbed their noses at him. Worse, they literally requested that he shuffle off this mortal coil never to be seen again. Ouch!

In hindsight, this was an almighty clanger from the wrestling fanbase. Everyone tried to scare off somebody who'd go on to become a firm favourite then the most successful male film star in Hollywood. Think about that for a second. This guy went from beating Salvatore Sincere on pay-per-view 'Free For All' shows and being told to "die" to...well, he's The Rock and he's still important. That's quite the upturn in fortunes and some transformation.

A mid-1997 heel turn and gig in the Nation Of Domination saved Rocky's fledging career from circling the creative toilet bowl. Let that be a lesson to everyone. Patience counts, and promoters shouldn't just give up on a fresh-faced worker because he/she has been rejected outright. There's always a way to rescue things, especially with people as talented as Maivia.

Getting his hair cut to stop the Jerry Lawler jokes on commentary was a shrewd call though.