10 Risks That Could’ve KILLED WWE Careers

3. The Rock Goes Heel Again Instantly!

Becky Lynch Seth Rollins Risk
WWE.com

Fire up WWE Network/Peacock (whilst you can!) and check out the oft-forgotten Breakdown pay-per-view from September 1998. There, fans boomed with cheers for everything The Rock did, and even popped harder for him than Mankind or Ken Shamrock. It was pretty clear the WWF had a hot babyface on their hands.

Or not.

People were firmly in Rocky's corner come Survivor Series '98 and a tournament to crown the new WWF Champ. Then, the company pulled a swerve and had Rock become Vince McMahon's "Corporate Champion". His fledgling babyface fire was doused with a bucket of freezing cold water, and The Rock was heel once more.

In retrospect, that could have screwed up his career trajectory. After all, crowds had only just started to come on board with him following another failed babyface attempt in 1997. In short, pulling the rug out from underneath fans right as they embraced Rocky was a risky move that could've backfired.

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.