Dwayne Johnson celebrates his birthday on May 2, and regardless of the millions…and millions that he earns from his absurdly successful acting career, he will always be The Rock.

Of course, he didn’t start off as “The Rock.”

In the video below, Johnson looks back on his WWE debut that took place at Madison Square Garden on the Survivor Series pay-per-view event on November 17, 1996.  Then billed as Rocky Maivia, he was a long way from becoming “The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment,” but even The Rock had to start somewhere.

Seriously, that hair alone was ridiculous (which he acknowledges), never mind his gear.

Eventually, crowds everywhere would soon sour on the squeaky clean Maivia. As if almost by fate, a knee injury put Johnson on the shelf for four months, and when he returned in August 1997, The Rock was born.

The rest is history.

WrestleMania: 10 Interesting Facts About 'The Showcase of the Immortals'

• WrestleMania almost wasn’t WrestleMania

  Share

  Legendary WWE Hall of Fame ring announcer Howard Finkel is credited with coining the name “WrestleMania,” but before landing on that perfect name, Vince McMahon wanted to call his annual showcase “The Colossal Tussle.”

• WrestleMania 35 was the first WrestleMania to be headlined by women.

  Share

  It took over three decades for women to headline “The Showcase of Immortals,” but it finally happened in WrestleMania 35 when Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey faced off in a Winner Takes All Triple Threat match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship and the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship.

• Run-DMC provided a WrestleMania first.

  Share

  The iconic rap group was the first act to ever perform at WrestleMania outside of the singing of the National Anthem and “America the Beautiful” when they performed “WrestleMania Rap” at WrestleMania 5. Many other acts have performed at WrestleMania since including Flo Rida, Diddy and Motorhead.
• WrestleMania 2 is the only WrestleMania to happen on a weekday.

  Share

  Up until WrestleMania 36, which saw the event split into a two-night affair, WrestleMania 2 was the only WrestleMania to not take place on a Sunday. Instead, it took place on Monday, April 7, 1986.

• WrestleMania 28 holds the record for most PPV buys.

  Share

  The WrestleMania that billed the "once in a lifetime" match between The Rock and John Cena saw 1,217,000 PPV buys, which is the most PPV buys for a single WrestleMania ever. Of course, that “once in a lifetime” tag wasn’t exactly true, and The Rock vs. John Cena would headline WrestleMania 29.

• “Macho Man” Randy Savage has the record for most WrestleMania wins in a single night.

  Share

  OH, YEAH! WrestleMania 4 featured a 14-man tournament for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Savage would end up winning the title defeating Butch Reed, Greg Valentine, One Man Gang, and “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase.
• Longest match in WrestleMania history.

  Share

  The legendary iron man match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII still holds the record for longest WrestleMania match clocking in at one hour, one minute and 52 seconds.

• Shortest match in WrestleMania history.

  Share

  The shortest WrestleMania match happened in recent history at WrestleMania 32 when The Rock squashed Erick Rowan in just six seconds.

• Most losses at WrestleMania.

  Share

  Triple H may be one of the most prolific wrestlers in WWE history, but he also has the notorious honor of having the most losses at WrestleMania with 13. Yikes!
• Total attendance at WrestleMania.

  Share

  Overall, a combined 1,956,981 fans have attended WrestleManias 1-38.

Sign me up for the 102.9 WMGK At Work Network email newsletter!

Join WMGK's At Work Network and get the latest rock news, exclusive presales, contests and more straight to you inbox.

First Name *

Last Name

Email *

Subscribe

By clicking "Subscribe" I agree to the website's terms of Service and Privacy Policy. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time.