Ranking The Rock's WWE WrestleMania Matches From Worst To Best
10. Vs. The Sultan (WrestleMania XIII)
Rocky Maivia’s first (and, under that mantle, only) WrestleMania match really shows little indication of the era-defining star he would very quickly turn out to be. To be fair, he’s hardly in a breakout role position: he’s up against The Sultan (one of Solofa Fatu’s several pre-Rikishi gimmicks) and is given almost nothing to work with, character-wise.
There are shades of the Rock we’ll meet and love later - he pulls out a kip up early doors, and in general his athleticism is the most impressive thing about this match - but he’s left to flounder for the most part. The fans haven’t yet fully turned on him, but the young, green Intercontinental Champion certainly isn’t who they’ve paid to see.
His opponent, similarly, is stymied with a dreadful character. Rikishi was a charisma machine; The Sultan is a throwback masked monster who doesn’t do all that much particularly monstrous.
The match ends with Rocky scoring the win after a fortuitous roll up, following which The Sultan and the Iron Sheik beat him up, only for The Rock’s dad to make the save. And people wonder why Rocky Maivia never got over.