10. Vs. Rocky Maivia (Raw - February, 1997)
In February, 1997, the then-Hunter Hearst Helmsley wasn't quite a big star yet. It's fair to say he was a featured member of the mid-card, but wasn't quite a main event player yet. Similarly, Rocky Maivia hadn't yet morphed into The Rock, and was actually playing the role of a pretty bland babyface character that fans were growing tired of. In some ways, it's ironic that The Rock was used to endorse Roman Reigns, as there are similarities there. In 1997, Rocky was experiencing a degree of backlash from fans himself, people just weren't digging the goody-two-shoes nature of the guy's persona. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOr5ON0Amxg Still being punished for the infamous 'Curtain Call' incident in the early-Summer of 1996, HHH was booked to lose cleanly to Rocky, dropping the Intercontinental Title in the process, on a special episode of Raw being held on a Thursday evening. Even then, both men showed they had some chemistry together, and they'd go on to headline many Pay-Per-Views against one another.
Jamie Kennedy
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.
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