5 WWE stars who were criticised by fans (and how they won them over again)

Modified Aug 06, 2019 13:30 GMT

Goldberg vs. Dolph Ziggler is scheduled for SummerSlam

#1 The Rock

The Rock went by the name Rocky Maivia when he debuted as WWE’s next top babyface at Survivor Series 1996. Two months later, he won the Intercontinental Championship from Hunter Hearst Helmsley before defending the title at WrestleMania 13 against The Sultan (aka Rikishi).

During this time, fans refused to accept the third-generation Superstar as a good guy and often chanted “Rocky sucks!” during his matches, prompting the future World Champion to turn heel and join The Nation of Domination.

This allowed The Rock to show off his charisma, as well as his in-ring talents, and it eventually led to him becoming one of the most popular babyfaces that WWE has ever seen.

The infamous “Die Rocky Die” sign had been replaced with signs of The Rock’s trademark eyebrow raise, while “The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment” went on to win nine World Championships between 1998 and 2003 before successfully swapping the squared circle for the silver screen.

About the author

Danny Hart has been one of the most active writers at Sportskeeda since he began working for the WWE section of the site in October 2017.

Danny currently writes around 100 articles per month about WWE. Before joining Sportskeeda, he worked for seven years as a writer and editor for the football website Goal.com. He also reported live from Premier League stadiums around England.

Know More

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Edited by Sripad