3 months ago
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"This kid ain't long," The Undertaker apparently said after watching a young Dwayne Johnson make his debut at Survivor Series in 1996. On his "Six Feet Under" podcast, 'Taker shared his initial skepticism about the future "People's Champion."
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"When he debuted in Madison Square Garden, and he was Rocky Maivia, I was like, 'Oh, this kid's done. It's over,'" 'Taker said. "Especially in the Garden, right? They will flat-out just annihilate you right out of the get-go, and sometimes you can't recover. And he's coming out, and he's got the curly hair back then, and they're telling him to smile. And they're just booing the s*** out of him...Little did I know. I guess I got that one wrong."
After weeks of hype packages for "The Blue Chipper," the super saccharine Maivia glad-handed his way to the ring at Madison Square Garden to team with Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Marc Mero and Barry Windham in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match. Maivia was the sole survivor of the contest, last eliminating Goldust. WWE's attempt to position the squeaky-clean Maivia as a babyface was a tough pill for many fans to swallow. He turned heel in August of 1997 after recovering from a knee injury, which is where his charisma really shined.
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"He's worked really hard," 'Taker said. "He was always a student. He was always, like, writing stuff down and asking questions. Incredible, incredible work ethic."
Although there were initial grumblings among some fans over the execution of creative, The Rock's last in-ring performance at WrestleMania 40 was mostly praised. Coincidentally, The Undertaker came face-to-face with his former "Attitude Era" rival in the match. Now many are speculating if The Rock will return for WrestleMania 41, as the seeds for a potential Rock/Cody Rhodes program have been planted.

