"Ro-cky sucks! Ro-cky sucks!" The Attitude Era's most ubiquitous catch phrase came not from the human T-shirt factory himself, but from legions of unimpressed fans. In a cycle that would become even more familiar during the PG Era, Dwayne Johnson, debuting as the babyface Rocky Maivia, was met with a collective yawn. Early accusations of an easy ride weren't without some merit. Johnson was coming off a short run in the Canadian Football League before his father, Rocky Johnson, reluctantly began to train him to become a wrestler. WWE stalwart Pat Patterson soon took over from there, and young Johnson had a brief run in the USWA before his WWF debut in 1996. The WWF did their damnedest to push Rocky Maivia, but it wasn't until he adopted the cocky, brash persona of The Rock that the fans began to bite. Like Ric Flair, Scott Hall, and Steve Austin before him, The Rock proved that bad guys were more fun to watch, and maybe he didn't quite pay his dues before his first Intercontinental Championship reign, but his work since then has given WWE some of its best times, something even the smartest mark must acknowledge.
Check out "The Champ" by my alter ego, Greg Forrest, in Heater #12, at http://fictionmagazines.com.
I used to do a mean Glenn Danzig impression. Now I just hang around and co-host The Workprint podcast at http://southboundcinema.com/.
