10 Times WWE IGNORED The Fans (... And Got It Right!)

1. Rocky Maivia Really Was Destined For Greatness

Lita Edge
WWE

In fairness, Dwayne Johnson himself deserves plentiful credit for realising that his Blue Chipper act wasn't working, and the then-WWF deserves credit for trusting Johnson and turning him heel, but wrestling fans in 1996 thought Rocky Maivia was more destined for a company exit than destined for greatness.

As Rocky Maivia, WWF did all it could to tell audiences that this was someone who would become a top player for the promotion in a few years. Playing up Maivia's athleticism, good looks, and family heritage, the programming of the time slapped you around the face with how Rocky was a can't-miss prospect with World Championships in his future.

Not just did fans outright reject Maivia, but the vast majority of those fans likewise thought the rookie had slim to no chance of carving out a decent career for himself.

It took a knee injury in a match against Mankind in 1997 to change the path of Rocky Maivia. Having received such a negative reaction to his babyface act, Maivia used this time out of action to plan a heel turn that would come into play when he returned in August of that year. Berating those who'd booed him and joining the Nation of Domination, the seeds were finally in place for Rocky Maivia to become the Rock, to become the Great One, to become the People's Champion, and to become one of the biggest stars the industry has ever seen.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.