| WWFS KRIB | ||||||||||||||||
Carry My Banner
The Showstopper
|
Real Name: Dwayne Johnson
All the Rock's fans want to know what makes the Rock the best damn Champion there ever was. Well, to be quite honest...
The Rock was born Duane Johnson and is the son of the legendary Rocky Johnson and the grandson of High Chief Peter Maivia. The Rock started his athletic career as a football player in high school, though I'm not sure which school. From there, the Rock was signed by the Miami Hurricanes.
While with Miami, the Rock ran off an impressive four years and had even considered going to play for the NFL, but he had a change of mind. Since both his father and grandfather had been professional wrestlers, the Rock decided this is what he wanted to do. So the Rock packed his bags and headed to Stamford, Connecticut.
Once Vince McMahon realized the heritage behind Duane Johnson, the Rock, he immediately had big plans for the youngster. The Rock wanted to keep a piece of his family with him, so he changed his wrestling name to Rocky Maivia, in honor of his father and grandfather. With a name, training, and hype building, Maivia was ready to go.
At the Survivor Series 1996 on November 16, Maivia made his awaited debut by defeating both Crush and Goldust to win a 4-on-4 bout for his team. He was the lone survivor of his team. Maivia was taken to by the fans quickly, perhaps too quickly.
As Rocky won a series of bouts with Salvatore Sincere in late 96 and early 97 and put on an impressive showing at the Royal Rumble in 1997, lasting until the final eight men. Promoters saw this youngster's quick rise and gave him a shot at the Intercontinental Title, held by Hunter Hearst Helmsley.
Maivia received his shot during a special Thursday Raw Thursday on February 13, 1997. HHH owned most of the match, but when HHH went for the Pedigree, his finisher, Rocky rolled him up for the pin and the title. The fans went nuts for the young man, but his popularity would soon turn sour.
Soon, fans began to get sick of Rocky Maivia. Maybe he wasn't living up to the hype or they thought he should not be wearing the belt so soon. In any regards, fans starting booing Rocky when he came to the ring and even chants of "Rocky Sucks" could be heard. It did not help matters any when the WWF booked him to defend his IC title against the Sultan at Wrestlemania. The Sultan was certainly not a worthy opponent to the IC belt, yet alone at the biggest card of the year. Not even an appearance from Rocky's dad, Rocky Johnson, could save his son's integrity on that night.
Rocky's next PPV match would come against Savio Vega of the Nation of Domination. Rocky lost this match by countout be kept the title. Fans were beginning to get irritated with Maivia. Maivia then lost the belt to Owen Hart on April 28, 1997 during RAW. Rocky would wrestle one more match on PPV in May and he lost to Mankind. After that, Rocky Maivia took some time off for a few months until August.
When he returned, he came with a new attitude. As Chainz of the DOA was wrestling Kama of the Nation of Domination, Rocky appeared to the delight of the broadcasters ringside. "Nice to have the ol'Rock back with us." No sooner had Jim Ross said that, that Rocky Maivia was spike-slamming Chainz and guiding Kama to victory. After the match, the Rock gave the Nation salute with Farooq, Kama, and D-Lo Brown. A new chapter in Duane Johnson's career had begun.
The NOD engaged in a fueds with the Road Warriors, Ahmed Johnson, and Ken Shamrock. D-Lo, Kama, and Rocky defeated the LOD at In Your House: Badd Blood on October 5 and all four of them teamed to lose to Shamrock, Ahmed, and the LOD at the Survivor Series.
During this time, the Rock, as he now called himself, was lining himself up for an IC title shot against Steve Austin. To infuriate Austin, the Rock actually stole the IC belt from Stone Cold on a live edition of Raw is War. Try as he might, Austin went week after week, unable to reclaim his title. Even with pranks such as the pager says 316 joke, the Rock still escaped with the belt in toe. The Rock got his title shot on December 7 at In Your House: Degeneration X.
The match itself was a wild one, with Austin using his 4X4 pick-up on numerous occasions. Austin won the match and reclaimed his title. The next night on Raw, Vince McMahon came out and ordered a re-match because of the previous night's truck interference. The plan was originally for Austin to lost the belt in the match to the Rock, instead Austin handed the belt over by forfeit. So once again, the Rock was the Intercontinental champion, but he didn't get the belt. Austin stunned him and took the title away. The next week on Raw, Austin threw the belt into the river. It was four weeks until the WWF could get the Rock a new title made.
As weeks went by, the Rock began to grow more cocky, and that cockiness almost cost him. The Christmas episode of Raw actually saw the Rock offer Ken Shamrock a title match at the Royal Rumble in January of this year. Farooq thought the Rock was crazy, little did he know the plan the Rock had conceived. During the title match, the Rock pulled out brass knuckles and hit Shamrock with them. He then put the knux in Shamrock's tights and Shamrock pinned the Rock later. The Rock insisted the ref chekc Shamrock's tights and the ref found the knux and DQ'ed Shamrock. The Rock kept his belt.
That same night, the Rock stayed in the Royal Rumble match itself for nearly 50 minutes making him the longest stay in the match. This was certainly impressive and showed the Rock's ever growing skills. While his fued with Shamrock raged on, the Rock was beginning to create a new enemy in the Nation's leader, Farooq. The Rock was instrumental in bringing in Marc Henry as a new member, but Farooq wasn't very happy about it. Then the Rock tried to calm things over only to make them worse between he and the leader. All the while, Shamrock was foaming at the mouth wating for another chance at the title. That shot came at Wrestlemania.
The match at Wrestlemania was a very good one, with Shamrock getting the submission to the ankle submission and winning the IC title. But then Shamrock would not let go of the hold, and Farooq showed up. Instead of helping the Rock, Farooq just left him there. Since Shamrock would not relenquish the hold, the ref had no choice but to reverse the decision and the Rock kept his title again.
The very next night on Raw is War saw an apparent peace offering from the Rock to Farooq, but it turned out to be a double-cross. Now the Rock runs the Nation, and they have three main enemies: Shamrock, Farooq, and the new star, Steve Blackman. This impressive trio looks to dismantle the Rock and his army. "As long as the Rock comes out on top and keeps his belt, the Rock could care less about anyone else."
| |||||||||||||||
