8 Times The Rock Proved He CAN Cut A Bad Promo
8. Rocky Maivia Receives An Offer From Jim Cornette
All right, let's start this thing off with a bit of a softball. It's probably a bit unfair to include anything from his Rocky Maivia days, as he hadn't yet developed any real personality to showcase on the mic - he was just the smiley ultra-babyface that wanted to do the bestest job he could, by golly! - but any excuse to show a clip of him wearing that ridiculous costume is worth it.
And it doesn't help you look any less like a gomer when one of your first WWE promos has you sharing a microphone with the legendary mouth of Jim Cornette.
After absorbing some classic, rapid-fire ranting from Cornette in the form of a sales pitch to be Rocky's manager, The Brahma Calf responded with what is apparently a Samoan saying: "When you lay down with dogs, you wake up with fleas." That's...fine. It's not a super witty retort, but at least it sounded mostly earnest, which has to count for something.
But it's his next line, following another furiously hyper mini-rant from Cornette, that made him sound so dull it actually hurts a bit to listen to. Spoken in a robotic monotone, The Rock says, "Jim Cornette, I will make it to the top of the World Wrestling Federation on my own...or I will not make it at all."