Dwayne Johnson debuted at Survivor Series 1996 with a generic baby face look and in-ring name Rocky Maivia. But the character got stale and reached a point where he did not receive any response from the crowd, which is considered even worse than receiving boos from the fans. However, this changed in 1997.

He joined the faction, The Nation of Domination on 13th August 1997 as their fourth member. This faction was one of the top heels during the Attitude era and had former WCW Champions Farooq, D’Lo Brown, and Kama Mustafa. A WWE Legend has revealed how one of DJ’s former stable mates helped him transition from Rocky Maivia to The Rock.

Matt Hardy explains NOD member’s contribution to The Rock gimmick

One of the most popular stars from the Attitude Era was The Rock. However, the trash-talking electrifying star was not always the same. In the newest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Matt Hardy spoke about the birth of Dwayne Johnson’s famous gimmick The Rock.

Though, the whole episode was mainly dedicated to The Rock, in a brief segment Matt Hardy revealed Ron Simmons aka Farooq’s contribution to The Rock character. He said, “He’s [Farooq] talked about in the past when he first was talking to Dwayne and he was giving the Rocky advice and like I would do this as a heel or I would try this. I would take something away this way and give it back like this and there’s a lot of little things that Ron really helped him out with.”

The Rock’s character indeed took a U-turn after he joined Farooq’s stable. Soon he became a crowd favorite and then became WWE’s youngest Champion in 1998. However, it was his trash-talking skills and charisma that got him over with The Attitude Era fans. After taking on The Rock gimmick, he would refer to himself in the third person, and that helped boost his fanfare.

Hardy explained that he came across this story from Farooq. He, along with his brother Jeff Hardy had the same agent who would also book Farooq. Hence, they got many opportunities to meet and discuss this aspect of Rock’s career.

Read more: Dwayne Johnson’s Helpful Nature Once Made a “Huge Impression” on His Fellow Wrestlers Back in His 7 Dollar Days

Besides Farooq, Dwayne Johnson received help from Vince McMahon and former WWE head writer Brian Gewirtz, who would write the storylines for The Rock. The contributions from different people led to the creation of People’s Champion. However, The Rock’s charismatic character was not the only reason for his meteoric rise.

Hardy praises The Rock’s athletic abilities and hard work

In the podcast, Matt Hardy praised The Rock to be an extremely hard working and extraordinary athlete. Hardy made analogies between Farooq and The Rock and appreciated them for their football background. Rock’s athletic abilities were on complete display during his run from 1998 to 2003.

What do you think about Dwayne Johnson’s transformation?

Watch this story: Greatest Verbal SmackDowns of Dwayne The Rock Johnson in WWE