12 WWE Failures Who Became World Champion
6. The Rock
Despite having a top look and being considered a true blue chip prospect internally by WWF figureheads, young Rocky Maivia was on a hiding to nothing in 1996 and early-1997. Fans grew tired of his 70s-style babyface antics very quickly, and it was clear this inexperienced rookie didn't have the smarts to get them back onside. So, he simply continued high-fiving and kissing babies like a traditional good guy would.
Chants like, "Rocky Sucks" and the vicious, "Die, Rocky, Die" ensued, which can't have felt good for The Rock. He'd throw that back in everyone's faces after taking time off to heal up injuries. By the summer of '97, Rocky had returned and joined the Nation Of Domination. Suddenly, he was more cocky than before, and he even started referring to himself in the third person for maximum heel points.
Man was going for the high score.
Being aloof and arrogant did great things for Rock during the second half of the year into 1998. By then, he was really coming into his own both on the mic and inside the ring. At Survivor Series '98, Rocky beat Mankind to bag his first WWF Title. Shortly afterwards, he'd join Vince McMahon as his "Corporate Champ", and that only pushed his star further.
He'd come a long, long way from sucking wind as the painfully chirpy Rocky Maivia just a few years earlier. That experience was rejected so hard that the WWF might've given up on a lesser talent. Thankfully, they realised Rock's potential and gave him another chance to prove himself without pandering for cheers like his dad and Tony Atlas 20 years before him.