Wrestling Veteran Reacts to WWE Fans Begging for Dwayne Johnson’s Death: “Things Aren’t Working..”

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wasn’t always the megastar he is today. When The Rock debuted in 1996, he was introduced as Rocky Maivia as convinced by Vince McMahon. Mr. McMahon suggested Dwayne Johnson combine his father (Rocky Johnson) and grandfather (Peter Maivia) names inside the ring.

Johnson stepped inside the squared circle as WWE’s first third-generation superstar. The Blue Chipper, aka Rocky Maivia, came in as a clean-cut baby face. But, WWE Veteran Jim Ross and WWE boss Vince McMahon, within three months of Rocky Maivia’s debut, put him in a high-profile spot.

Rocky Maivia won the Intercontinental Champion gold when he defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Triple H) in February 1997. However, the WWE Universe didn’t buy into Johnson yet and rebelled against the baby face, Rocky Maivia.

What does Jim Ross think about fans booing The Rock in his early days?

On the latest episode of the Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross recollected the time in 1997 when wrestling fans were at the peak of hating Rocky Maivia. Since the WWE Universe didn’t like baby face Rocky Maivia getting the quick title, fans flipped Johnson with “Die Rocky Die” boos.

Jim Ross said, “He was a baby face position as a baby face. You bring into the ring and get fans chanting, die, Rocky, die, your baby face, things aren’t working. You don’t have to do a marketing study to figure that out. But he [The Rock] said we just miscast him in that deal. It’s not a big deal. Because he hit the ground running with the Nation of Domination.”

According to Jim Ross, it was necessary for the baby face Dwayne Johnson to feel the crowd booing him. It was this moment that led to the meteoric rise to become The Rock. Jim Ross also noted that Johnson’s baby face was not working for the audience.

Watch This Story:- WWE Raw Results: Randy Orton Secures a Huge Victory, Mustafa Ali and Asuka Return to Raw, and More!

Even though Rocky Maivia was a smiling baby face, the fans booed him and cheered the heels he wrestled. Hence, the company treasured Dwayne Johnson as a heel character when joining The Nation of Domination.

Did turning into a heel work for Rocky Maivia?

When the WWE turned Rocky Maivia on to a heel character in August 1997, fans found a genuine reason to boo him. However, after joining the Nation of Domination, Rocky Maivia took a stand for himself and lashed out at fans for rejecting him. Former WWE commentator Jim Ross added that the Nation of Domination faction provided Dwayne Johnson the push he needed.

“And the Nation of Domination did everything he was supposed to do. It created individual stars and including the biggest star of all, Dwayne Johnson. We’ve kind of preconditioned the audience to be, you know, a little combative and, and all that stuff. I’m a big believer that sometimes you get to try something because you think it’s going to work,” Jim Ross added.

It all started when Rocky Maivia cut unique promos when he joined the Nation of Domination. When Johnson took over as the militant group leader, he cut crisp and entertaining promos. Dwayne Johnson referred to himself in the third person as The Rock and worked on his classic insults to his opponents.

READ MORE: Major Takeaways from Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam Trailer Shown at CinemaCon 2022

After this, there was no turning back for The Rock. Wrestling fans ate the brand new heel character of Dwayne Johnson. The relationship with fans grew stronger every week, and The Rock became a hit and one of the biggest superstars in the history of WWE.