10 Reasons Why 1997 Was WWE's Most Important Year Ever

4. Rocky Maivia Became The Rock

It's as simple as this. If The Rock didn't change his persona from the boring Rocky Maivia babyface character to the charismatic jerk known as The Rock he likely wouldn't be where he is today. To his credit, he realized that. To WWE's credit, they stuck behind this guy that they considered a future main eventer in 1996 and within a few years that's exactly what he was. These days, he's arguably the most well known pro wrestler in the history of the business due to his success in WWE as well as his run as one of the biggest box office draws that there is. Rocky Maivia was a boring wrestling character. He was a babyface full of energy that did all he could to excite the crowd, but they didn't care. They chanted "Rocky Sucks" at him. Thankfully WWE listened to the people. In the spring of 1997, he became a heel as part of the Nation of Domination stable. In addition to the heel turn, he also morphed into this egotistical jerk known as The Rock. What was so unique about the character is that he always referred to himself in the third person. It wasn't "I think" it was "The Rock thinks" and then he would insult somebody. This was during my years as a high schooler and I can assure you that The Rock was the coolest guy that there was. People were talking like him all the time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N79OJeXfPyA He was still pretty green as a worker and it would take a couple of years for him to really grow in that regard, but in terms of his character he absolutely nailed it. Within two years, he returned to that babyface role although that was after multiple title reigns and a WrestleMania main event too. Do you sense the ongoing theme? The Rock's growth in 1997 was similar to that of Mick Foley and Triple H, who were mentioned earlier. It wasn't just the performers that were growing. The company was too.