Mike Mooneyham Article
'Rock' on superstar track
Sunday, March 28, 1999
Can you smell what The Rock's cooking?
Smells a lot like the World Wrestling Federation heavyweight title.
Rocky Maivia, a third-generation grappler who has taken pro wrestling by storm, is right on track to become the biggest superstar in the business. Tonight at Wrestlemania XV he assumes the role as WWF world champion as he defends the title against "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in the WWF's biggest show of the year, and the biggest match in Maivia's young career.
Maivia, or simply "The Rock" as he is more commonly known, has fans and wrestling veterans alike touting his incredible star quality. He has all the ingredients - the ability, the look, the talk - and many longtime observers are touting The Rock as the industry's hottest piece of talent.
Three world title reigns in a span of several months, one of the most over finishers in the business (the "People's Elbow"), a torrid feud with Mankind (Mick Foley) and a main event on a show that is expected to be the highest-grossing Wrestlemania ever, have all helped elevate the 27-year-old phenom to the very top tier of the wrestling business.
The brash WWF titleholder comes by his credentials quite naturally. His father is wrestling great Rocky Johnson, while his grandfather (on his mom's side) was the late mat star High Chief Peter Maivia. The Rock, whose real name is Dwayne Johnson, took the first name of his dad and the last name of his grandfather. But he copied his style from the man widely regarded as the greatest performer of the modern era - Ric Flair. Rock's character in many ways evokes images of a younger "Nature Boy."
"About a year and a half ago when the character started developing, I went to Vince (McMahon) and told him that I saw The Rock as the '90s going into the new millennium version of Ric Flair," says Rock, who always refers to his character in the third person. "He wears $500 shirts. The Rock's a little more brash. The great thing about 'The Rock' is there's a lot of depth. In The Rock's eyes, he's the smartest guy walking God's green earth. He's extremely intelligent and cocky. It's almost like he personifies class, yet he can be a real piece of crap when he wants to."
Although they represent rival organizations, Rock calls his world-champion counterpart one of the greatest performers to ever don a pair of tights. "It's good to see him back. Ric Flair is an icon in this business. Nowadays the word icon is thrown around like an egg-white omelette is thrown around. But he definitely is an icon. There are certain ingredients of The Rock taken from some of the Nature Boy. He's an extreme asset to the business. There's no getting around it. Period."
Rock says his dad, who was a main-eventer in a career that spanned 1964-88 and held the WWF tag-team title with Tony Atlas, works out every day and remains in tip-top shape. Rock says his dad, who still trains wrestlers, "put a lot of effort into me, but unfortunately he doesn't have that much time."
Rock portrayed his father on a recent episode of "That 70s Show" and delivered the best line of the program. Signing an autograph for a father and his son, Rock added that he had a son who would one day grow up to be "the most electrifying performer in sports entertainment," a catch phrase Rock currently uses to describe himself.
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