A WWE Hall of Famer has recalled Vince McMahon’s bold prediction regarding The Rock prior to turning him heel in 1997.
Debuting in WWE back at Survivor Series 1996, The Rock, then known as Rocky Maivia, arrived in the company as the first-ever third-generation WWE star and at just 24 years old, he was primed for big things.
However, his clean cut presentation and attitude didn’t catch on with the WWE audience, with the shift towards edgier storylines and characters in 1997 resulting in fans turning on Rocky Maivia and famously showering him with chants of “Die Rocky Die.”
Speaking on Rewind Recap Relive, Charles Wright (The Godfather) recalled his time in the Nation of Domination as Kama Mustafa and a conversation with Vince McMahon backstage prior to Maivia turning heel and joining the group in August 1997.
Wright recalled:
“Vince called us into the office and I remember it like yesterday. He goes, ‘You guys know who Dwayne Johnson is?’ And I didn’t know who the hell he was. And Ron’s like, ‘Yeah, I know him.’
“He (Vince) said, ‘Basically, I tried to make him this way and the people just s**t all over it, he goes this time I’m gonna put him in The Nation and make him this way, and when I get people to hate this kid he’s gonna be the biggest thing wrestling ever saw when I turn him.’
“I don’t know if Vince says that about everybody but that’s what he told me and Ron. And then we talked to Rock, we came down to some understandings about s**t and off we went.”
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Following his heel turn, Maivia adopted The Rock moniker, which followed him throughout his WWE career and beyond.
“The Great One” did turn back babyface after the Nation of Domination dissolved in 1998, but this wouldn’t last too long, as The Rock returned to the heel side of the WWE roster at Survivor Series 1998 when he aligned with Vince McMahon to win his first of 10 WWE World Championships.
This win saw The Rock become the youngest World Champion in WWE history at 26, a record that would eventually be broken by then 25-year-old Brock Lesnar in 2002 and 24-year-old Randy Orton in 2004.
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