10 shocking moments from WWF (WWE) 1998

#4 The Rock joins the Corporation

The corporate sell-out

It's safe to say that Dwayne Johnson's early career with the WWF was a bit of a rollercoaster. Initially brought in as a cheesy babyface that nobody responded well to, he was turned heel in an attempt to respond to fan criticism. His heel turn worked so well that people then began cheering for him in the way that Vince McMahon had originally intended.

As for the rest of 1998, The Rock underwent yet another image change when he joined forces with the evil Mr McMahon and the rest of the Corporation.

During a rivalry with Mankind, who was himself trying to win the favour of Vince as the man to prevent Stone Cold from holding the WWF Championship, the two met at The Survivor Series PPV where a double turn occurred. In scenes reminiscent of the Montreal Screwjob, Vince ensured that Rock became the champion after calling for the bell despite Mankind not giving up.

The Rock then went through a corporate make-over of sorts, changing his moniker from 'The People's Champion' to 'The Corporate Champion', brilliantly fulfilling that gap on the heel side of the roster. Mankind was too sympathetic a character for people to boo, whereas The Brahma Bull had the natural arrogance that made him a great villain.

This might not have been as important a double-turn compared with the one we saw at Wrestlemania 13, but it certainly set the scene for the rest of the year and the beginning of 1999 especially.