10 WWE Disasters That Became Life-Changing Moments

2. Boos Force The Rock To Go Heel

Mustafa Ali Kofi Kingston
WWE.com

Rocky Maivia's babyface arrival in late-1996 was a classic example of how outdated WWF thinking was. Fan sentiments had changed, and some smiley high-fiving goody two shoes wasn't going to cut it. So, resentment built and built to the point people were bringing signs saying things like, "Die, Rocky, Die!" to arenas.

Vinnie Mac's handsome young rookie was struck down with injury shortly thereafter, and nothing seemed to be going right for him. The silver lining here was that the quick one-two punch of fan rejection and injury proved to be a blessing for Rocky. He returned as a heel, joined Nation Of Domination and the rest is history.

The Rock was born.

He found his feet pretty quickly after joining the Nation and going rogue. Confidence shone out of Maivia like never before, and he turned a disastrous early run into something special. By 1998, there was no stopping the guy - he was destined for the top.

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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.