2. The Smiling Babyface Rocky
While wrestling his first dark match with the WWE, the word backstage was that The Rock was going to be a star; the way he moved in the ring and his instincts were just so ahead of his time. Backstage the creative crew and agents marvelled at how ahead of the game he truly was at such a young age.
Jim Cornette specifically knew right off the bat and told Vince to give Rock a “cool” gimmick because he would be the champion in five years (and he did it in three). Instead, McMahon listened to Patterson’s advice and put him in a loveable, smiling babyface gimmick which did not connect with the crowd at any point.
Rocky’s gimmick wasn’t going anywhere and he proceeded to asked for a change. It was surprisingly Vince Russo that suggested the company change him into an “anti-social” wrestler. McMahon obliged and Rock took his performance to another level with his new persona. And like they say, the rest is history.
Discussion about this post