This is “The Blue Chipper” Rocky Maivia’s debut on WWF TV in an interview segment from Monday Night Raw on November 11th, 1996- just 6 days before his in-ring debut at the Survivor Series.
He debuted as an always-smiling “3rd Generation Superstar” baby face who didn’t have much of a definable gimmick and cut very bland promos.
Fans soon tired of him and began infamously chanting “Die Rocky, Die” during his matches.
Ouch!
It’s hard to believe that this soft-spoken guy with the ridiculously bad haircut would go on with some slight tweaks to the gimmick and his personality (oh, and his hairstyle) to become one of the best promo guys in the history of wrestling as The Rock.
It just goes to show you that you just never know when a guy is going to become a breakout star.
I hope people start chanting “die curtis axel die!” so WWE will 86 that horrible name
IF YA SMELL WHAT THE AXE IS CUTTIN’!
Then just bring him back as Joe Reigns
Does 86 mean have Triple H come out and immediately start burying?
I really thought Rocko Mayfield was gonna go places; it’s just sad to see such a bright, cherubic youth disappear from the WWF just as uncouth frownmeisters like “Stone Cold” Lee Majors and Manson the Mutilator began hogging airtime.
In an alternate universe, that actually happened.
If you thought WMXV was bad before, imagine what it would have been in said Alternate Universe! In the Main Event, Flex Kavana defends the WWF Title against Chilly McFreeze, with Mason the Mutilator as the guest referee. Maybe we’d even get to see the WWF debut of Jack Action!
“Stone Cold” Lee Majors.
Well, there’s my new Steam name.
Who was the work out partner?
The vignettes weren’t that bad.
The way he wrestled was annoying as fuck though.
Too much smiling, not enough heeling it up.
Mostly it’s his mumbling, rambling interview style that amused me in that clip. He got so much better once they just let him be himself and he learned how to work a crowd.
One would never have thought that he would make as far as he did back then, right?
I like how there was still glimmers of “The Rock” in there. That DDT he did, he often did as The Rock. During his father’s induction he said “beyond a shadow of a doubt.” He just needed to learn how to call Kevin Kelly a big fat ugly hermaphrodite, and he was well on his way to fame and glory.
And the guy he was doing moves with was Tom Pritchard.
A pre-Rock and Pre-Hermie