10 Gimmick Changes That Saved Dying Careers

#2 Rocky Maivia Becomes The Rock

We all smelled what he was cooking when it was all said and done

Dwayne Johnson made his WWE debut at the 1996 Survivor Series under the name 'Rocky Maivia', a combination of his father and grandfather's ring names.

Rocky wasn't necessarily booked in any kind of antagonizing way, but fans still chose to hate him, despite being a babyface who always smiled and greeted everyone, and bombarded him with chants of "Die, Rocky, die!" and "Rocky sucks!".

All this led to Rocky turning heel in 1997 and joining the controversial faction, the Nation of Domination. During this time, he refused to acknowledge the Rocky Maivia name, instead referring to himself in the third person as The Rock, though he would still be billed as Rocky "The Rock" Maivia until 1998.

Although Rock was shining more as a heel, it still didn't seem like a career saving move at the time, due to the racial controversy surrounding the gimmick. Despite this, Rock made it work and soon won the fans back with his incredible charisma. The Rock became arguably the most popular superstar in WWE history.

Rock would become a 10 time World Champion, and of course, left WWE to become, as of 2018, the fifth most highest paid celebrity entertainer in the world.