What I Learned From the Rock

There's an old adage: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

There's another old adage "Good guys finish last."

Some may consider both to be meaningless cliches. I believe both can be proven factual by the early career of Dwayne Johnson.

In 2009, most people know Dwayne Johnson as a movie star, albeit one whose promising career seems to have bogged down by appearances in such "family-friendly" dreck as the Game Plan and Return to Witch Mountain.

Still, there are many who believe Dwayne Johnson has the ability to become a major player in Hollywood, a combination of Tom Cruise with muscles or Arnold Schwarzenegger without the accent, as evidenced in Walking Tall or Gridiron Gang.

Of course, Dwayne Johnson had a career previous to his stint as an actor. Most people know that he was once referred to as Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, a shout-out to his career in professional wrestling when he gained fame and many a WWE title as "the Rock".

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Rock was, in his own words, "the most electrifying man in sports entertainment."

But while most people remember the 2009 actor version of Dwayne Johnson to the 1999-2002 wrestler version of the Rock...I remember 1996.

I remember Rocky Maivia.

At the 1996 Survivor Series, a young Rocky Maivia, the son of former WWE Tag Team Champion Rocky "Soulman" Johnson and the grandson of "High Chief" Peter Maivia made his official WWE debut.

Maivia was coming out of Memphis, not much more than a couple of dark match bouts and a pair of USWA Tag Team title reigns on his resume. In Memphis, he'd been saddled with the name of Flex Kavana, teaming with ring vet Bart Sawyer (another young wrestler with a famous name).

Maivia was booked as a clean-cut babyface, a next generation Bob Backlund, at a time when a gimmick like that was about five, six years too late. By 1996, Vince McMahon's WWE was finally realizing what Paul Heyman and ECW had a couple of years prior: the fans had changed. They were a bit more jaded, they didn't want to cheer for the good guys. Heyman himself likened it to how Nirvana and grunge had claimed rock and roll from the hair bands of the 80s.

Maivia was like Rick Astley walking into CBGBs. By early 1997, even a blind man could see it. The future movie star couldn't get over to save his life. When he battled blue-blooded heel Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Triple H) for the Intercontinental title, the fans booed Maivia...the face!

Feuds against heels he should have been able to use to get over (the Sultan, Savio Vega) only solidified the fans' dislike for the young Rocky. To this day, the chants of "Die! Rocky! Die!" are still remembered by those who witnessed them.

By the time Maivia lost the title to Owen Hart, the future looked bleak for the third-generation superstar who'd been touted as a "Blue Chipper". In 2009, many fans would have rushed to the nearest wrestling message board to discuss how long Maivia would be "Future Endeavoured".

Instead, something happened.

The Rocky Maivia that returned in August 1997 was not the clean cut good guy the fans had loathed so. Somewhere along the line Rocky Maivia disappeared altogether. In his place was a smart-mouthed heel that referred to himself in the third person. The Rock, as he came to be known, joined and then seized control of the Nation of Domination. The Rock would make his disdain for the fans evident, even as he proclaimed himself "The People's Champion".

And somewhere along the line, things started to click. The Rock soon raised eyebrows, most notably his own. Crafting a persona that mixed a multitude of catchprases with substantial in-ring ability, by November 1998, the Rock had taken that walk down Know-Your-Role Boulevard, Hung That Right on Jabroni Drive. But instead of checking himself into the Smackdown Hotel, the Rock found himself in the main event and was on the verge of being the biggest face in the company.

Aligning himself with Vince McMahon and becoming the "Corporate Champion" did little to derail the Rock's rise to the top of his industry. By then, the WWE and professional wrestling smelled what the Rock was cookin' and Rocky Maivia was just a faint memory.